Student Credit Card

[Woozie]

Yes, that installment debt is your student loan.

[kyod]

So I got my credit report, but freecreditreport.com wants $40 lol.

It said something about installment debt of $25004 (but has a separate section for loans and lists the same number there), is that from my student loan I took out this year? (It was 25k)
4 Different companies had received a copy of my credit report, so I guess I exaggerated with 9?

To see your credit scores, you must buy your credit report from the agencies. Your annual free credit report does not give you specific scores.

Additionally, freecreditreport.com is not the official government free credit report (to see your scores they make you sign up for triple advantage or whatever which costs $$$). annualcreditreport.com is the federal government sponsored one.

And for that one 25k student loan (I'll assume it's private), depending on your interest rate, you're looking at paying at least $200/mo for that (most likely more), that's just for that one student loan (not counting any government loans aids). Make sure you know how much you're going to be paying monthly before you take out these loans vs. your career choice. Working as an artists and having total student loan payments of $1000 a month is the path to financial ruin. (can't have student loan debt discharged in bankruptcy!)

[Chun Liroy]

I'm paying currently $100/mo or so, my parents are taking care of it for now since I have no job atm... It's just to pay off the interest and now the loan itself. I plan on going into some sort of medical field, biotechnology or bioinformatics.

[archibaldcrane]

(to see your scores they make you sign up for triple advantage or whatever which costs $$$)

They always give you a month or two weeks for free for those "credit monitoring companies" - just cancel before that period is up.

But beyond that, go to creditkarma.com - doesn't cost anything, and you'll see (their estimation of) one bureau's score and how your situation affects that score. It's a good site.

[Chun Liroy]

Creditkarma.com says 628, which is poor. Is this normal for a person with pretty much no credit?

[archibaldcrane]

Creditkarma.com says 628, which is poor. Is this normal for a person with pretty much no credit?

Are there any missed payments listed? If not, then dont worry about it. Your problem is no income, not bad credit.



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[Caiyuo]

I was curious, I've heard that the length of time that you keep your first credit card reflects in your credit report in some way, but is there a certain threshold you can pass that won't reflect negatively on your report? I'd like to cancel my Capital One as it's my first and has the lowest limit and worst interest rate, but I'm not sure whether I'd be worse off canceling it or not using it (if that reflects negatively?) at this point. I've had it for about 5 years.

[kyod]

I was curious, I've heard that the length of time that you keep your first credit card reflects in your credit report in some way, but is there a certain threshold you can pass that won't reflect negatively on your report? I'd like to cancel my Capital One as it's my first and has the lowest limit and worst interest rate, but I'm not sure whether I'd be worse off canceling it or not using it (if that reflects negatively?) at this point. I've had it for about 5 years.

How much other credit do you have? If you close this card, you're debt to credit ratio increases which negatively affects your score. For example, say you have 3 cards. Your capital one has a limit of 5000 and has no balance. Your MasterCard has a limit of 2000 but a balance of 1000 on it. You also have an Amex with a limit of 10000 and a balance of 4000 on it. In total you have a credit limit of 17000 with a balance of 6000, which 35% of your total credit is being used by debt.

If you closed that capital one, your credit limit would now be 12000, but still have the total balance of 6000. Now you're at 50%. This would definitely affect your score.

Unless this card is costing you money to keep, I wouldn't close it. Use it occasionally and immediately pay off the balance.

[archibaldcrane]

Unless this card is costing you money to keep, I wouldn't close it.

This. I havent used my first CC in a couple years but I keep it open to lengthen my "longest open credit line" and "average length of open lines" scores.



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[Ksandra]

How much other credit do you have? If you close this card, you're debt to credit ratio increases which negatively affects your score. For example, say you have 3 cards. Your capital one has a limit of 5000 and has no balance. Your MasterCard has a limit of 2000 but a balance of 1000 on it. You also have an Amex with a limit of 10000 and a balance of 4000 on it. In total you have a credit limit of 17000 with a balance of 6000, which 35% of your total credit is being used by debt.

If you closed that capital one, your credit limit would now be 12000, but still have the total balance of 6000. Now you're at 50%. This would definitely affect your score.

Unless this card is costing you money to keep, I wouldn't close it. Use it occasionally and immediately pay off the balance.

To go with this, I've always read that you should try to stay under the 30% mark, BUT you gotta be careful about having too much credit at the same time, because they look at it as the possibility for you to run up more than you can afford.

[Woozie]

Are there any missed payments listed? If not, then dont worry about it. Your problem is no income, not bad credit.



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Do credit bureaus know your income? I know credit card companies ask for that but I don't see it listed on my credit report. Plus my income is way different than it was when I got my cards, so it would be weird if anyone knew my income other than the IRS and FAFSA.

[archibaldcrane]

I know credit card companies ask

That's what I mean. His $0 income is what is keeping him from getting a credit card.

[Woozie]

Oh okay, my bad. That makes more sense.

[Caiyuo]

How much other credit do you have? If you close this card, you're debt to credit ratio increases which negatively affects your score. For example, say you have 3 cards. Your capital one has a limit of 5000 and has no balance. Your MasterCard has a limit of 2000 but a balance of 1000 on it. You also have an Amex with a limit of 10000 and a balance of 4000 on it. In total you have a credit limit of 17000 with a balance of 6000, which 35% of your total credit is being used by debt.

If you closed that capital one, your credit limit would now be 12000, but still have the total balance of 6000. Now you're at 50%. This would definitely affect your score.

Unless this card is costing you money to keep, I wouldn't close it. Use it occasionally and immediately pay off the balance.

This. I havent used my first CC in a couple years but I keep it open to lengthen my "longest open credit line" and "average length of open lines" scores.

Thanks, that helps. I wouldn't be that affected in regards to debt-to-credit ratio but I'll leave it open given this advice because canceling was more about wanting to consolidate and lower the total amount of potential debt I was carrying around, lol