Same. I also have an extension for my library, so I'll check if there's anything available there before ordering a book or something.

Yup. I can't easily (legally) give away or lend out my ebooks, whereas I absolutely can do that with physical copies. Ebooks should absolutely be cheaper than any physical format.

$10 should be standard for ebooks, maybe a little more for top authors.

Nah, you can just rotate as needed, and you couldn't realistically do that on cable/satellite. Also, you can "share" accounts (kind of unethical) and save even more, and that was unrealistic with cable/satellite (I guess you could record shows and share then, but that takes effort).

We only have Netflix and Disney right now, and we'll probably swap one out for Amazon Prime Video at some point. So we spend ~$20 on streaming services in a given month.

I also had Peacock for one month to watch the world cup and paid $5 to watch as many games as I wanted, when I wanted. Try doing that with cable/satellite...

I think we should enforce a carbon/pollution tax and have it impact imports as well. It should include transportation emissions, packaging, etc as well, and if those details aren't provided, the tax should estimate high.

Yup, I do it monthly (will probably change to biweekly next year) so my budget is consistent month to month. If I invested everything on Jan 1, that means I either had $6.5k sitting in cash (not great) or I'm raiding my e-fund (not an emergency). In my case, it's double since my wife and I both max our IRAs.

I try to keep my cash amount as low as I can, so I have automatic investments to each of my accounts. I try to keep my HSA, 401k, IRA, and taxable brokerage investments consistent month to month so I don't need to think about it. If I use my e-fund, I just pause or reduce those automatic investments until it's refilled.

I find the less I think about it, the better off I am.

Most auto loans require comprehensive insurance, so it's not just a good idea, it's mandatory if you don't want the bank to call your loan.

Whether you should get comprehensive or liability depends on your ability to cover damages that comprehensive would cover. I get liability only because my cars are essentially worthless (both under $5k even in this crazy market) and i can replace both of them with cash. That may not be true for you.

Or you could just max the IRA every year for the life of the loan ($33k is enough for ~5 years). Just stick it in t-bills for now and invest $6k of it or whatever in an IRA each year.

Cash flow is nice, but it's worse than getting a better return.

The main exception is if OP would switch to cheaper insurance without the loan, which would probably be better value than the higher returns in t-bills.

Yup, get a CD or t-bills and you'll make more than that 2.5%. If rates drop below that 2.5% rate, feel free to kill the loan.

That said, if you'd get much cheaper insurance without the loan, paying it off could be the better move because you'll get more than the 2.5% of value from it.

WF had my mortgage for a little while, then they sold it to someone else. I've had four different servicers, but at least my current one doesn't completely suck.

No worries.

When you get some time, review the wiki, there's a ton of great stuff there relating to managing credit, budgeting, etc.

> Fico Experian 746

Ignore the Credit Karma score, it's worthless.

Your FICO is fine, anything above 730 or so gets you the best rates.

As others said, the oldest account is the issue here, so don't open any new cards, get any loans, and work on getting employment and you should be good. If you do anything, consider getting a credit limit increase on one or more of your cards if your credit utilization is above 10% (only accept if it's a soft pull, as in it won't impact your credit).

You're fine, stop worrying about your credit and focus on the job.

The Experian app is free and provides a real FICO score. They also sell other scores, but you probably don't need those.

As a general overview, there are three bureaus that provide FICO scores:

• Experian
• TransUnion
• Equifax

There are other types of credit scores, but these are the only FICO scores (that I'm aware of). Eventually, you'll want to get access to all three, and usually credit card companies provide a free FICO score from one of those bureaus (I think Discover provides TransUnion nationwide), and which they offer may depend on your region.

Just make sure you always pay your bill on time. Having bad credit can be worse than no credit. Also, try to pay off your statement balance every month, otherwise you can end up paying interest, which can get you into a lot of debt.

Good luck! I hope you can find a place soon!

Building a FICO score takes time, so you'll need at least a year.

The first step when starting from nothing is to get some kind of credit posted to your report. Your best option is probably a secured card. I recommend Discover since they automatically convert their secured cards to regular credit cards after a year or so (I think it's actually 10 months). You should have a score posted after your first statement, but it's probably going to be really low since you have no history.

Longer term, you should maintain a flawless payment history (make at least minimum payment on time every month), and in 2-3 years you should have good credit. I recommend going for a second credit card after your first so you have two accounts providing positive payment history. Also, be aware that you never need to carry a balance on a credit card to get positive payment history, that's a myth that's just going to cost you interest. If you pay off the statement balance by the due date every month, you'll never pay interest.

Since you need something soon, your best option is to keep shopping around to find a place that doesn't require a credit score (maybe they'll need employment verification or something). You may pay a bit more in rent, but without a score, your options are limited. If you can wait a year, then you could go the secured card route to get something on your file.

Yup. I have a ton more credit than that (~$100k), and it honestly kinda scares me. But my utilization is solidly under 5%, so I never need to worry about utilization.

Source? Every application I've made has been FICO. I have literally never heard of anyone using VantageScore for lending decisions. I'm sure someone does, I just have actually seen an example.

And withdrawal limitations. If you'll need the money before retirement, a 401k is not the right way to go.