hello fellow friends

[ozonius]

I could be wrong but my wife is in a similar boat. She got our house refinanced under her credit only before the bubble burst in 2007/2008 and took a beating when we fell behind because of my job lost. I did  not get beat up as bad and was able to go from the low 500's to low mid 600's and got cards with Capitol One and Merrick which had no problems with me adding her has an authorized user but when I tried with Amex it was a different story, They wanted a lot of info on her and I felt it would be a waste of time once they saw her credit so I decided not to persue it any further (I was surprised I got approved on a mailed offer for a new Zync card they no longer offer so I left it at that). My advice is to keep her off any of your creditors that start asking a lot of questions and wait till her credit starts to rebuild. She can with time, maybe very soon get some offers from banks like Synchrony formerly GE (Walmart and various other department stores like HH Gregg and even Care Credit that can be used in many places for medical and vet expenses) and take advantage of special finance offers like 24 months same as cash. If they are paid off within the offer period they usually give generous increases in the credit limits which further help increase the credit score (just make sure you can pay in full within the offer period because if you don't you are looking at 23.99 to 29.99 percent interest added on from day one of the purchase and it can be a lot depending on the size of the purchase). Also if you are in need of a car soon, some credit unions will approve a car loan at a higher rate but if you make payments on time for a year or so, will give you a reduction on the interest rate moving forward. Her credit has gone from the high 400's to a 598 in less that three years after having a foreclosure on our house loan in her record which we were able to get a modification on two years ago.

[Anonymous]

I'm not sure you two last posters read my update 😕

[Anonymous]

I recommend that you get a new girlfriend. Love is blind. It will have 20/20 vision in 5-years when you have to get a divorce and file bankruptcy. Just saying.

[Anonymous]

I agree. I don't think it's wise to merge finances. You've worked hard to keep good credit and it would be better to help her establish good (or better) credit than to risk jeopardizing yours. If she's as special as you believe, she'll agree with you. Repairing poor credit is a tough job, so she should respect your decision. Good luck!

[Anonymous]

I merged finances with my now spouse before we got married. 

This can really be tricky especially if one of you is not as good with money or has a bad credit history for whatever reason.

Honestly the best way to dip your toe in the shared finance pool is a "Home Account".  You still keep your current checking and credit card accounts and she keeps hers.

You open a new joint checking and credit card accounts that both of you pay into.  This is the money for utilities, mortgage, vacations, even joint gifts you might give friends or family.

As a person with good credit you are cushioned from her poor credit, but you are also bolstering her credit in the process.

Do not add her to anymore more of your credit cards as a user. Unless you have decided that card is for the "Home Account".

And you should be in charge of the home finances- keep her involved-but it seems that good money management is more your passion than hers.

Stick with this process for a while (I'm talking years) it is going to take a long time to get her credit back up.  Once you feel comfortable and her credit is up around 650- close the personal checking accounts and just keep the "Home Account".  Remember do not close any credit card accounts as that can be a negative on your credit.

Best of luck!

[Anonymous]

Such sweet intentions, but no. Marriage is what merges finances and sometimes is a reason people don't get married. You can help her help herself, absolutely! Getting the apps is a great start! It's helped me in the last year by leaps and bounds.

About paying bills, Suze Orman suggested on a show once when there was income inequality within a relationship to look at the percentage of money paid toward bills. So this way you can both contribute without lopsided burden. A $200 bill to you vs $200 bill to her sort of thing. I try to use this with my husband, because I pay for everything and can get resentful if he doesn't even pay one bill, for example - it works both ways 😊

[ncc1701e]

EXTREMELY UNWISE choice. For one the best way to gauge how you'll handle finances together is how you handle finances separate. Do you save first? Does she spend first? These are the questions you should be asking yourself. Finances is high on the list for why couples get divorced and financial responsibility is a must have in a spouse. There are horror stories after horror stories with credit being wrecked married or not. Since you are NOT married keep everything separate and split the bills either in half 50/50 or one of you take the electric 100% the other the gas 100%, and another one of you take on the cable 100%. Do NOT cosign or put her name on your credit cards. Let me be blunt, at the current time you both are not financially compatible.

[Anonymous]

I normally don't post to message boards, but I felt compelled to share my experience given it's a little different than what has been shared.  I merged my bank accounts and credit cards with my girlfriend over the past 10 years.  She had/has terrible credit due to a bankruptcy prior to us getting together over 10 years ago.  In short, her credit has not affected mine one iota.  My recent credit scores across the three credit co's were 850, 845, and 831.  Her name is on my bank accounts, utility bills, and credit cards.  Since I pay all of the bills her bad credit rating has not affected mine.  I hope this helps.

[Anonymous]

Everything always helps on this site willycoyote! I'm happy that your coming around to posting. However this post is a month old and a few members are still fired up and have not read my update lol only my original post. So they'll continue to go on and on until they see it. But I'm happy that has worked for you!

[Anonymous]

I was on your girlfriend's side of the situation, so I'm glad to read from your update that you gave her a chance. My credit was terrible before I met my (now ex) boyfriend. Once we moved in together, I allocated my paychecks to him via direct deposit and he added me as an authorized user to his long standing Chase card that he pays in full every month, and that I could use for daily expenses (food, gas, etc) and was also given an "allowance" of cash to use how I chose, which I chose to pay off my credit card balances every month. My credit score shot up within a few months of having the card and I was able to get low interest cards for myself and further my credit score even more. I know this situation isn't ideal for everyone, but it really worked for us. It helped me to be responsible with my spending and to really appreciate having a better credit score and not having to be dependent on someone else. Although we did recently break up, it was on good terms, so there was no need for me to do anything crazy with the card or car that he co-signed for me on. So I just wanted to let you know that it's not all horror stories and it CAN work out to benefit you both.