Issue #55: Is Tim Cook peeking at my credit score?

Credit scores don’t only impact whether I qualify to get the apartment or flashy phone — they can also affect what the terms of that agreement are, according to Rod Griffin, senior director of public education and advocacy for Experian. A high credit score can unlock better interest rates or a lower car insurance premium.

“If you’re using credit well, having a good credit score can help you be more financially successful up until the point you buy that house,” Griffin adds.

Sounds like a lot of pressure — especially when you consider that building up to a good credit score takes a lot of time. We’re talking years.

The silver lining is that I control my credit. I can get started by opening a credit card and making on-time payments regularly; I’ll want to keep the balance low so my utilization rate doesn’t exceed 30%. Rubenstein said I can also piggyback off people who do have established credit by asking to become an authorized user on their account.

Building my credit is a slow and steady process, but luckily there are a couple of shortcuts. Experian Boost is a feature that adds positive cell phone, utility and even Netflix payments to my credit file (and, theoretically, raises my FICO score). I can ask my landlord to report my rent payments to the credit bureaus, as well.

I can also pull my credit report to see what’s on it and determine whether I’m making progress.

Normally, people can only request reports from each of the three major credit bureaus for free once a year, but the coronavirus crisis has changed the rules. Now I can get a free copy of my credit report every week.

(but please don't tell me you scrolled past all of my hard work)

My credit score can affect what apartments I qualify for, how nice a phone I get, what my car insurance premiums are and a bunch of other, non-house things. Because it takes a long time to build up my history, I need to take care of my credit now. That way, when I am ready to buy a home, my affairs are in order.

“Lenders want to loan you money. That’s how they make money — they don’t want to say no,” Griffin says. “If you have good credit scores, it’s going to create greater opportunities for you in a lot of different ways.”

via GIPHY

check out this crazy celebrity purchase

via Getty

According to a new report, Elton John spends an estimated $64,300 a year paying the energy bills for his mansion in Windsor, England. It’s a huge estate — complete with an indoor swimming pool, a library of 70,000 CDs and a life-size fiberglass dinosaur named Daisy with light-up eyes — so the size of the bill makes sense. I hear he doesn’t have much money, but, boy, if he did, he’d need to splurge on power for that big house where we both could live.

five things I'm loving online right now

send me cute pictures of your pets, please

CREDIT: JOY TIGGEMAN

Meet Little Johnny, seen here wearing a tie because he’s working in the office with his mom. Little Johnny isn’t ready to buy a dog house yet, but he’s improving his fur-edit score anyway.

Off to delete my search history.

See you next week.

Julia

P.S. I learned a bunch last issue about payday loans. Afterward, Scholar Frederick wrote in to say that credit card advances are indeed a good way to get cash fast (but to warn me that if I can't pay the balance back in full, I'll likely see high interest charges). Scholar Phil pointed out that cash advance ads are often targeting people without bank accounts.

P.P.S. What’s your credit score? Do you have a favorite bug? What’s the strangest thing you’ve Googled lately? Write me at julia.glum@money.com or tweet @SuperJulia.