My financial future is bright

A couple years ago, I got my credit report for the first time, thanks to AnnualCreditReport.com. It’s nice to be able to check it out and not have to pay for it. Last year when I got my report, I decided to spread them out, since you can get the report from the 3 spots (TransUnion, Experian, Equifax). No sense in getting all 3 at once. If I spread them out, then I can keep an eye on things all year.

So tonite I got my 3rd one (I got the first one last July). Everything on the report is good. No negative items. All accounts in good standing. After looking over things, I decided to get my credit score as well. After all, it only cost $5.95. I can handle that.

I’m very happy after getting my credit score. My Risk Grade is B. My Credit Category is Prime Plus. My credit rating ranks higher than 70.87% of US consumers. I am “more than likely” to get “good offers” from lenders. That definitely makes me feel good. If I was trying to get a loan to buy a house, I might actually get one.

The credit score report had some things listed that lower your score. This one surprised me: Having low available credit amounts on revolving accounts (like credit cards) has a negative impact on your credit score. A few years ago, I had both of my credit card companies lower my credit limits. I thought that having high limits was a bad thing. I guess I shouldn’t have done that.

I’m working on paying off my credit cards, and I’m almost there. One of my cards will be paid off shortly after the 15th of this month. The other card will be paid off by the end of the year. I only have the 2. I had planned to close the account on the second one once it was paid off but keep the first one open for emergencies. Now I’m not sure if I should. I need to do some more research into what lowers your credit score and what has a positive effect on your credit score.

Once those cards are paid off, I’ll have that money to put in a savings account earmarked specifically for a house. I’m going to start doing that next month since the one card will be paid off. I plan to take the money I was sending to that card and put some toward the other card and the rest into the savings account. I’m hoping that in no more than 3 years, I’ll have enough money saved for a down payment and other closing fees. I’m going to try to put as much money into that housing savings account as I can to try to get to that point sooner than 3 years. But I’m being realistic.

I just know that the sooner I am out of apartment living, the better. But home ownership brings it’s own set of problems. I’ve seen what Robin has had to deal with since she bought her house. Things that need to get fixed. Appliances dying. So I want to make sure I have enough in my housing savings to cover the closing costs and still have money left in it for the unexpected expenses that come up.

So, for now, I just keep paying off those 2 credit cards and keep putting money into savings. I have a Simple IRA now at work, so money is going into that for retirement. So, hopefully my financial future is now more bright than it ever has been in the past. I just hope I haven’t jinxed it by saying that.