Several Hobbies That Put Your Credit Score at Risk

ElitePersonalFinance
Last Update: February 22, 2021 Credit Report

There are several definition versions of the term hobby. You have your own definition, too basing on a different perspective. However, all the definitions converge to the same meaning. A hobby refers to any activity that you enjoy doing when free, in your spare time. What is it that you like doing in your spare time? Swimming? Reading? Traveling? Oh! I just listed my hobbies unknowingly. Hobbies, however good to us, can ruin the reputation of our credit card’s score. The expenses accrued after exercising this hobby fall under our personal finances. The responsibilities of managing our personal finances are not arguable. Managing our expenses can absolutely protect our credit cards. This is evidently slept out when we get obsessed and apply for consecutive credit cards in a small span of time in a bade to finance our hobby’s needs. The new applied credit cards are the ones that are mostly used to award you credit card scores. Imagine defaulting one of them! Your card is at risk.

Is Your Hobby Reading?

Making yourself lost in books in your spare time may be your hobby. You are not alone. For decades, many have considered reading as one of the best ways to pass the time. Many take advantage of the local libraries where they borrow weekly reads. This alienates them with the quagmire of having to incur an extra coin to purchase a favorite book. However, the borrowed books have limited time, after which you should return them. Though I might not be through with it, I always go and renew the due dates. In extreme cases, these collection agencies may report your failure to settle the credit bureaus’ payment. Guess what next! A black mark will be indented on your credit card. This destroys the reputation of your card for up to six years. To avoid tainting your credit card, adapt my plan, return your book earlier or pay the fine fee accrued promptly. Just discipline yourself to be punctual with the due dates. Avoid overstaying with the borrowed books. Doing so leads to a rack up of fine fees that won’t auger well in due time.

Traveling to Explore

Traveling is fun. Every person at one point in his life would desire to visit a particular place. Some do this after saving for it. For me, it is not easy. I cannot wait or be patient to plan for a journey in two years. This is a bracket that encloses most of the people. I like exploring exotic locations. When free, like any other person, I like traveling. As you are reading this, I know you are planning when your next trip is. Whiling away some hours out of work schedule is becoming rampant. It is important due to climate change and the monotony of the obvious places at your home or office. You can bet me that the temptation to forget about life back at home is overwhelming. This partial negligence is potentially harmful to your credit card score. At this time, you tend to forget all pending bill payments, which the credit bureau won’t hesitate to refer to award you credit scores. Just failing to pay your designated bills on time is a substantial risk to your credit score. There are many ways to avoid this. For instance, you can set a mail reminder to alert you of the bills paid on time. Alternatively, you can opt for an auto payment mode, which pays the due bills on time. However, this calls for frequent confirmations to prove sufficiency.

Home Improvement and Garden Servicing

Relaxing in your garden or home also can be a good way to while away your spare time. Working on your garden or home needs frequent trips to several home improvement warehouses. In the process, you may opt to apply for a retail credit card. This is quite sensible when financing small projects in your garden or home. However, it is a bad move to dare finance big projects by applying for several credit cards in a small span of time. Financial reports show that 10% of the credit score comes from the newly applied credit cards. This rampant credit application is perceived as if you are in a financial problem. This scares away your potential creditors and hurts your credit score. To avoid this, ensure a span of about six months before applying for a new credit card. This is a tactic I have been using. Believe me. It worked out. My garden project is finished and running while my credit score is hiking up.

Going to Shopping

Shopping is another hobby that can jeopardize your credit card score. If you always crave fashion as I do, you can concur that shopping is a threat to your credit score. There is never enough with shopping. Every new dress, shoe, or watch is trendy, and you feel that it appropriate to own it. When I have the latest dress fashion, I feel satisfied. With the growing technology, shopping has been diverted into online. Just a click of a button away, and you purchase your favorite deal. However, this satisfaction comes with either a blessing or a curse to your credit score. Almost 30% of your credit score relies on the amounts owed. The higher the debts, the lower the credit score and vice versa. So, to escape this moment, maintain your debts below the stated amounts and endeavor to pay the dues in time. Ensure you distribute the monthly bills to several cards to maintain the debts as low as possible. Also, settle the balances within the time limits.

This is another unique venue through which many direct their energy to spend their spare time. On my part, I enjoy sharing movies with my friends but at a fee. I have got several credit cards that get used to accessing the movies in store. This venue may be challenging when it comes to expenses and time management. For instance, when watching a movie series, you can not rest until you drain it to the last drop. This leads to one accumulating bills, which in time are meant to be settled within hours. This is a potential threat to your credit score. Be careful when it comes to the movie industry. Automate the bill payments.

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