Frontman

There will be little impact on your credit scores from paying down your school loan balance. But, as these loans tend to have somewhat high interest rates, paying down your loan would save you some money in interest. Personally, if I were you, and I were able to pay down my student loans any significant amount, I would do so.

It's been a long time since I last visited Creditboards, and I'm sorry to hear about the passing of Breeze. I was a very active member more than 10 years ago, spending a lot of time on this forum, and learning a great deal here. With the help of Creditboards, I went from having a bad credit history, and no credit at all, to having a clean history, and a large amount of available credit. Taking control of my finances, and cleaning up the messes I had made put me on the right step. And, now, more than 10 years later, I own a small business, have a much nicer home, as much (or more) credit as I need, and no debt. I'm glad to see the forum is still here, though it seems that it's not as easy to navigate as it once was, and for a period of time, I could neither log in nor post. I'm glad to be able to post once more.

The minimum standard used to be that you spent $100k per year with Amex, but perhaps that's been changed. I suppose carrying the black card would be cool (I got a Citi Chairman's card before moving to Japan), but I don't spend enough to get one, and the platinum card has been good to me.

What is the interest rate on the car loan? The loan amount is rather low, I would only refinance it if the rate were in the double-digits. It's been awhile since I've been around here, but when I refinanced my new car loan a few years ago I used Patelco, they gave me a rate which was half as much as the one I got through Chrysler credit. It certainly wouldn't hurt to add another credit card (or 2), and, as suggested, an Amex card might be a good choice.

Buying a car can be such an adventure. I remember when I bought my Jeep, I had thought that I was approved for financing, and then the finance guy came back and said he needed another $2500 to get approved. I picked up the keys to my trade-in, and walked for the door. The salesman followed me into the parking lot and asked me to give them a few more minutes, and, lo and behold, they managed to approve me without the extra money. A couple years later the same thing happened when I bought my GTO. I gave the down-payment, the keys to my trade-in, and I drove my car home. The next day the dealer called and said that there was a problem with my credit (my credit was perfect, no lates, no collections, 3 previous car loans with perfect history), and that they would need an additional $3000 down for me to qualify for the interest rate. I told them I would return the car within the hour, and to have my trade-in waiting for me. Miraculously, they were able to stick to the agreed-to terms with no additional money.

With luck, you might be able to work something out with Capital One which will result in your being able to keep the account open. The lates will still show, but in time their negative effect will diminish. Hopefully you can do the same thing with National City. You should do anything you can do to keep these accounts open and prevent them from going into collection. As for the payday loan and the closed checking account, I would contact the agencies and offer to pay if they do not report the collections with the CRAs. If the debts are reported you should try to negotiate with the collection agencies to delete the accounts in exchange for payment. If they do not delete, do not bother to pay, paying the debts will not reduce their negative effects on your credit score. A paid collection is no worse than an unpaid one, the only difference is that if you don't pay, you at least get to keep the money.

Amex did the same thing to me after charging some high cost items (dental treatments and overseas travel) on a couple of my cards. Once the cards were paid off, my limits were eventually increased back to their previous levels.

That is your only option. Send them a simple contract saying that you'll pay only on the condition that they delete any and all information about the accounts from your credit file. What is the point in paying if the negative information remains? Paid, or unpaid, a collection is a collection, and is poison to your credit history. If they do not agree to delete the accounts, then do not pay. Use the money to pay for postage for more disputes. "Responding with information" is not the same as "validation".

Welcome to the club. The same thing happened to me over a year ago, so for Amex to claim that they are decreasing your lines due to the current financial crisis is not necessarily true. In a short time, however, my limits were increased again, but then one evening I tried to use one of my Amex cards to pay for dinner, and it was declined. I tried another, and guess what? It was declined too. Amex decided to perform a FR on me without any previous notice. Of all my cards, I only carried a balance on one, and a small balance at that. After the usual useless calls to various Amex representatives, nothing was resolved. The limits on all of my cards were reduced by 90% (or more) after I paid off the balance I owed on the one card. I moved all of my business to Citi, and they have been good to me.

You are wrong, it is true. There is always for for those who are willing to do what it takes to find it. I've cut grass, painted houses, even worked in a carnival when there was nothing else available. Too many people say "I can't find anything" when what they really mean is "I can't find anything that I like". You sometimes have to do work that doesn't agree with you. It's not fun, but it is work, and it gives you a paycheck. And pretty much any job you find, no matter how menial, will pay better than what you can collect in unemployment benefits. Even with the economy in it's current condition, retailers are now starting to hire for the holiday season. When I needed extra cash a couple of years ago, I worked part time at a UPS facility. They hire seasonal help too, for either sorting packages or assisting delivery drivers. It may not seem as "glamorous" as HR work, but you might be surprised. I actually enjoyed it. I met many different and interesting people (I was the only white person working on the floor), and got a good workout loading the trucks each morning. Of course there are other options. Do you have a bachelors or higher degree? I'm a teacher working at a Japanese public high school near Tokyo. The hours are easy, and the pay is quite good for the amount of actual work that I do. The only requirements for the job were that I had a passport, a college degree, and a good, working knowledge of the English language.

When you see the financial savings in hosting a call center in India, it might make more sense to you why companies do it. It does not save 25% over the same call center in North America It does not save 40% over the same call center in North America It does not save 50% over the same call center in North America It does not save 75% over the same call center in North America It saves 90% of the cost of a call center. 90%. Think about that. With a large call center, then the number of companies outsourcing to India takes on a different meaning. We all agree an American company " Shouldn't " do that. But take a call center which costs $5 million to run in the USA. A savings of 90% leads to a total comparable cost of $500,000, to leave the company with $4.5 million dollars in the bank.....if they choose to run the call center from India.... Yes, we all agree a company shouldn't do it.....but imagine yourself sitting in an office looking at those numbers. What would you do? Where would you put the call center? Yes, you save 90%, but then what? In my case, I purchased an HP laptop which broke down 35 days after I bought it. I called HPs "JD Powers Top Rated Customer Service" only to be connected to a man named "Ralph" who spoke with such a thick Indian accent that I could only understand every third word he said. He was of no help. I was told 3 times that I would be called back with assistance, but I. never once received one After being transferred and "elevated" several times (and disconnected several times), I was finally connected to an American CSR (3 days later) who was able to resolve my problem. I had been a good customer of HP's, having bought 5 desktops and notebooks, and several printers from them over the years. But their shoddy, outsourced customer service was completely unacceptable, and I decided never to purchase another HP item. I have also recommended to friends that they not buy from HP. HP has probably lost 5 or 6 thousand dollars of purchases from me, and probably more from my friends.

He didn't, he was invited. It's hard to say no to such an invitation. You can cancel an Amex Platinum whenever you like, and your fee will be refunded at a pro-rated level.

You can cancel, and you will be refunded the annual fee. I loved getting my Amex platinum, though the fee was hard to swallow. But on the other hand, I do travel a lot, and I love the benefits. I also loved the fact that through Amex's platinum travel service I was able to get my girlfriend a last minute airline ticket on a sold out flight. That one instance more than made up for the annual fee as far as I was concerned.

I arrived in Japan in April of this year to begin a new career. So far things have been going well, and I've adjusted nicely. I've closed almost all of my American credit card accounts, keeping only a couple of them open as I didn't have a Japanese credit card. After 5 months here, I still have no idea how the Japanese credit rating system works. One month after I arrived, I opened a bank account at the Japanese Post Office. My pay is deposited into this account, and my bills are deducted automatically each month from it. I was given an "EDY" ATM card, with which I can make electronic purchases at some retailers. I was told at work that JP Bank offers a Visa branded ATM card, so I returned to my local post office and asked if I could get one. Due to my poor Japanese ability, I was misunderstood, and was given a credit card application instead of the ATM card form. I thought "What the hell, I might as well apply". I had my employer help me fill out the application, and I signed it with my "hanko" (a stamp which is used in place of signatures in Japan), and then I mailed it in. A few days later my employer was called to verify my employment and income. The next week a supplemental application arrived in my mail box again, asking for additional information. My employer helped me to fill it out, I stamped it, and dropped it off at the post office. After waiting for several weeks for a denial letter, I was beginning to think they had lost my application. But this week I was surprised by a knock on my door, it was the mailman delivering me my new JP Bank Visa card. The card came with a 500k yen limit (about $5000), and an interest rate of 15%. The rate for cash advances is 16% I was quite surprised, it was much more than I expected. My first unsecured American credit card came with a $300 limit and 20+% interest. So far, I seem to be off to a good start establishing myself in Japan. I've yet to buy a car, and I've been looking into the possibility of buying a home, at least I have been able to make the first step.

If you travel, it is well worth it. Particularly if you go on a cruise or other trip which requires you to pay for medivac insurance, the cost for such insurance for you and your family will generally add up to more than your $450 AF. For myself, I like the lounge access, and the assistance they've given me during travel emergencies.