Dubya Tea Eff, Mate? (Fair Isaac makes no sense to me)

**wolf** · 07-24-2008, 09:07 PM

Check this noise out:
- Last month I closed an account that was with a card issuer that sucked ass (and should be sued into an oblivion... anyone want to join a class-action lawsuit against GE Moneybank? They sent me my card bill dated 13 days before the postmark last time with a 20-day grace period before it needed to be paid. This must be illegal...). This is supposed to be a negative hit on your credit score.
- I went from a "revolving" balance of zero to a balance of just 400 short of my credit limit last month. It's my usual method for making big purchases - I figure I might as well make interest on the money by buying right around the time of my statement so it shows up on my next bill. Platinum cards give you a 25-day interest-free repayment grace period after your billing, which is a month or more later, and lets you make all the interest on the money instead of losing it (nearly two months worth). Thanks to the wonders of online account management and bill paying, I can schedule the payment for the day before it's due and accrue no interest or fees. Cards are basically free loans if you play them right and already have the money saved up for the purchase before you make it (which is prudent - never spend what you don't have). Supposedly a fairly large percentage of your credit score is based on your debt:credit ratio, which went from nothing to nearly-maxed due to this.

I expected to be punished with a worse credit score than I've had in months, lower than my old low that I hit last time I spent that close to my limit when the outstanding balance was half as much. (My bank gives me my score monthly and makes it available with a little graph of the last year so I can watch it go up and down).

For this, my credit score went higher than it's even been before (five times in the last year it has gone above the median score, this time it's well above that, in the range that MSN Money claims basically can't be exceeded...it went up 31 points, and is 141 above my low) and they upped my credit limit by a thousand bucks as well.

What can you say? It's a sort of spectator sport where you can affect the outcome but have no clue what the actual effect will be.

Dubya Tea Eff, Mate?

**hypervel** · 07-25-2008, 04:54 PM

Why are you even concerned about your credit score?

**wolf** · 07-26-2008, 01:38 PM

It's the only entertaining thing on the card site. Since I don't care to get loans, it doesn't really matter, but I like to see what effects things I do have. Some kind of strange curiosity with black boxes; I like to poke them.

I was hoping to push it lower than it had ever been before, but failed miserably. For some reason I thought it was worth writing about.

07-24-2008, 09:07 PM	#1
wolf Member [13%] MBTI: INTJ Join Date: Sep 2007 Posts: 534	Check this noise out: - Last month I closed an account that was with a card issuer that sucked ass (and should be sued into an oblivion... anyone want to join a class-action lawsuit against GE Moneybank? They sent me my card bill dated 13 days before the postmark last time with a 20-day grace period before it needed to be paid. This must be illegal...). This is supposed to be a negative hit on your credit score. - I went from a "revolving" balance of zero to a balance of just 400 short of my credit limit last month. It's my usual method for making big purchases - I figure I might as well make interest on the money by buying right around the time of my statement so it shows up on my next bill. Platinum cards give you a 25-day interest-free repayment grace period after your billing, which is a month or more later, and lets you make all the interest on the money instead of losing it (nearly two months worth). Thanks to the wonders of online account management and bill paying, I can schedule the payment for the day before it's due and accrue no interest or fees. Cards are basically free loans if you play them right and already have the money saved up for the purchase before you make it (which is prudent - never spend what you don't have). Supposedly a fairly large percentage of your credit score is based on your debt:credit ratio, which went from nothing to nearly-maxed due to this. I expected to be punished with a worse credit score than I've had in months, lower than my old low that I hit last time I spent that close to my limit when the outstanding balance was half as much. (My bank gives me my score monthly and makes it available with a little graph of the last year so I can watch it go up and down). For this, my credit score went higher than it's even been before (five times in the last year it has gone above the median score, this time it's well above that, in the range that MSN Money claims basically can't be exceeded...it went up 31 points, and is 141 above my low) and they upped my credit limit by a thousand bucks as well. What can you say? It's a sort of spectator sport where you can affect the outcome but have no clue what the actual effect will be. Dubya Tea Eff, Mate?
wolf is offline post a comment

07-25-2008, 04:54 PM	#2
hypervel Member [02%] MBTI: INTJ Join Date: Jul 2008 Posts: 115	Why are you even concerned about your credit score?
hypervel is offline post a comment

07-26-2008, 01:38 PM	#3
wolf Member [13%] MBTI: INTJ Join Date: Sep 2007 Posts: 534	It's the only entertaining thing on the card site. Since I don't care to get loans, it doesn't really matter, but I like to see what effects things I do have. Some kind of strange curiosity with black boxes; I like to poke them. I was hoping to push it lower than it had ever been before, but failed miserably. For some reason I thought it was worth writing about.
wolf is offline post a comment