I had a title, but it got cut off at the knees.
Friday, June 4, 2010 at 3:37AM When I graduated high school, I got a job and got an apartment and bought a piece of crap car. I also applied for a credit card, because I assumed that was just what you did when you were setting up shop as a Person.
They turned me down.
My 18-year-old feelings were kind of hurt but I figured, that's okay, I haven't been at my job long. I waited a few months and applied to a different company.
They turned me down.
I found this a little infuriating. I was an upstanding citizen, I paid my bills, what the hell was the problem? The credit card companies would never give me an actual reason so I asked a friend that worked at a bank.
Basically? They wouldn't give me one because I didn't already HAVE one, and because I was perfectly capable of paying it off. I swore a lot and stuck a few pins in voodoo dolls marked "Visa" and then forgot about it.
The next year, I went away to college. Credit card applications are rampant on campus; there are even people whose job it is to wave them in your face. To test a theory, one day I filled out the form and mailed it away.
What a shocker - though I had no discernible form of income whatsoever, not even student loans, they gave me the fucking credit card. Knowing that their insidious plan was to let me rack it up and then barely make the minimum payment, and that I would probably do just that, I froze it in a block of ice and stuffed it into the freezer.
It stayed there until I had almost graduated, at which point my stupid cat got hit by a car. To pay the vet for her treatment, I needed to use the credit card.
(The stupid cat survived, by the way, and lived for many more long and vindictive days.)
After that I graduated and went to summer school in Banff, where I had even LESS money, and MasterCard commenced sending me rather angry letters. At the end of the summer, I came home, got a job, and went into the bank as soon as I could to pay them.
"We're, uh...we're going to have to keep the card," the teller told me, and cut it up right then and there. Though the last thing I wanted was to be given the card back, I felt about 2 inches tall, and a shamefaced 18 years old all over again. Even though it had been my own mocking experiment, because I thought getting a credit card and then not using it was the ultimate way to show them I was on to their game. Or something.
Fast forward to NOW, many years later. I haven't had a credit card since then - in fact, I wave away those obnoxious people in the supermarket with a "I don't believe in credit cards, thanks," - but I have had car loans, student loans, and lines of credit. And I've paid them all off, with a few close calls but never in arrears, always a loanee in good standing. Last year, we remortgaged the house and paid it ALL off.
I wish someone had told me that a mortgage doesn't count for your credit rating.
Because I've recently noticed that despite the fact I wrote maybe three checks total between the ages of 16 and 30, now that I have a house and a kid, I write them all the damn time. And nobody ever cashes them immediately. Also, I pay for a lot of things online, which could take anywhere from 3 to 15 days to go through. I don't keep track of this shit; I'm a busy woman, and the last time I balanced my checkbook I was twelve years old.
Which means that maybe, OCCASIONALLY, lately I've been overdrawn by like twenty bucks. Simple enough - I went to the bank and asked for an overdraft protection on my checking account. They said, sure! We'll just...oh...wait. You don't have any revolving credit, you've been silly and living within your means, so your credit rating is precisely ZERO. You need to see a lender.
Ugh. Fine. I'll go see a lender. For a $500 overdraft on my fucking checking account.
So I made an appointment to see a lender, at the bank I've been banking at for 20 years. My old loans officer has since retired, so I got a new one. She greeted me cheerily, introduced her 20-year-old trainee, and shook my hand with both of her hands.
For some reason, that irritated the shit out of me.
Then she proceeded to talk and talk and talk, and peppered her speech with comments about how obviously I was a valued customer since I'd been banking there so long, and all my previous loans had been paid off in good standing, and would I like an explanation of the simplest banking procedures? And I couldn't figure out who she was condescending to, me or the trainee. I figured out that it was ME right around the time she actually started crunching numbers and said,
"Oh! Well, your serviceable debt is about 41% of your income. We need to see that under 40%. In order to get this loan approved, you'll need to add your fiance's financial information to this profile."
And just like that, I was 18 years old again. Financially infantilized, in one fell swoop. Sure, we can give you $500, sweetie, but you need to get Daddy to sign here in case you fuck it up, okay? There's that ONE PERCENT, dontcha know.
I gritted my teeth and smiled and thanked her, and she mentioned my upstanding record with the bank one more time and shook my hand with both her hands (Hey! Figured out why it bothered the shit out of me - more false deference! Also, it makes it harder for me to punch her in the throat).
It's enough to make a person go out and rashly apply for a credit card.
At least they're a little more upfront about fiscally eviscerating you.
Reader Comments (21)
Head over to the TD. Every time I walk in there they are THROWING the money at me. Which....actually hasn't worked out all that well. Nevermind.
'Financially infantilized' is brillant 'tho.
fuckers.
I am just mortified by our banking system daily.
This is why I use a credit union. Do y'all have those? All of that shit is free, well kind of. You overdraft and they just transfer the money out of your saving automatically and only cost like two bucks. Plus they pay ME to keep my money. Not the other way around.
So, What I'm getting out of this whole thing is....
shoulda let the fucking cat die.
Were you Royally? ticked? just saying..
It's all a fuckin' scam. The banks, the lenders, all of 'em. They can all go to hell.
That's it, no more credit cards for me. Oh...wait...I don't have any, they were all taken away.
Well, fuck 'em anyway!
I, on the other hand, have cards. Pretty little plastic cards and banks love me. Have they done me any favors???? Nope! All they want is my money!
And I keep thinking I should have started a bank then maybe I would qualify for one million dollars in bail out money?? Just saying...!
Hugs
SueAnn
Want to feel better? The only reason I have "good" credit is because my student loans are probably larger than your mortgage. When I married him, PB had no credit, either. You damn upstanding citizens. He needed my credit to get a credit card. How sad is that? Me, who couldn't pay for college even, had to help him? The one with not a penny of debt. How that hell does that make any sense (cents)?
This is why every one of my kids gets a credit card as soon as those lovely offers show up in the mail (usually, right about the time they graduate from high school). They get a card with a limit of around $200.
The rule: charge one thing, every month, that you would normally pay by check. Write that check to the credit card co, every month.
Slowly, you develop credit. Real credit. Enough credit to get student loans ASAP when necessary, or buy a house.
Money management is one of those things we parents must impart to our kids. Learning it via the hard knocks of life is too late.
I like to think I'm smart, but then whenever somebody mentions banks and banking and lines of credit and all that crap, I just go slack-jawed.
I do, however, think you are totally bad ass for going through life without a credit card. You're that much closer to being a survivalist already.
Ick. I hate banks. I sometimes miss the days of coffee cans buried behind the outhouse and cash stuffed in the matress.
I tried to get a credit card. Twice. That didn't work out so well. :)
Banks really like when you have a penis. I think it counts for 500 points on your credit rating. It doesn't even have to be a big one.
One of the credit cards we use earns us points toward discounts at our buying club. We paid our last bill 3 hours late after two years of paying off the balance consistently every month and they slapped us with a late charge and tripled our interest rate.
That spiel about loyal customers and great service is such total bullshit.
I hate banks. And credit cards. And two handed hand shakes.
When I was buying a house, I asked the realtor a few questions about finances. My hubby and I have insanely good credit. The man bought a truck when he was unemployed! But I had recently taken a no credit card pledge after running up a bill on a trip to Italy (no regrets, but I wanted to get into marriage credit debt free). I finally made it down to one card that I used and one I had as an emergency. I had 2 others I got in college. They told me don't close the other 2 b/c even though they had zero balance, the bank giving me the mortgage loan would want to see "if you have access to funds if you get into trouble." Um, I'm trying to get rid of my cards so I DON'T get into trouble, people! SO basically my score would have gone DOWN because I did the responsible thing and paid off my credit cards. Tell me in what financial world that makes sense!
What a bunch of fucktards.
I, too, am proud to be credit card free. I know it will fuck me up eventually, but so far I've been relatively unscathed. Good luck in your pursuit!
I used to be a personal banker with Bank of America... I left for ethical reasons, ie: I was tired of fucking people over all day!!!
p.s. I love the comment from Jenni.. she's totally nailed it. :)
That sucks pond water! Which means I'm pretty much screwed if my hubby ever drops dead (god forbid) because when we met 12 years ago, I was the one with credit and helped him get credit. I had one credit card I got rid of because they pissed me off. Now I have NO credit after being a SAHM for 7 years - and hubby has ALL the credit. Talk about credit role reversal! Luckily PA is a commonwealth state, so his shit transfers to me automatically. ;)
I just don't get why they don't acknowledge those that actually live within their means as 'good credit' people - oh, right, they're not making money off us. Morons.
:)