Personal blog on early retirement, selling tradelines, and analytics projects. I write about what I learn as I am learning it.
The difference between secured and unsecured credit cards comes down to one thing: a deposit. With a secured card, you put cash down upfront and that becomes your credit limit. With an unsecured card, no deposit — the issuer extends you credit based on your history. That’s really it. Everything else — how it reports to the bureaus, how it affects your score — works the same.
The short answer is yes — a 700 credit score with collections on your report is possible. I’ve seen buyer profiles come through with exactly this situation: one or two old collections, otherwise clean payment history, decent account age, and a score sitting in the 690–720 range. It’s not ideal, and there are real limitations once you get to the underwriting stage of a mortgage or auto loan, but the number itself is achievable. Here’s what actually determines whether collections tank your score below 700 or don’t. Related: account information disputed by consumer — worth reading if this applies to you. Related: Credit Score Dropped 100 Points — worth reading if this applies to you.
Continue reading “Can You Have a 700 Credit Score With Collections?”
A sinking fund is one of those personal finance concepts that sounds more complicated than it is. The idea: you pick a large known expense that’s coming — new tires, a family trip, replacing an aging appliance — and you set aside a fixed amount each month until you have the full cost ready. No loan. No credit card charge you’ll be paying off for the next year. Just money you deliberately saved for a specific thing.
The honest answer: most lenders will start repossession proceedings after two to three missed payments. But the specifics matter — your grace period, whether you’ve called ahead, and how the lender handles delinquencies all affect the timeline. If you’ve already missed one payment and you’re Googling this, keep reading, because there’s still time to manage it.
Most people searching for this have a specific situation in mind: they’re trying to lease an office, a retail space, or a commercial unit, and someone at the landlord’s office asked about their credit. What type of credit are they actually looking at? The answer is a bit messier than “just get a good credit score” — commercial leasing can involve personal credit, business credit, or both, depending on who’s signing and what the landlord requires. Let me break it down.
