The new forums will be named Coin Return (based on the most recent vote)! You can check on the status and timeline of the transition to the new forums here.
Please vote in the Forum Structure Poll. Polling will close at 2PM EST on January 21, 2025.
Newbie here - credit experts please!
wonderer
Registered User new member
Registered User new member
Hello all -
I saw some threads on this forum not long back where there seemed to be some very good answers to the OP's question about credit - and I am having a bit of a brainmelter currently I could use some help with!
To lay things on the line first: I am from the UK, and have little in the way of credit history and need some advice on financing a second hand car.
I am just about to start a new job which I am dead excited on and me and my partner are renting a place to live just after I start work. (we are viewing one tomorrow).
The house is well within our budget but I am stretching *a little* to begin with until my partner finds a job - she is very talented and well experienced in her field and despite being my age also has over 6 years of experience in her field so we are 100% confident she will find a decent job within 2 months.
My conundrum currently is that I have little in the way of credit - being 22 and having left uni in august I have only had a mobile phone contract, and a laptop on finance plus my student account with a big overdraft to my credit. I have never been behind on any of my payments on either and have never had any trouble with my student account.
When I was 17/18 I had some trouble with my older account which I stopped using - I left a small direct debit on there (around £10 a month) which I completely forgot about and I was charged some money twice for it failing to be taken from my account - I have never had a CCJ or anything serious like that - but me forgetting about this direct debit meant that the account was closed. luckily the direct debit was for a subscription service and thus the provider just cancelled it. This is the only possible explanation I can think of for my credit rating being in bad standing (aside from the fact that this job is brand new to me)
I recently applied for a 0% purchase credit card and despite having a 80% success rate for it on moneysavingexpert.com was refused because of my credit rating. I haven't looked at my credit rating but will do later on this evening when I have my details at hand. This is obviously a crucial step but thought I would ask my question anyway.
So to the point - my job is a very good one for my age, my pay is £5k above the average salary for my age in my field of work and I have been ultra meticulous with all of my budgeting for the month or two up to my partner finding a job - after ALL our bills and food I am left with about £350 per month which is not a lot a week but is only until my partner finds work - at which point I will concentrate on building up some decent emergency funds and putting some by.
I need a car to get to work and am weighing up my options to do so soon - I am driving my partners car currently but she will need it back when she gets a job. So my question is this: what are my options for buying a second hand car on credit around £2500 that won't cost me the earth in interest and that will allow me to do so in my situation? Is this even possible? Or should I just accept I will have to buy a banger with whatever money I have at hand and save up. I am however a little worried that this gives me a bad or unprofessional image as a new employee. I'm in this weird situation where currently I have little money after our rent deposit and admin fees are paid for our rented house but have landed a really good job for my age and thus can't afford to get a not - so expensive car to go to it haha.
So as I said - I can use my partners car to begin with but need another car asap to ease that stress. I don't want to damage my credit rating by applying for more credit cards before I know what the problem is and whether I can actually get such a good card in the first place!
I'm left wondering if I stupidly applied for a gold dust credit card that I was actually never going to get in the first place - for the record it was an rbs 0% purchasing card.
I really wanted to start this all off by building a great credit rating - it's one of my goals because I know it opens doors in life and I am trying to be as meticulous about it as possible - the last thing I need at what feels like the launch point for a great career is to get stuck in the mud financially.
- Any help much appreciated!
Wonderer, (thinking he may have pulled a massive boo boo at an important time for my credit score when I should be building it using a credit building card.)
I saw some threads on this forum not long back where there seemed to be some very good answers to the OP's question about credit - and I am having a bit of a brainmelter currently I could use some help with!
To lay things on the line first: I am from the UK, and have little in the way of credit history and need some advice on financing a second hand car.
I am just about to start a new job which I am dead excited on and me and my partner are renting a place to live just after I start work. (we are viewing one tomorrow).
The house is well within our budget but I am stretching *a little* to begin with until my partner finds a job - she is very talented and well experienced in her field and despite being my age also has over 6 years of experience in her field so we are 100% confident she will find a decent job within 2 months.
My conundrum currently is that I have little in the way of credit - being 22 and having left uni in august I have only had a mobile phone contract, and a laptop on finance plus my student account with a big overdraft to my credit. I have never been behind on any of my payments on either and have never had any trouble with my student account.
When I was 17/18 I had some trouble with my older account which I stopped using - I left a small direct debit on there (around £10 a month) which I completely forgot about and I was charged some money twice for it failing to be taken from my account - I have never had a CCJ or anything serious like that - but me forgetting about this direct debit meant that the account was closed. luckily the direct debit was for a subscription service and thus the provider just cancelled it. This is the only possible explanation I can think of for my credit rating being in bad standing (aside from the fact that this job is brand new to me)
I recently applied for a 0% purchase credit card and despite having a 80% success rate for it on moneysavingexpert.com was refused because of my credit rating. I haven't looked at my credit rating but will do later on this evening when I have my details at hand. This is obviously a crucial step but thought I would ask my question anyway.
So to the point - my job is a very good one for my age, my pay is £5k above the average salary for my age in my field of work and I have been ultra meticulous with all of my budgeting for the month or two up to my partner finding a job - after ALL our bills and food I am left with about £350 per month which is not a lot a week but is only until my partner finds work - at which point I will concentrate on building up some decent emergency funds and putting some by.
I need a car to get to work and am weighing up my options to do so soon - I am driving my partners car currently but she will need it back when she gets a job. So my question is this: what are my options for buying a second hand car on credit around £2500 that won't cost me the earth in interest and that will allow me to do so in my situation? Is this even possible? Or should I just accept I will have to buy a banger with whatever money I have at hand and save up. I am however a little worried that this gives me a bad or unprofessional image as a new employee. I'm in this weird situation where currently I have little money after our rent deposit and admin fees are paid for our rented house but have landed a really good job for my age and thus can't afford to get a not - so expensive car to go to it haha.
So as I said - I can use my partners car to begin with but need another car asap to ease that stress. I don't want to damage my credit rating by applying for more credit cards before I know what the problem is and whether I can actually get such a good card in the first place!
I'm left wondering if I stupidly applied for a gold dust credit card that I was actually never going to get in the first place - for the record it was an rbs 0% purchasing card.
I really wanted to start this all off by building a great credit rating - it's one of my goals because I know it opens doors in life and I am trying to be as meticulous about it as possible - the last thing I need at what feels like the launch point for a great career is to get stuck in the mud financially.
- Any help much appreciated!
Wonderer, (thinking he may have pulled a massive boo boo at an important time for my credit score when I should be building it using a credit building card.)
wonderer on
0
Posts
I might be able to give you some sound financial advice for your situation, though.
First, I would delay buying a car as long as you possibly can. Even after she starts her job, maybe your partner can drop you at your job in the morning and pick you up in the evening for a little while. Maybe you can ride a bus. Maybe some combination of those things will work. It may not be convenient, but if you can do it long enough to actually save up the cash for a car, then your problem is solved.
If that won't work, have you considered buying some sort of motor scooter (like a vespa or something)? They're pretty cheap, so you might be able to save up the cash for one of those if you need your own ride quickly. They're pretty easy to learn, but you may need a special license.
If you absolutely need a car, and you absolutely need it soon, you should see if your parents or someone else you know can loan you the money. If your credit is bad, then the only loans you're going to get from banks (or more likely, someone shadier) are going to have absolutely terrible interest rates. UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES SHOULD YOU TAKE OUT A PAYDAY OR TITLE LOAN.