The most rewarding part of your credit journey?

[keithbward]

Best part is feeling in control. Grew up in less than accomodating circumstances and no knowledge of financial and credit management. I'll be 30 in a month and it just feels good to have buying power and not feel like the entire room is staring at you when you attempt to make a purchase to better your life situation or reward yourself for your hard work. That was the worst part for me when I went to buy my car in January and even with the thousands I had saved to purchase my first brand new car, I was made to feel like the worst human alive. Can't wait to refinance it...lol. It's also rewarding that family members and friends value my small amount of knowledge I've acquired here and from trial and error on managing credit and finances responsibly. That's an awesome feeling.

[OHWWCB]

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@Stralem wrote:

Best part of having credit?

I can travel now.

Booking air travel and hotel accomodations with debit or even cash?

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Oh, this is a good one! I used to stress out about hotels so much when traveling because of how much they'd authorize my debit card. Now, no worries plus POINTS!

[jamesdwi]

financial freedom, don't have to worry about when a bill is due, or how much groceries are and compare when my paycheck is being deposited, damm I paid my car loan, my house payment and dinner out last night,  and the groceries are how much???? Oops... watch the Over draft fee's roll in, or what feels worse sometime the dreaded exceeded daily debit card limit, $500 at my credit union, used to happen on saturdays when I did my shopping and paid bills, then I had the transaction fail and I have no access to the other $2k in my account for at least 12 hours.  Don't have to sweat the small stuff. 

Traveling is easier, Go ahead put a hold on the account for the full week in the hotel, and then bill me what is due, it doesn't effect my life anymore. The first hold will drop off in a few days it doesn't matter. Same with Rental Cars,  Gas Stations. its bad enough with a low limit card, a straight out nightmare with a debit card, at the very least you have to work with the desk to make it all work out, or wonder if it will work out the full trip. Who has time to spend discussing the Hotel's billing process with hotel staff. 

Being rewarded to buy what I was allready going to buy. 

[vpae]

For me, it's no longer having to feel ashamed or embarrassed about my credit and the mistakes that I've made when I was younger. No longer have to worry about, "am I going to get approved?" "Will I even get $500?" "What are my APR going to be?" Although I'm back down below, being able to reach the 800 club was a big one for me. Being free of any baddies on all of my reports. Being able to negotiate rates and be offered the best rates. I never thought I would be able to bounce back. If you were to tell me a few years ago when things were rough, that I would be here now, there's no way I would believe it. But I've now turned it into a hobby, a game, something I really enjoy doing.

And finally, being able to help others along the way. I have offered advice and suggestions to many of my close friends and they have all acted on it (showing a huge sense of trust and respect) and have all been able to improve their score, credit portfolio, financial outcome in someway, shape or form. I'm doing what I can to pay it forward.

From all the "Declined"s and "No"s, to "Approval"s and "Yes"s. It's been a heck of a journey.

Thanks to the community here. <3

[fot1]

Nothing meant as much to me as buying my house .. To be able to give my kids a room to thier selves, A yard to play in..  To host the holidays so my mother no longer has to stress and work so hard cooking and planning.. Credit wise this was everything..

[Anonymous]

Most rewarding was having the opportunity to receive help from MyFico members

[Stralem]

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@OHWWCB wrote:

Oh, this is a good one! I used to stress out about hotels so much when traveling because of how much they'd authorize my debit card. Now, no worries plus POINTS!

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Lots of places won't even accept debit cards. I remember my mother running into just that issue on a family road trip; the hotel we wanted to spend the night at wouldn't take her debit card, so we had to drive an hour out of our way to find someplace that did. That place turned out to be a really seedy motel by the side of a congested road, complete with coin-operated television tuned to a porn channel by default, a bathroom fit for a serial killer, and an AC unit that blew two parts cold air to one part blue smoke. Oh, and immediately outside of our door was a vending machine that had a handwritten sign attached to it telling patrons to walk across the busy six-lane thoroughfare with no pedestrian crossings to the equally sketchy 7-Eleven for drinks. And food. And toilet paper.

That was not a fun night.

And because of 9/11, you can't even pay with cash at many places. You'll be politely turned away at best, phoned in to the FBI at worst (at least if you have a certain look about you). So there's that bit of pleasantness...

And of course, there's also the actual credit part of the equation. I just booked a weekend getaway on the west coast the other day, using my Sapphire Preferred card to pay for both the flight and the hotel. But the truth is that I won't have the funds to pay for the trip in full until a week after I return. In other words, I'd have been SOL were I dependent on using a debit card.

Credit is a powerful tool indeed. It's amazing -- and a bit scary -- how many avenues it opens up for you.