If Your FICO Scores Are Below 700's....

[DI]

You can't afford it.  We all have heard about Suze Orman Can you afford segment.  Can you afford as it relates to credit?

If your FICO scores are below 700 you can't afford

A new Car

A new Credit Card

A Mortgage

An inquiry on your Credit Reports

A Balance Transfer

A Big Wedding

A Vacation

A Boat

An Engagement Ring

Chrome RIMS

A Harley

 Those are just some of the things I can think of.  If anyone can think of more please list them.

Message Edited by DI on 07-29-2009 10:32 PM

[FirstHomeBuyer]

You cannot afford a husband or wife.  I'm sure you would think twice before getting marry to someone with a FICO bellow 700. 

[pattycake]

FICO scores have nothing to do with income.  My FICOs were in the mid 600s and I made $96K one year.  I had old baddies and a job that paid really crummy before. 

[DI]

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@pattycake wrote:
FICO scores have nothing to do with income.  My FICOs were in the mid 600s and I made $96K one year.  I had old baddies and a job that paid really crummy before. 

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FICO score has a lot to do with income.  Having a low FICO score means you are unable to pay your CC's in full each month.  

In your statement your are contradicting yourself.  You said you had a job that paid crummy.  That means your income wasn't high enough to pay all the bill and maintain a FICO score above 700.   In retrospect your accounts became lates or collections.  

Message Edited by DI on 07-30-2009 12:09 PM

[CreditDrama85]

while this might be a good general/ballpark rule to follow i disagree with this statment simply because people bounce back from credit problems:

example: several late payments due to X, cure the problem, pay on time for 1 year and credit is improved but may not be near 700. BUT with proper income and experience, i can evaluate my situation and buy what i want regardless of fico.

on the other hand, take someone with a thin credit file and little income that makes a big purchase. that IMHO is a bigger risk regardless of fico.

[llecs]

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DI wrote:

FICO score has a lot to do with income.  Having a low FICO score means you are unable to pay your CC's in full each month.  

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Not necessarily. There are some of us on here who had a low score, not because of income, but because we were unaccountable.

DW and I never cared about money. However, we were always unaccountable with our payments. My attitude was that you'll get your money eventually; take a chill pill. The check will be in the mail. Sometimes I wouldn't pay a bill on purpose because a CCC would call after I told them to stop calling. That'll show them, right?

Finally in 2001 we bought our first car together after being married for a couple of years. Our scores were in the 500s and we got stuck with a high rate even after putting down a third or so. It was that point forward that I made a conscience effort to be better with my payments. We ordered our reports and paid everything in full. We still didn't commit fully on a couple of TLs and had many blemishes on the way, but two years ago we wised up and haven't been late on anything.

[marty56]

SO never asks about a person's credit score.  Its based on how much money they have and if they have any CC debt.

Cash is always king regardless of what your FICO/FAKO scores are.

[Anonymous]

You may have A.D.D

Well that was my DHs issue, not his income.

In the last year we paid for our wedding, honeymoon, all bills on time, have paid of $10,000 in credit card debt that he just had messed up by ignoring his mail and got as bad as 5 months behind on with all the lates and charges that go with them and paid for one of our cars in cash - we are also puttig down a deposit on a house and will be paying off another $6000 of credit card debt.

We'll be left with mortgage, one car loan and about $4000 of CC debt left with a $10,000 reserve fund and about an extra $600 a month of disposable income (which means that remaining 4000 of cc will be gone fairly quick).

So yeah his scores are still below 700 even with the 140 point increases int the last year plus but we can afford those things just fine

[haulingthescoreup]

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DI wrote:

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@pattycake wrote:
FICO scores have nothing to do with income.  My FICOs were in the mid 600s and I made $96K one year.  I had old baddies and a job that paid really crummy before. 

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FICO score has a lot to do with income.  Having a low FICO score means you are unable to pay your CC's in full each month.  

In your statement your are contradicting yourself.  You said you had a job that paid crummy.  That means your income wasn't high enough to pay all the bill and maintain a FICO score above 700.   In retrospect your accounts became lates or collections.

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My kids have negligible income (med school, undergraduate school, starter job), and they have great scores. The one in med school has 760's+, and she's surviving on student loans.

You can always pay your CC bills if you don't buy beyond your means. It's not your income, it's your outgo.

(This is not to belittle those who have lost jobs, etc. in this horrible economy. I'm just arguing the statement that it's impossible to have good credit with low income.)

And Susyquk, I have ADHD, and my lates are absolutely due to my previous refusal to get a grip on things like paying bills! I was saved by the combination of online banking and these forums.

[Anonymous]

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@haulingthescoreup wrote:

And Susyquk, I have ADHD, and my lates are absolutely due to my previous refusal to get a grip on things like paying bills! I was saved by the combination of online banking and these forums.

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Luckily for him he married a woman who is a little OCD about making sure bills are paid on time

We are a good match; he keeps me mellow and I keep him on track