Much More Than You Think
Most websites in the credit space are dedicated to one small aspect of credit. The main credit categories are 1) credit repair 2) credit card review 3) travel rewards and points. Here at Creditsense.com we operate in all three categories.
It is very easy to take a one-sided view of a credit and only evaluate from that perspective. If you are reading a travel website, you will learn of all the credit card offers that will give you travel points. But you will never hear about the cost to your credit score of applying for all of those offers, or the cost of constantly changing credit cards.
CreditSense Changes That
We shop for the best offers, we evaluate the merits, and we always evaluate from every perspective. More importantly, we promise to give you actionable advice on credit repair and optimization FOR FREE.
You should always consider the big picture long term effects more than any of the short term benefits.
Consider Some of the Benefits of Having Good or Great Credit:
Brenda has a low credit score (620 or lower).
Mortgage: Brenda is unable to purchase the home she desires. Any mortgage she qualifies for will require a larger down payment and a higher interest rate.
Car Loan: Used Car dealers love people with bad credit like Brenda because they can take advantage of them. Dealers will charge enormous interest rates for a loan that they can sell to a credit company. For Brenda it will be like purchasing a car with a credit card. Your interest rates can easily be over 20% per year.
Credit Cards: Brenda will probably not qualify for any of the good rewards cards, instead she will need to purchase a pre-paid card, or a secured card. Some of these cards do not even help your credit score, but rather are red flags to the credit reporting agencies. This person pays off their balance regularly, thus always having access to cheap or free capital.
Michael has great credit (760 or higher).
Mortgage: Michael has lenders competing for his business. He receives mortgage offers that are so low they aren’t even publicized. Even in this economy he is able to purchase a home with no money down.
Car Loan: Car dealers will clamor for this business because of the safety of the loan. Michael will get low or 0% interest on a car loan. Michael will be able to leverage different dealers against each other to get the best offer and the best terms of purchase.
Credit Cards: Michael will receive multiple credit card offers in the mail every month. Every major card company will compete for his business. Michael will not only receive the lowest interest rates, they will receive offers to pay no interest for 1 to 2 years.
Based on very conservative figures Michael who has good credit will save $3,500 per year just for having a good credit score. The figures below are based off a $200,000 mortgage, a $10,000 car loan and a $1,500 monthly credit card balance. Over the course of 10 years the person with good credit will save $35,000.
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Annual Savings |
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Mortgage |
2,000 |
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Car |
500 |
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Credit Card |
1,000 |
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Total Savings |
3,500 |
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X 10 Years |
35,000 |
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Great Credit is Worth More than All of the Travel Points You Can Ever Earn
I will probably write a separate blog about this. The fact of the matter is that over a 10 year period, you probably will not be able to dedicate your life to travel. You will probably take one or two vacations a year. You will probably not spend the bulk of your time trying to accumulate travel points.
In reality you will likely own a car, use a credit card, and someday buy (or refinance) a house. Obtaining and maintaining an 800 credit score is much more valuable to you over the course of your life than any travel single travel bonus or credit card offer.
Our promise to you is to vigilantly search for great credit card offers, while always maintaining your long term excellent credit as our number one goal.
Viva La CrediSense!