I haven't posted in a few days, but couldn't pass up this wonderful thread
without adding my 2 cents worth of observation.

Not sure about other countries, but here in America, people take out a
$200,000 home loan and pay back $500,000 over 30 years. All the while,
they only spend 4 to 5 weekday hours awake in this house because they
work/commute 10-12 hours a day and are so tired that they sleep 8 hours
per night. The kicker is that we will all die and leave this house to a
relative.

Is it better to pay $1500 a month in mortgage payments, or rent an
apartment for $900 a month, invest some of the savings and travel/
have fun with the rest? I suppose it depends on whether leaving property
to one's heirs is a top priority in life. Personally, I think it's silly to invest
so much money into a house that is only inhabited in a non-sleeping mode
for only 4 to 5 hours each weekday. My wife feels differently, so for the sake
of peace-at-home, I go along with her desire to "own" a house that won't
actually be ours for another 18 years.. We'll both be in our 60's then and
statistically only 15-20 years shy of pushing up daises. That is, as long as
the stars line up perfectly and we don't lose our jobs, get terminally ill, etc...
-cwm

First Off-

Credit Is an Option, your not forced into it. You chose to take a loan. You also sign a contract.

Your obligated to hold up your end of the bargain, and so is the lender. You agreed to the amount, and the repayment terms, you know you did... you signed all those papers remember? The lender also holds true to their end of the deal.....

GIVING YOU MONEY THAT’S NOT YOURS!

No matter where the money comes from, it's still not yours, and your using it to buy things you can't afford.

Well you got what you wanted didn't you? Instant gratification. That part is fine isn't it, you got that big new house, that shinny car, that giant 60 inch plasma tv. Why shouldn't you, everyone else has one, so should you. In fact you deserve it! Right?

WRONG,

Fact is you don't deserve anything- Your living outside of your means, What do you say you can make the payments? Well when you struggle and miss some payments, do you somehow feel that you shouldn’t be held responsible for your actions? Losing your job or whatever life crisis your in is a poor excuse. That’s called life.

Remember your borrowing someone else's money to buy things you can't afford yourself. Then working in and endless circle to make those small payments on your ever increasing balances.

Anyone lending you money should be worried. Here they are counting on you to repay a large amount of money that you don't have. And everyone alive that stands on there own two feet knows problems in life come up. If your so tightly strapped by payments, living "paycheck to paycheck" is the frequent term, that you haven't saved or planned ahead for the unexpected it is entirely your own fault.

Take blame, everyone wants to make the other guy the bad guy.

There's always risks involved, they’ve made a big risk trusting you to repay on time, and you made a big risk by obligating yourself to these large monthly payments. By your own choice-

Now you missed payments, multiple payments. 30, 60, and 90 days past due are the marks, lowering your "rating" farther each bracket you get into.

Guess what? Remember that contract you signed? Remember all that money the lender gave to you? That nice house that shinny car, that crazy big tv you had to have. Yeah they want there money. On time, every month, you know, like you agreed to when you signed the contract. Is that to much to ask?

Well your score is now in the toilet. You defaulted 30, 60, 90 days on your loan. Yes, yes you repaid the loan! But you still screwed them. You paid on time for 4 years, you screw them- yet you repaid your balance should they forget you broke your end of the deal? It's only one time you say but every other time I was good. Well now your a bigger risk. Don't worry, 24months out negative effects from late payments would make up less percentage of loss in your score. They look back all the way, but the recent history determines a larger effect of the score. In terms of your history, 4 years in itself is very little history. Besides, at some point one of the things you should strive for is to not worry about your credit, not needing to borrow anything from anyone.

Remember your credit score is only important if your trying to obtain things you don’t have the money for.

I try to look at things at face value. This attitude is how I look at myself. I'm 26, and in debt, 3 mortgages, car payment, quad, credit cards etc.. the whole bunch. I make 70 a year and most of it goes towards repaying loans. I owe $290,000..... it makes me sick.

But the positive aspect is were young enough to realize the game, and the "rat race" and do your best to stay out of it, or if your in it like me, plan, and do your best to get out of it!

Live in your means, paydown your debt one by one, save some of your paycheck, expect the worse to happen. I think everyone knows that some bad times are ahead.

On time, every month, you know, like you agreed to when you signed the contract. Is that to much to ask?

You no longer have to be late to get a bad credit score.

Now, they can give you bad credit for maxxing out your card, even if you are paying them back on time, each and every month.

You can also get bad credit by being over or meeting your debt to income ratio.
The credit card companies you have cards for, keep a tab on your credit rating, and if you exceed or meet your debt to income ratio, they will charge you higher interest rates on the same card you have already used, and have been making payments to religiously.

If too many people run a credit check on you, that also lowers your credit score.


[edit on 27-10-2007 by undo]