Found this article yesterday on Yahoo Finance and it's the first time I've ever seen a breakdown of how much certain actions will damage your credit.
Here's the article:
How Common Mistakes Effect Your Credit ScoreHere is the chart:
Still think this doesn't effect you?
Here's another way to look at (excerpt from the article)
"In order to show just how badly a drop in your FICO score can hurt your wallet, we spoke with members of the home mortgage, auto and credit card lending industries. We presented hypothetical scenarios of a consumer who decided to apply for a $200,000, 30-year mortgage; a $20,000, five-year auto loan and a credit card... they were able to provide an idea of what a borrower who had the following credit scores could expect.
For a Consumer Who Started With a FICO Score of 780:
-Following a 30-day late payment, the consumer's car loan rate would jump nearly 3 percent, costing the borrower $26 more each month.
-Following a debt settlement, the consumer would pay as much as $109 more each month on a home mortgage.
For a Consumer Who Started With a FICO Score of 680:
-Following a 30-day late payment, the consumer would pay $41 more each month for a car loan.
-Following a 30-day late payment, the consumer would pay as much as $95 more each month on a home mortgage.
-Following a debt settlement, the consumer would no longer qualify for a credit card."\
If you own a home and car (or are thinking about purchasing one) that's almost $1700 extra PER YEAR that you're paying because you were 30 days late on your credit card. That's the average person's car payment for 4-6 months.
Something to think about before you charge your holiday shopping without knowing how you're going to pay for it...
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