Suspicious

I have been planning for the just in case for almost a year now... just in case it comes to the point where I leave and have to do this on my own. I would like to share what I just recently learned. I should have been on this from the get go but I wasnt, no excuses... I just didnt put enough importance on this and if I had known I would have.

Advice has been given on here many times about protecting your own credit and not letting an addict H or W get you into financial trouble. I guess I thought I was exempt from this because I dont have any credit cards, car loans or a mortgage so I thought since I have no credit for him to ruin all I need to worry about is socking away enough in an emergency fund so that if I needed to take my boys and leave I could.... did you catch that? I HAVE NO CREDIT!!!! Yep, that is right I have no credit. Hubby owned the house when we met and utilities were already on in his name so for over 10 years I had nothing being reported in my own name. I have bought a new car so nothing there. I was leery of my own ability to manage impulses so I never wanted to have access to credit cards. His ex wife had opened a bunch of credit cards in his name so he didnt pursue it getting credit either.

The other day I had a person I know pull my credit score... I Dont Have One!!! This means that even if I had $10,000 socked away somewhere for an emergency getaway I probably coulldnt even rent an apartment. So I have done some checking to see what this means. Basically I am looking at minimum 1 year possibly 2 to fix this. So if anyone is in kinda the same boat as me let me give you some pointers. If your name is not on any of the major utilities get them on them BUT make sure they are paid on time. Delinquent or late utility payments lower a credit score. Same with any credit cards. This is called piggy backing off of your spouses credit history. Only do this if you feel pretty certain that in the next 2 yrs or so the situation will not escalate to the point that bills are not being paid. I also do not know the ins & outs and whether your name can be added to anything without a big to-do and causing your spouse to wonder why you are doing this.

In my case I am going to go to one of the banks that still offer the secured credit cards and open up a credit card account like this. From what I have read to get the best return on your credit score you want to use it ever other month or so and pay it off in full, never using more than 30% of the total credit available. Doing this for 1 yr and then see about getting an unsecured card or at least an increase following the same guidelines. I also spoke to a banker that said the lines of credit or CD's at the bank are NOT a good idea to build a credit score because as you pay them off and get another you are basically opening, closing, opening, closing accounts and that can drop your score instead of building it.

Get a cell phone account with one of the bigger companies, even if you have to pay a deposit then get the lowest plan available and make sure it is paid each month.

If you have never bought a new car (and couldnt even if you wanted to) consider buying a used car from one of the big dealerships... even though not new all payments are reported to on your report. I can vouch that the only way a buy here pay here place shows up on your credit is if they have to come and take it back so do not believe them if they advertise as a way to build credit.

I am basically self employed now and for the last several years I 'worked' from home with 'paid' position for my husbands company that he since closed up. In the years since I worked outside of the home almost all the decent companies will do a credit check on you for employment. If a person had to get a job after years of being a SAHM or HW having no or bad credit could make that hard to.

I am sure there is more. I just thought that someone might benefit from this info. If there is even a snowball's chance in Hades that you might need to leave your sig other at some point please check your credit so you know if you need to work on that. Easiest way to get your credit score and a really in depth credit report... go to an open house or call on a real estate listing.... most agents have a lender they work with that they will refer you to to see if you would qualify for a mortgage. They dont have to know that you are not sincere about buying. I know there is those free things online but everytime I tried that I was asked to sign up for some monthy thing. This is a true one time only thing and will tell you all you need to know.

CatsPajamas

I had a similar conversation with my mother when my dad had some heart surgery years ago. She was the same as you - she didnt have any credit and basically didnt exist in the credit system. That was back in the days when a wife just used her husband's credit card and signed Mrs. XYZ on the charge slip.

It's important for a woman to have her own credit and to establish herself for a variety of reasons. It's also important to have your own bank account, no matter how small it is at first.

Thanks for your thread. It is an important reminder and might be helpful to others who hadn't even thought about it before!

Suspicious

Thanks Cats,

I feel like I should have known this stuff as I am not from the era of Mr & Mrs John Smith... I dont live in a bubble and I know I should have known that no credit is just as harmful as bad credit. I was a single mom struggling to make ends meet (sometimes they didnt) when I met my now hubby. I have to admit that it was a relief to finally not be the sole provider. When he offered me the chance to be a SAHM working for him from home I jumped at the chance. I always figured any credit I might have wouldnt be good because there were months that this or that bill had to go unpaid and I had my share of disconnect notices that I scrambled to avoid. I thought that I could work around that. I see now that ""I"" am more important than I thought... in more ways than one.

I have had my own bank account since we have been together but other than a place to sock away some extra money it is no help at all in establishing a credit history.

I really do hope that no one else needs this info but I will probably feel really naive if I am the only one that didnt think of it. LOL.

Spinner-007

it's just like Suspicious said, and this is what I advise my borrowers who need to establish credit and improve FICO scores. I've seen this work firsthand so this is proven to establish and increase your scores. However, it doesn't guarantee anything else.

1. Take about $500-$1000 and put that into a savings account in a bank that doesn't charge fees. Ensure the bank reports to all three credit bureaus.
Open up a secured line of credit using that balance as collateral. If you have more money, go to a couple of banks and do the same. 2-3 lines will suffice.

2. Charge between 13-19% maximum on each, and pay the minimum monthly payments only. This will have the maximum positive effect in massaging your scores to their highest. It only takes a 2-4 months to show results. It starts to lessen the effect on your scores if your balances go from 20-49.99. Once at 50.01%, your scores will drop like a rock.

3. credit scores can go as low as 380 and as high as 850. As long as your score is at or over 740 mid score(the middle score from all 3 bureaus), most creditors don't care if it's higher. Beyond that, it's just a bragging point.

4. Any derogatory information(late payments, collections, judgements, bankruptcies, foreclosures, excessive inquiries) will drop your scores regardless of what you do otherwise.

4. NOTE: credit scores differ depending on who makes the inquiry. What you see checking on your scores as a personal inquiry will most likely be different from a mortgage or auto inquiry. It can be as much as 10-20 point difference.

Please keep in mind that credit is a tool, and if you use it properly, it will get other creditors to lend to you on much bigger items at a better advantages(lower rates and fees).

I hope this can be of use to anyone who needs it.