Credit mix question

tbea1004 · ‎07-12-2015

I read something that said that you should have a mixture of different kinds of credit. I have a few credit cards and was interested in financing a walk behind mower. Would the walk behind mower be considered different from the credit cards?

Anonymous · ‎07-12-2015

I believe the credit mix only accounts for 10% of your overall credit score. If a store offeres financing, it's only worth it if they give 0% APR for a while. Otherwise, you'd be better with a 0% APR introductory offer from a credit card and using that to buy the mower. Opening a new credit card will ding your credit score because of the inquiry, but will ultimately increase it by increasing your utilization with the increase in total credit limit. If they are offering financing, it is considered a loan unless they are offering finan cing through their credit card.

Anonymous · ‎07-12-2015

@tbea1004 wrote:
I read something that said that you should have a mixture of different kinds of credit. I have a few credit cards and was interested in financing a walk behind mower. Would the walk behind mower be considered different from the credit cards?

If it is a store card, then yes it would be different but it's not really important to have a store card. Mix of credit refers to having revolving and installment credit. Installment credit is car loan, mortgage, personal loan, etc.

takeshi74 · ‎07-12-2015

@tbea1004 wrote:
I have a few credit cards and was interested in financing a walk behind mower. Would the walk behind mower be considered different from the credit cards?

Depends on the specifics. The mower itself is not credit. How it's financed is credit. If it's a store card it's a revolver. I don't think anyone knows for certain if store cards are really benficial to mix of credit or just another revolver. People have excellent credit with and without store cards. As stated above, mix is only typically about 10%. Don't overlook all the other factors. As stated above, a new account will come with a hard pull (New Credit) and you'll reduce your AAoA (Length of Credit).

http://www.myfico.com/crediteducation/whatsinyourscore.aspx

core · ‎07-12-2015

If you finance it in-store at some small place you run the risk of getting financed through a consumer finance company. I sure wouldn't want that on my report.

I'm curious though, what kind of super duper mower is this? For a walk-behind I don't think I'd pay more than $50 for a used one, and that's even self propelled. Not a whole lot to go wrong with them that can't easily be fixed.