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Importance of Different Credit Scores

For those that didn't know, there are 3 different credit scores for our credit history. Each of the scores are derived from three different credit reporting agency: Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion.

To make things more clear, the credit score I'm talking about are FICO scores, the scoring system that the majority of lenders use to determine your credit worthiness. There are a lot of credit "scores" offered in the market, so its important to distinguish between real FICO scores and FAKO scores (a term online credit forum users use to describe fake credit scores).

Many factors account for the different credit scores; each agency gathers their consumer credit information differently; each of your creditor may report to different agencies; and balances are sometimes updated on different dates. At times, you may find that a particular agency does not even have a particular account shown on the credit report.

Here's an example. Let's say you have a credit card account from Chase. You've had this card for over 15 years, and have never paid late. This of course is a positive credit history. The funny part is, the account is only reported on your TransUnion and Experian report, but not your Equifax report.

This difference explains a bit why your FICO score from TransUnion is 750, the score from Experian is 770, while the score from Equifax is a lower 680. (FICO scores are on a scale of 300-850).

Now if you apply for a loan from a creditor, you get a better chance of approval, if they pull your Experian or TransUnion report, instead of your Equifax report. This is why its important to change these differences when necessary.

You can also take advantage of difference in credit scores. Let's say you have a negative of a miss-payment in your Equifax and Experian report. For whatever reason, this negative is not shown on your TransUnion report. If you're looking to apply for a credit card, it will be best to avoid a creditor that pulls Equifax or Experian.

There are numerous resources online which shows what agency a creditor pulls, and in which region. The Yahoo Group, Creditpulls contains a great database to search from.

Some creditor pulls from solely one agency, while others pull from two or all three. These are some of the major reasons why you should check your credit report, and change any mistakes or differences as necessary. This is especially true if you're about to apply for a large loan soon (mortgage or auto). You should check your reports 6 months before a large purchase to give yourself time to fix and update your credit reports.

Remember that we can all request at least one free report from each agency annually. We can also request report when we are denied credit. These days, checking your credit has been made much easier via online services, so you should utilize them as much as possible. (Especially the free ones)

Here are some useful links:

www.annualcreditreport.com - Free credit report from each agency.
www.experian.com - You can request a free report from Experian online if you have been recently denied credit. You can also dispute information online. You can view the report for 30 days, and its updated daily!
www.transunion.com - You can also request a free report from TransUnion online if you have been recently denied credit. You can also dispute information online.
www.equifax.com - Although you can request a free report, if I recall correctly, Equifax does not provide the report online. You can also dispute the information online.

When you dispute information, you are entitled to an updated free report to reflect the changes. Equifax is the only one that sends an excerpted report change. Talk about being cheap.

www.myfico.com - You can purchase your FICO score here. This is only place to get all three of your real FICO scores from each of your credit reporting agencies. There are numerous discount codes. Currently the code "2005FICO" gives you a discount of 15%
www.creditboards.com - Need credit repair help? This online message forum contains a vast bank of information. You should of course apply them with care, as not all advice may be suitable for your particular situation.

Got the Citi Dividend MasterCard, I think

Well I finally applied for the very popular Citi Dividend cash-back card , after I got one of them "Pre-Approve" offers in the mail. Citi's been sending me those PremierPass offers for quite awhile now, but I wanted the Dividend's 5% cash back on gas and groceries. (and 1% for everything else).

I applied for the card on July 1st, and an inquiry was made on my Experian credit report on July 2nd.

Although I have not received the approval letter yet, I believe I'm approved because Citi has initiated the balance transfer I requested when I applied for the card. I"ll be utilizing the temporary 0% offer to keep some cash on hand.

Even with the $300 cash-back cap, this still sounds like a pretty decent card. As soon as the balance transfer is paid off, I'll be charging my gas and grocery purchases on this! Maybe I'll get to enjoy more free money, just like jp from MyMoneyBlog.

Brand Conscious Buying

One great way to keep the expenses down is to stop buying those brand name products and buy the cheaper generic alternatives. Companies enjoy brand marketing, they spent millions on creating, marketing, and selling a brand, so you darn well will pay for it. There are industries where the entire product differential is just brand marketing. The soft drink industry falls into that category easily.

It's no secret that we all know brand name cost more, but do all of us know that a brand name does not necessary mean a better quality product?

Take one of my life obsession, Cap'N Crunch's Crunch Berries cereal for example. I have consistently purchased Crunch Berries for the past 6-7 years. They're fairly expensive when not purchased during sales price. $4 or so for a 15 oz box, $6 for a 21 oz box. The minute you put a scoop in your mouth, you'll know that they're decisively not healthy for you. (But it's oh so good!)

I finally went looking for an alternative recently.

So there I was 10 PM at night, making one of those important life changing decision, and of all places at Wal-Mart.

I was standing there holding a bag of Malt-O-Meal's Berry Colossal Crunch.

Colossal Crunch? A blue kangaroo? Why am I holding this monstrosity?

"Sir, are you okay?" asked a helpful Wal-Mart associate.

She was probably wondering why I've been standing there for over 10 minutes. I noticed the "How may I help you?" slogan on her uniform.

"Yes, you can definitely help me," I told her as I held up the bag and pointed towards the boxes of Crunch Berries, "tell me, which one of these do you think I should buy?"

"Cap'N Crunch is a better brand right?" she said. For whatever reason, she had this look of "what's wrong with you" on her face as she said that.

"Hmm... okay, thanks."

So I went ahead and bought the bag of Berry Colossal Crunch, because this whole post would have been pointless had I went with the Crunch Berries.

The Berry Colossal Crunch is a 2 pound bag, costing only $3.68 at Wallyworld. There is little nutritional difference between the two brand, although Crunch Berries did contained more folic acid. Seeing as how I'm not going to give birth anytime soon (human male), I don't think it's that big of a deal.

So, does it taste the same?

You betcha. In fact, it may even taste better. Or maybe I was experiencing a "saving high." You should also note that the bag is re-sealable, quite handy if you ask me.

Will I ever buy Crunch Berries again? Sure, if its on sale and at a cheaper price. Should I stop my addiction of eating unhealthy, sugar filled cereals? My new best friend the blue kangaroo, says no.

So shop around, sometimes those store or generic brands aren't half as bad as you think. This obviously isn't just about grocery though, it applies for almost everything. Of course sometimes a particular brand is just good at what they do, especially if they created their specific industry. But a lot of times they are all the same or very similiar. You're just paying for the name.

To quote a medicore movie, Armageddon:

"Wait! You don't know how those American equipment works!" exclaimed an astronaut trying to save the Earth.

"American computers, Russian computers, Japanese computers," yelled the cosmonaut, "ALL MADE IN TAIWAN!"

Reward Points for Wall Street Journal Subscription

I checked my American Express Membership Rewards Account today and noticed that I now have 8,970 points piled up. 1 point for every $1 spent. I don't remember spending $8,970... but thats probably why I had a huge debt before...

I don't really use my Amex Blue cards anymore because I've decided I prefer cash back rewards. So I figure I should spend my 8,970 points before I totally forget about it (they dont expire though). While browsing the rewards list, I remembered that they offer the Wall Street Journal as a rewards option.

A subscription for the WSJ cost 1,200 points. The subscription is for 3 months, or 64 issues. That's not a bad deal in my opinion because subscription to the WSJ cost a butt load. The price ranges from 52 weeks (1 Year) for $215; 26 weeks (1/2 Year) for $107.50; to $17.98 per month. You get a different amount of free weeks, as you can see below. I believe there are better offers out there than on WSJ.com, at least in terms of the amount of free weeks you get.

So base on subscrption cost at WSJ's website, this reward option is worth at about $35.96 (2 months price, including 1 month free). If I redeem it again, it'll be worth about $53.94 ($17.98 x 3 months).

American Express Rewards Point's points per dollar spent ratio generally goes around at this range: for every 1,000 points (or $1,000 spent) you get $10 worth of rewards, or $50 reward for 5,000 points. So for 1,200 points, getting a rewards option that's worth about $35.96 to $53.94 isn't too shabby at all.

I haven't claim the reward yet, but I think I will... unless someone can tell me what else I should do with my 8,970 points.

Edit: Well I went ahead and claimed the reward anyway, let's see how long it'll take for it to arrive.

Off Topic Stuff?

I had an off topic post regarding children in South Korea drawing anti-Japan pictures just earlier.

I thought about it and although I think it's interesting (not the right word to use but yeah) to share, I think I'll try to keep stuff like this away from the blog.

I'm sure I'll still post occasional off topic items, but I think I'll keep the decisively off topic stuff away. I mean, if you want to read about politics, religion, or social issues, you'll read about it at each of their respective relevant sources, not at a website with a title of Stop Buying Crap.

Edit: I've sine removed the post but it looks like it still shows up in syndication *shrug*