Personal blog on early retirement, selling tradelines, and analytics projects. I write about credit, optimization models, and what I've learned
Someone asked me this in a comment once — I think after a post about credit cards — and I realized I didn’t actually know the answer with any precision. I knew the $10,000 threshold existed somewhere, but I didn’t know the details: whether that applied to carry-on, checked bags, domestic, international, or all of the above. So I looked it up. Turns out there’s more nuance than most people assume.
Buyers come to me after Chapter 13 discharge more than you might expect. They’ve just finished a multi-year repayment plan, their credit took a real beating, and they want to know two things: where does my score stand right now, and will a tradeline help? The honest answer to both questions is more nuanced than what most posts on this topic give you.
Continue reading “Average Credit Score After Chapter 13 Discharge”
I put a $2,200 HVAC repair on a credit card once. Didn’t think much of it — I’d pay it off in a couple months. But in the meantime, that card went from about 15% utilization to over 70%. My credit score dropped around 30 points. I wasn’t planning to apply for anything, so I didn’t notice for weeks. That was the last time I “just charged it” for an expense I knew was coming.
Continue reading “Sinking Fund Categories That Actually Make Financial Sense”
The short answer to “can you transfer a car loan to someone else?” is: sometimes yes, but lenders make it complicated, and most people end up going a different route. Here’s the honest breakdown of what’s actually possible and when each option makes sense.
Continue reading “Can You Transfer a Car Loan to Someone Else?”
Fraud in personal finance usually makes you think of someone stealing your identity — a stranger opening a credit card in your name, draining your account, the whole nightmare scenario. That’s third-party fraud. First-party fraud is different, and in some ways more interesting: it’s when the borrower IS the fraud.
Continue reading “What Is First Party Fraud? How It Works and Who Does It”