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Does anyone use Credit Karma to monitor their credit?

Does anyone use Credit Karma to monitor their credit?

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by: Chrisinkingwood Active Indicator LED Icon 8 OP 
~ 7 years ago   Apr 28, '16 1:38pm  
My step son got my wife using Credit Karma to  monitor her accounts and data, etc. and she suggested I use it also. So I did but I really don't understand it. According to their scoring method called VantageScore I am in the Excellent range as far as my score. Probably because my wife pays all the bills and keeps me on a pretty tight leash as far as actually using my credit cards to buy anything!So I look at the section on "Credit Factors, what can impact my credit score" and in 4 out of the 6 factors I am rated as Excellent; Payment History, Derogatory Marks, Age of Credit History and Credit Inquiries. They list Credit Card Utilization as Good, one notch below Excellent because I am using about 20% of my credit card availability. I think my DW parked some debt on a card with no interest for the next 18 months while she pays it off. So when it is paid off that will probably move to Excellent.  But they have me listed as Poor for Total Number of Accounts. And they suggest I try to open some new credit cards. I have 10 accounts listed, I think I have a few more but maybe they don't report as they don't show up on my credit report details. But applying for new credit puts a hard inquiry hit on your report and can lower your score. So why would I do that if it would lower an Excellent score?  And to be honest I don't really want another card to deal with. Overall I feel pretty good. There was a time when work was very bad and I got pretty deep in debt. I've gotten to the point that if I don't really need it I don't buy it. 4951
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Maisey1 Active Indicator LED Icon 9
~ 7 years ago   Apr 28, '16 1:44pm  
I use it to monitor my husbands credit because I have worked so hard to get it to where it is now that I don't want anything derogatory showing up without my knowledge. Much of the bad credit we removed did not even belong to him. They also suggest he get more credit cards or whatever, but after all my hard work and his history I told him his credit is just fine where it's at. His score was just fine to be able to buy a home recently and he certainly doesn't need anything that requires opening an account right now.  4951
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Kraz2014 Active Indicator LED Icon 1
~ 7 years ago   Apr 28, '16 1:45pm  
I use Credit Karma because a crappy ex.... long story. Their credit scores calculate a bit higher than the credit union did when I recently bought a new car. However, it is nice to see when things pop up that aren't supposed to be there.  4951
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ForeCPA90 Active Indicator LED Icon 9
~ 7 years ago   Apr 28, '16 1:48pm  
I use Credit Karma.  I don't think opening new cards will help.  I get dinged on that section also, but it's because I only have one type of open account (credit cards), I have no debt, which I actually get dinged for as I have no mortgage, car payment or any other kind of term loan.  When I paid my car off about 5 years ago, my score actually dropped slightly.  If you open a new cc your average age will drop along with the additional hit from the hard pull.Those factors are so low impact though.  As long as you are not carrying too much debt compared to your available credit, and you are paying everything on time, your score will be just fine and you should qualify for the best rates.  All the negative factors on my report are so minor that they don't impact my score more than a few points. 4951
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Retired_Engineer Active Indicator LED Icon 13
~ 7 years ago   Apr 28, '16 1:50pm  
I don't use Credit Karma or any other credit monitoring services.  However, I DO get a free yearly credit report from the three top credit reporting agencies.https://www.annualcreditreport.com/index.actionIt just so happens that this week is flagged on my calendar to get new reports.  I don't worry much about my credit score.  Chase says I can get a free Score, but when I try it, it says it lacks sufficient data.  My house and cars are paid for and the only "credit" I use is my credit card, which I pay off each month. 4951
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beastmode Active Indicator LED Icon 12
~ 7 years ago   Apr 28, '16 1:53pm  
My bank tracks it for free, fairly accurate. I look at it once a week or so. Not a real concern. I pay everything with the card to get the unlimited cashback. I think they ding me some for putting high charges on it but so what. I always pay the balance in full and when your company let's you use your card and reimburses you for it why not. That adds up to a lot of free money over a year. If my score suffers some fine with it. Rather have free money. 4951
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MarT Active Indicator LED Icon 9
~ 7 years ago   Apr 28, '16 1:55pm  
@Retired_EngineerSome of this credit report stuff is so irritating.  My incredibly responsible parents, only carried over a CC balance 1 month their whole lives, due to oversight during a crisis.  They had zero debt, no mortgage and their car insurance was increased because their credit score went down because they had so few credit references.  4951
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ForeCPA90 Active Indicator LED Icon 9
~ 7 years ago   Apr 28, '16 1:57pm  
My bank tracks it for free, fairly accurate. I look at it once a week or so. Not a real concern. I pay everything with the card to get the unlimited cashback. I think they ding me some for putting high charges on it but so what. I always pay the balance in full and when your company let's you use your card and reimburses you for it why not. That adds up to a lot of free money over a year. If my score suffers some fine with it. Rather have free money.
 
@beastmode: Agree!  Plus the score improves as soon as the available credit goes back down, so it can be managed.  I do the same as you, absolutely everything goes on the card for points, miles, or cash back.  Plus I like being able to download all of my spending into a spreadsheet to track spending.
4951
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MarT Active Indicator LED Icon 9
~ 7 years ago   Apr 28, '16 2:03pm  
We charge just about everything, all of our bills and spending (except when they charge a fee), plus all of hubby's work travel expenses and get miles.  Pay it off each month.  Love being able to download the transactions directly to Quicken. 4951
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ForeCPA90 Active Indicator LED Icon 9
~ 7 years ago   Apr 28, '16 2:04pm  
Note. I don't think anyone has mentioned that Credit Karma is free.  They also have a mobile app which alerts me to any changes.They will recommend credit cards for you based on your credit score and offer a service to find online financing for auto loans,  things like that are how they generate revenue. 4951
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Retired_Engineer Active Indicator LED Icon 13
~ 7 years ago   Apr 28, '16 2:07pm  
My bank tracks it for free, fairly accurate. I look at it once a week or so. Not a real concern. I pay everything with the card to get the unlimited cashback. I think they ding me some for putting high charges on it but so what. I always pay the balance in full and when your company let's you use your card and reimburses you for it why not. That adds up to a lot of free money over a year. If my score suffers some fine with it. Rather have free money.
 
@beastmode:  There are two ways that credit card companies make money:1. Every time you purchase anything with your card, the business where you made the purchase pays the CC company a percentage for the "hassle" of paying them and later getting paid back by you.  That amount can vary from 1% up to about 6%.  Businesses, by law,  can't charge you more for using a CC, but they CAN give you a discount if you use cash.  The reason is that charge by the CC companies.2. The insane interest they make when you don't pay off the bill and carry charges over to the next month(s).Credit card companies can drop you if they are not making any money off of you.  They don't make any money off of me from #2, but we make a lot of purchases during the month (#1), which I guess keeps them happy.
4951
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Retired_Engineer Active Indicator LED Icon 13
~ 7 years ago   Apr 28, '16 2:21pm  
@Retired_EngineerSome of this credit report stuff is so irritating.  My incredibly responsible parents, only carried over a CC balance 1 month their whole lives, due to oversight during a crisis.  They had zero debt, no mortgage and their car insurance was increased because their credit score went down because they had so few credit references. 
 
@MarT:  You should work with your parents and get a current credit report. A bad incident can stay on your credit record for up to 7 years. You can appeal one bad issue and they may clear it from their report and Score. You would need to do that at all three reporting agencies.  However, if they are like me, I only have my credit card so that's my only credit reference, even though I've had an impeccable record up until I payed off my house.  My daughter was going to consolidate two of her student loans earlier this year and the credit company would not let me be her cosigner since my credit references/Score were so low.I knew building a credit history was important back in college.  I bought Debbie's engagement ring on credit and made sure I paid promptly each month.  Then in my third year of college, I got a pre-approved credit card offer from Amoco. (Us old-timers remember when each oil company had their own credit card).  I kept that Amoco card for a long time and used it but made sure I paid it off each month.  A few years after I graduated from college, I had a credit card from each major oil company, a Sears CC, a VISA, a Master-Card, and some other individual business credit cards.  My wallet was about 2" thick!  As just about everybody started accepting VISA, I closed all the other accounts.
4951
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MarT Active Indicator LED Icon 9
~ 7 years ago   Apr 28, '16 2:34pm  
@Retired_EngineerThey checked into it when their insurance company told them this.  There's nothing negative there,  just fewer reportings because they don't use credit. other than a credit card they pay off monthly.  We have some old cards that we never use, but I don't want to close them because it affects your score.  But it also seems dangerous to not close them in case the criminals get their hands on the numbers and I'm not really paying attention to the account.  4951
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Retired_Engineer Active Indicator LED Icon 13
~ 7 years ago   Apr 28, '16 3:32pm  
@Retired_EngineerThey checked into it when their insurance company told them this.  There's nothing negative there,  just fewer reportings because they don't use credit. other than a credit card they pay off monthly.  We have some old cards that we never use, but I don't want to close them because it affects your score.  But it also seems dangerous to not close them in case the criminals get their hands on the numbers and I'm not really paying attention to the account. 
 
@MarT:  Your parents sound like me.  Do they even have a Credit Score right now?  I don't.  If they don't have a score, then closing those old accounts is NOT going to hurt their non-existent Credit Score.  Banks and credit companies base the score on the amount of credit you have, your debt-to-credit ratio, etc.  Once you pay off your house and cars and only have one credit card, they essentially take you out of the credit game by eliminating your Score (it will say insufficient data to determine a Score).The banks and credit companies manipulate the Credit Score to encourage you to take on more credit/debt..... which is really not good for you.  The downside is if your parents ever need to borrow money in the future, it's unlikely to be approved (at least very easily).When my daughter was still in school, she needed to take out another student loan.  I applied online to be her cosigner.  The system automatically rejected me.  I called the company and explained my situation and she over-rode the automatic response and let me cosign.  This other company earlier this year didn't care to hear anything.  They went completely by Credit Score.  My daughter had to find another company to consolidate her loans.
4951
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mutton Active Indicator LED Icon 9
~ 7 years ago   Apr 28, '16 6:47pm  

- - - - - - - -
>> @Retired_EngineerThey checked into it when their insurance company told them this.  There's nothing negative there,  just fewer reportings because they don't use credit. other than a credit card they pay off monthly.  We have some old cards that we never use, but I don't want to close them because it affects your score.  But it also seems dangerous to not close them in case the criminals get their hands on the numbers and I'm not really paying attention to the account. 
 
@MarT:  Your parents sound like me.  Do they even have a Credit Score right now?  I don't.  If they don't have a score, then closing those old accounts is NOT going to hurt their non-existent Credit Score.  Banks and credit companies base the score on the amount of credit you have, your debt-to-credit ratio, etc.  Once you pay off your house and cars and only have one credit card, they essentially take you out of the credit game by eliminating your Score (it will say insufficient data to determine a Score).The banks and credit companies manipulate the Credit Score to encourage you to take on more credit/debt..... which is really not good for you.  The downside is if your parents ever need to borrow money in the future, it's unlikely to be approved (at least very easily).When my daughter was still in school, she needed to take out another student loan.  I applied online to be her cosigner.  The system automatically rejected me.  I called the company and explained my situation and she over-rode the automatic response and let me cosign.  This other company earlier this year didn't care to hear anything.  They went completely by Credit Score.  My daughter had to find another company to consolidate her loans.
 
@Retired_Engineer:
The answer to that is take out a small loan, park the money, and pay it off. Even paying off early gives a score atleast... 4951
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Retired_Engineer Active Indicator LED Icon 13
~ 7 years ago   Apr 28, '16 7:06pm  

@Retired_Engineer:
The answer to that is take out a small loan, park the money, and pay it off. Even paying off early gives a score atleast...
 
@mutton: I'm to a point in life where I really don't anticipate needing to make another loan.  The next vehicle we purchase will have both of our cars traded-in or sold separately and I'll pay cash/check for the rest.  We don't need two vehicles any more.   If we decide to move, we'll sell this house and buy something smaller.  Having no Credit Score doesn't bother me at all.
4951
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