GIRLS' ROOM! Credit [spit from Downsizing is HARD! Immobilized!]

[RV-Hopeful]

[Split from "Downsizing is HARD! Immobilized!" thread]

.. Catch 22, I can't afford a class c or b until I not longer pay rent, I can no longer pay rent until I have a class c or b to live in...

 

[ilovemyvan]

Simple suggestion. Buy your house on wheels (RV, Class B) and apply the money you would spend on rent towards paying the loan on your house. It requires discipline but it can be done, especially if you set up your loan to take the money automatically out of your account. Eventually it will be paid off and you will be living rent free.

As for your difficulties. I understand 100%, I'm bipolar. It is always so tempting to just shut everything off. Do what you can and be proud of it.

Take care :heart:

Nicole

 

[RV-Hopeful]

Simple suggestion. Buy your house on wheels (RV, Class B) and apply the money you would spend on rent towards paying the loan on your house. It requires discipline but it can be done, especially if you set up your loan to take the money automatically out of your account. Eventually it will be paid off and you will be living rent free.

As for your difficulties. I understand 100%, I'm bipolar. It is always so tempting to just shut everything off. Do what you can and be proud of it.

Take care  :heart:

Nicole

The work you did on your van humbles me. I don't know how you did it. Yea, if it was just me I'd do your suggestion, but I have a roommate and we are working at coordinating on timing of getting out of here ... she works full time long hrs, I'm disabled and find "all the possibilities" interfere with the logical process of step 1, 2, 3 

i'm just overwhelmed. thanks for your response ... and thanks goodness this too shall pass. I should probably stop posting here until I'm on an even keel.

 

[Cheli]

I am TOTALLY with you RV-Hopeful.  I feel completely scattered as well, and I am normally a very organized, get things done that need to get done kind of girl.  But with this I'm like do I want an rv or do I want a van?  Do I want a cargo van or a conversion van?  Will I live in the van and stay at my job for another six months and really rack up some savings or do I hit the road and figure out money as I go?  I go back and forth depending on the day.  lol

ilovemyman - that's a great option but not such a "simple suggestion" if one doesn't have the means to buy the house on wheels to begin with.  Great job on your van btw.

I went through a nasty divorce four years ago which ruined my credit.  I'm not sure I will be able to get a loan for a van and I don't have $10k to go pay cash for one.  I'm upside down on my current car loan, meaning I owe about $10k but couldn't only get about $6-8k for it.  So I have to add about $2k onto whatever loan I'd get if I could get approved for one.  If I can get a loan then it's no problem at all because I pay $1k rent plus a couple hundred in utilities so I could pay off my home fast once I stopped paying rent.

I agree with you RV-Hopeful, you can't get the van/rv while still paying rent but you can't get rid of the rent until you have something to stay in.  Ugggggh it's a viscous cycle.

Don't get discouraged.....everything always works out the way it's supposed to.

I am currently staying the course of selling all of my belongings, this takes a long time.  Then when everything is gone except my furniture, it's time to sell the furniture and buy a van.  I hope at that point my credit will be a little better and I'll have some money to put towards the van and still some to customize it.

If I could be on the road yesterday I would be so excited, but realistically I would like to be on the road by January 1st.  I'm so envious of those who are able to say just do it and then just do it.  It seems to me that there is a lot to get in order before being able to do it.

 

[Txjaybird]

[post split between this thread and original "Downsizing is HARD!"]

I recently was told I can't get credit because the only thing on my credit report is $50,000 OF STUDENT LOANS PAID IN FULL......I thought that by not buying a lot of stuff on credit when I needed a loan I would not have any problem...Not the first time my thinking has got me in trouble  

 

[Cheli]

I recently was told I can't get credit because the only thing on my credit report is $50,000 OF STUDENT LOANS PAID IN FULL......I thought that by not buying a lot of stuff on credit when I needed a loan I would not have any problem...Not the first time my thinking has got me in trouble     

Gotta love that huh? If you're not one to live crazy in debt you aren't allowed to take out a loan. Blows my mind. Ok so I'm responsible and don't have credit cards stacked up but I need help with a loan and I can't get one? I had the same thing happen to me two years ago.

[2nd part of this post remains with the original thread "Downsizing is HARD!]

 

[gcal]

... I recently was told I can't get credit because the only thing on my credit report is $50,000 OF STUDENT LOANS PAID IN FULL......I thought that by not buying a lot of stuff on credit when I needed a loan I would not have any problem...Not the first time my thinking has got me in trouble     ...

You had the same thing happen two years ago and it did not occur to you to get a credit card and just use it once in a while and then pay it off at the end of the month to establish credit? That would have made your life easier, now, and you did not have to go crazy in debt.

 

[Queen]

I've had excellent credit for the last 20 or so years, until we went debt free and moved to FL; then it started dropping a little each month. I don't really want to buy anything on credit so it didn't matter a lot... but if I needed it for some reason I wanted it available. Started using one of my cards that offers cash back, using it for everything from groceries to gas to restaurants, one month later my credit zoomed back over 820, so weird! But I also learned a lesson, by using that card for everything I get about $12-$15 cash back each month that I can toss into the travel fund, all for stuff I'd buy anyway so win-win.

 

[Cheli]

You had the same thing happen two years ago and it did not occur to you to get a credit card and just use it once in a while and then pay it off at the end of the month to establish credit? That would have made your life easier, now, and you did not have to go crazy in debt.

No need to talk down to people, you're comment seems very condescending.  But maybe not, you can't tell tone via type.

Anyway.

Yes it did occur to me but first of all, if I couldn't get approved for a minor loan because of bad debt chances are that I wouldn't get approved for a credit card.  Second of all, I chose not to use debt or "establish credit".  I chose instead to clean up my debt by paying everything off not add more credit.  The only debt I have remaining is my auto loan because what I did instead of incurring more debt is work hard, very hard, took on a second job, sold things and paid off thousands of dollars in debt in the last two years ON MY OWN.  I'm more proud of that, thank you very much.

My credit score has improved greatly since two years ago simply by continuing to pay bills on time and pay off debt.  This is what works for me.

 

[RV-Hopeful]

Cheli .. that is remarkable what you've accomplished getting your debit down to your auto loan! Congratulations!! Sometime we have to dial it back and then re-establish ... {{{thumbs up}}}}}

 

[RV-Hopeful]

I recently was told I can't get credit because the only thing on my credit report is $50,000 OF STUDENT LOANS PAID IN FULL......I thought that by not buying a lot of stuff on credit when I needed a loan I would not have any problem...Not the first time my thinking has got me in trouble     

Tjaybird ... congrats on paying off such a large student loan.  My son was not able to accomplish that and carried that debt until he passed 3 years ago.  He studied hard, got his degree but couldn't find consistent work in his field. Sad really, anyway ... BIG THUMBS UP TO YOU for paying it off!!

 

[ggwoman]

The only people who need credit are those who are in debt, or want to be in debt in the future. Good on you Cheli and TJaybird.

I don't want to hear arguments for going into debt because insurance companies and employment depend on your credit score and not your credit REPORT. Find a better insurance company and ask yourself if you would even want to work for a company who decides YOUR value on a silly number indicating only your ability to stay in debt and be a good little slave.

 

[gcal]

No need to talk down to people, you're comment seems very condescending.  But maybe not, you can't tell tone via type.

Anyway.

Yes it did occur to me but first of all, if I couldn't get approved for a minor loan because of bad debt chances are that I wouldn't get approved for a credit card.  Second of all, I chose not to use debt or "establish credit".  I chose instead to clean up my debt by paying everything off not add more credit.  The only debt I have remaining is my auto loan because what I did instead of incurring more debt is work hard, very hard, took on a second job, sold things and paid off thousands of dollars in debt in the last two years ON MY OWN.  I'm more proud of that, thank you very much.

My credit score has improved greatly since two years ago simply by continuing to pay bills on time and pay off debt.  This is what works for me.

Actually, I thought I was replying to Tjbird and ran your posts together

 

[Cheli]

The only people who need credit are those who are in debt, or want to be in debt in the future.

Exactly my thinking. 

 

[gcal]

The only people who need credit are those who are in debt, or want to be in debt in the future.

But most of us do use credit to buy a new car or a house or to take care of an unexpected emergency in a strange place. You can't rent a car or book a flight or buy a Nook book or do any number of other things if you don't have a credit card. I guess you could use a debit card for some things, but no way am I going to want the number that provides direct access to my bank funds floating around out there in someone's hackable records.

 

[ilovemyvan]

Yea the credit game they play!

When we received our green cards, we're Canadians, we applied for credit cards and were refused because of the lack of US credit history. We had excellent credit in Canada but that didn't count. We had to buy $1,000 worth of CDs and using them as collateral for a $1,000 loan. We were very fortunate that our bank was willing to do that for us. Yap, game people play!

Best of luck to you.

Nicole

 

[ggwoman]

But most of us do use credit to buy a new car or a house or to take care of an unexpected emergency in a strange place. You can't rent a car or book a flight or buy a Nook book or do any number of other things if you don't have a credit card. I guess you could use a debit card for some things, but no way am I going to want the number that provides direct access to my bank funds floating around out there in someone's hackable records.

Well I am not one to buy a new anything. Depreciation is a nonstarter for me. Unexpected emergencies? That's why I have an EF so I don't need to rely on CC debt to get me out of a jam. A debit card or cash works just fine for renting a vehicle. If you are concerned about hacks, then have a separate account/debit card for the sole purpose of renting.

 

[gcal]

Well I am not one to buy a new anything. Depreciation is a nonstarter for me. Unexpected emergencies? That's why I have an EF so I don't need to rely on CC debt to get me out of a jam.  A debit card or cash works just fine for renting a vehicle.  If you are concerned about hacks, then have a separate account/debit card for the sole purpose of renting.

Different strokes for different folks, I guess. I did not mention it, but the biggest reason I can think of for having a CC is safety. It is a lot safer than carrying cash, especially in unfamiliar areas or tourist traps. If your pocket is picked or your purse is stolen, any cash you are carrying is gone forever. If a CC is taken, your loss is strictly limited. I very seldom have more than $20 in cash on me. Usually it is less.

 

[ggwoman]

I don't carry a lot of cash either, that's what ATM's and cash backs are for. Having just had my billfold stolen recently while gassing up, I understand the loss of cc/debit cards can be serious, but you just call straightaway and they freeze the accounts. Technology today can be useful. I've been thinking a money belt is a good way to go while traveling and sightseeing.

 

[Suanne]

... a silly number indicating only your ability to stay in debt and be a good little  slave.

I happen to agree that a credit score is a "silly" number.  Yet, even though I keep myself 100% debt free, I also purposely maintain a good credit score*.  This is in case I need money or some other item/service valued above my emergency funds.  It's another game I play in order to deal with society's rules.

To me, the effort I put into keeping a high credit score is in the same category as some of the other things I do to successfully live within our current civilized society, even though I don't agree with the basic concepts.  For example, I pay federal taxes that go to fund wars.  And, another example, for those who full-time out of a vehicle, you report a permanent domicile to get a driver's license.

The consequences of non-compliance with our society's government and big-business' rules can be anything from imprisonment, to earning less, to being fined, to not getting good medical care, etc.  For me, I choose to play along to some extent in order to avoid the unjustified, unfair consequences that would ensue if I were to strictly follow all of my morals and preferences.

These are my thoughts and choices that work for me, YMMV.

Suanne ... who puts up with invasion of privacy to use the Internet

*Similar to Queen's strategyhttps://vanlivingforum.com/Thread-T...zing-is-HARD-Immobilized?pid=195847#pid195847, totally paying off the cards every month.