Are prices like this everywhere?

[Snobdds]

Well then, here's some math...

My payment history, never missed a payment = excellent 35%
My amounts owed is zero = 30%
My new credit is minimal, but has little effect on my score = 9%
My credit history is long = 15%
My credit mix is not that large = 6%

Total = 95%

95% of 850 = about 805, which happens to be pretty close to my and my wife's credit scores.

Several of us have told you that we're debt free, carry zero balances on our credit cards, and have really good credit scores. I'm not sure why you can't believe that, but apparently that's the case.


View attachment 764459

I glad you wen't flattering yourself.

Didn't you post a copy and paste of definitions of the components of the FICO score?

 

[Torvy]

We know of someone that did that to their kid. Just awful.

We saw that a great deal when I ran investigations at the bank. The converse also happened. We would have young people exploit grandparents, this was especially true among those grandparents who did not speak English.

 

[Torvy]

Well then, here's some math...

My payment history, never missed a payment = excellent 35%
My amounts owed is zero = 30%
My new credit is minimal, but has little effect on my score = 9%
My credit history is long = 15%
My credit mix is not that large = 6%

Total = 95%

95% of 850 = about 805, which happens to be pretty close to my and my wife's credit scores.

Several of us have told you that we're debt free, carry zero balances on our credit cards, and have really good credit scores. I'm not sure why you can't believe that, but apparently that's the case.


View attachment 764459

When you say 'carry zero balances on credit cards' do you mean you never use them or pay in full every month?

Some famous advocates of 'debt-free' also preach the gospel of no credit, especially cards. Your scores are good because you used credit and did it wisely. If you completely stop using credit, your score will slowly decline. It will not go too low, though.

 

[jyoutz]

Not exactly. Diesel electric locomotives only use batteries for starting the prime mover (diesel), that turns an alternator (or in some cases a DC generator) that powers the traction motors. Batteries have nothing to do with other than starting the engine. With a hybrid, an internal combustion engine also powers a generator-alternator that keeps the batteries charged and the batteries provide current to the drive motors.

If I was to ever 'go green' which I won't, I'd buy a hybrid like a Toyota Prius not a plug in battery powered vehicle.

Thanks for the explanation

 

[MossRoad]

When you say 'carry zero balances on credit cards' do you mean you never use them or pay in full every month?

Some famous advocates of 'debt-free' also preach the gospel of no credit, especially cards. Your scores are good because you used credit and did it wisely. If you completely stop using credit, your score will slowly decline. It will not go too low, though.

As I stated before, we have credit cards, but pay them off before we accrue any charges.

 

[MossRoad]

Not exactly. Diesel electric locomotives only use batteries for starting the prime mover (diesel), that turns an alternator (or in some cases a DC generator) that powers the traction motors. Batteries have nothing to do with other than starting the engine. With a hybrid, an internal combustion engine also powers a generator-alternator that keeps the batteries charged and the batteries provide current to the drive motors.

If I was to ever 'go green' which I won't, I'd buy a hybrid like a Toyota Prius not a plug in battery powered vehicle.

There's a few different types of hybrids.

Some do as you say and a gas engine powers a generator that charges the battery that powers the electric drive motors. They don't plug in.

Some of those you can plug in to charge the battery without running the engine. Then drive solely on battery power for a while. If the battery goes low enough, the engine kicks on and charges the battery back up while you drive.

Some use a gas engine that can drive the rear wheels, and charge the battery that can power the electric drive motor, so either the gas engine or the battery or both can power the rear wheels at the same time.

I believe that Toyota offers several versions of Prius that are hybrid and plug-in hybrid. You'd have to look at their website for a comparison.

 

[Torvy]

I believe that Toyota offers several versions of Prius that are hybrid and plug-in hybrid. You'd have to look at their website for a comparison.

I'll save you the web search. I used to drive a 2006 Prius on my 35 mile commute. Now drive my wife's 2020 Prius Prime (Prime is what they now call the Plug-in) on my 8 mile commute.

The hybrid/engine part is conceptually the same. If we don't plug in the Prime, it works the same way as the older model...only it gets better mileage thanks to some engineering improvements in the 14 years. About a 10 gallon gas tank, uses regular gas. A full charge takes about 5 hours with regular outlet; 2 hours with 220 (requires a different cord...$).

I can get about 30 miles on a charge in the Prime (varies due to weather, traffic and driving technique). A few times I have driven back and forth to work 2 days without charging (32 miles total).

Batteries charge with regenerative braking, but that does not build up anywhere near the amount of juice of plugging it in because it uses it up as needed. There are 'modes' which allow you to 'save' the battery until you are in city traffic where the system has the bigger advantage.

Toyota also makes a RAV4 Prime that gets better mileage/range than the Prius Prime due to a larger battery.

Our current plan is to sell/trade the Prime when I retire and get a Tundra for working around the property. The Outback would be our daily driver. If it was solely my decision, we would replace the Outback with a Rav4 Prime.

In summary, a plug-in hybrid gives you the best options. The range of a gas vehicle(650+ miles) with great mileage (63 mpg since we bought it), with the ability to make short trips with zero gas and full charge time on a regular outlet in less time than most people sleep.

 

[MossRoad]

Thanks!

 

[hiddentacocatneddih]

I looked at the plug in pacifica. Problem is we live 15 miles from town so we would drain the battery virtually every time we drove. Plus the loss of storage. And up charge. And adding a charger. And battery life since I plan to keep it 10 + years

 

[Snobdds]

As I stated before, we have credit cards, but pay them off before we accrue any charges.

You just said the quite part out loud.

It amazes me people think they are entitled to good credit when they don't want to incur anything that resembles credit. In other words, they want good credit, for free. Having good credit is not free nor cheap. There is a cost involved to establish credit and one has to incur some debt to have credit. There is no mathematical way to reverse this truism in finance.

I did like your attempt earlier at trying to mathematically show your credit matrix. I chuckled reading that in the meeting I was in. The premise was there, but the delivery was wrong. You were working from a starting point that your true score was 850, and only a few dings dropped you from this 850 threshold. That is not how a factorized weighted averages works. For example, if you have no amounts owed or credit being utilized, it's 0, not the full 30% you gave yourself. Having no credit being utilized is a huge drag on your score, not a positive to your score.

To everyone else. Don't be so simplistic in your view of credit. Managing it is better than saying I don't use it, or paying cash for everything. There are huge opportunity costs in not using credit. Especially the last 20 years when other peoples money was cheap. If managed correctly, the principle of velocity of money will make your returns far outpace a strategy that only uses cash.

I also practice what I preach to people. I have no loans right now and I am very concerned I need to preserve my credit utilization. I have nothing I need to get for the need to obtain a small loan on. So today I am going to see my banker to take out a 5k loan, which I will just deposit into a money market account I have. I will make some return on the interest on the MM, however it will not be as much as I am going to pay for the interest on the loan. Effectively I am going to pay the difference between the two to keep my credit utilization up. Like I said, good credit is not cheap nor do I feel I am entitled to good credit simply by existing and paying my bills on time.