Bethany’s Breakdown: What they do teach you about personal finance at Quizzle

The saying, ‘time flies when you’re having fun’ couldn’t be more true, as believe it or not, it’s the last week of my internship! Moving to a new city and starting a new job has been an awesome experience that I wouldn’t trade for anything. I’ve learned more about the crazy confusing world of credit than I thought possible. I started this journey with little or no knowledge about credit and now I find myself teaching those around me everything I’ve soaked in. I put together some of the things I’ve learned from working at Quizzle to help those who are credit curious! It’s been a fun summer and I can’t thank the Quizzle team enough for all they’ve taught me. My last “Pop Quizzle” (aka some of the things I’ve learned in the past four months) is:

Q & A Time:

“Are all credit scores the same?” Absolutely not. Your credit score won’t be the same anywhere you pull it or have it pulled. Nor will it stay the same either. Credit scores differ because not all lenders use the same scoring models. More than likely you’ll have a variety of different scores at the same time.
“What’s the difference between a soft inquiry and a hard inquiry?” A soft inquiry is when you check your credit score yourself. It does not impact your score. When someone else checks your scores (after you’ve given permission to do so) it is reflected as a hard inquiry. Hard inquiries can impact your score but not much, as long as you don’t have a ton all at the same time.
“What does it mean to have negative account?” Accounts are reported as negative after 30 days of not making a payment.
“How long will a negative account stay on my credit report?” Negative accounts will stay on your credit report 7 years from the date the account first went past due.
“If I have a good credit score, does it matter what’s on my report?” Yes! Don’t get me wrong, your credit score is so important but knowing why you have the score you do is so much more important. At Quizzle, we break down your credit report and make it as simply as possible to read.
“What should I do if I’m struggling with debt?” The first thing to do when struggling with debt is get a plan together. Start from the beginning, prioritize what needs to be paid first and go from there. Remember, you are in control of your debt. It starts and ends with you.
What can I do to establish credit?” One of the main reasons I started this blog series was to help young, post grads like myself get “scoreable” credit. When I first started at Quizzle, I couldn’t create an account because there was nothing on my credit report. Now that I’ve opened a credit card (after much thought) I’m able to get my report and score! My best suggestion to anyone trying to establish credit or start over is to get a secured credit card. Sure they require a cash collateral deposit in order to create a credit line, but it’s your best bet in getting started!

If you haven’t done so yet, create your Quizzle account today! It’s completely free and I guarantee you will leave feeling more informed about where your credit stands. I know I did! Be sure to tune back into the Quizzle Wire for daily articles on personal finance (who knows maybe I’ll be back for a guest post ☺)

Bethany’s Breakdown is a series. If you would like to see how it all started, check out my first post Bethany’s Breakdown: What they don’t teach you about personal finance in college.