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My 12 Month Experiment to Open an Installment Loan to Increase my Credit Score

Full Disclosure: I don’t recommend taking out an installment loan unless you understand the costs and how the process works.  I did my best to explain the process, but I apologize if it is still confusing.

Good afternoon everyone, I hope your week is going well. 12 months ago, I started a journey to increase my credit score by opening an installment loan called a Credit Builder Account with Self (Self was previously named Self Lender).  Before I started this experiment, the Account Mix portion of my credit score was very 1 sided.  I had 30+ credit cards, but no auto loans, home loans, student loans, or installment loans.  As of September 2020, my Credit Sesame account shows that I now have 2 types of accounts (30+ credit cards and 1 installment loan).  This information can be found at the 3 credit bureaus and on Credit Karma, but the screen on Credit Sesame was the prettiest and easy to understand.

As a reminder, the Account Mix portion of your credit score only makes up 10% of your overall credit score, so it is not as important as your Payment History (35%) and your Credit Usage (30%).  In this post, I will show you how the Credit Builder Account works and how much it costs to take out the installment loan.

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Anatomy & Timeline of a Cancelled Delta Airlines Award Ticket (FCO-JFK)

Good morning everyone, I hope your week is going well.  Back on February 9, I booked a Delta Airlines award ticket for my friend to travel from Rome (FCO) to New York City (JFK) in business class for travel on October 1.  The award ticket cost 80,000 Delta SkyMiles and 329.23 euros (~$388.06) in taxes/fees.  Unfortunately, due to the Coronavirus Pandemic, the flight was cancelled.  In this post, I will share the timeline of when the Delta SkyMiles and award taxes/fees were refunded.

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Great Timeshare Vacation Package Deal: 3 Days / 2 Nights for Only 7,500 Wyndham Rewards Points

Good morning everyone, I hope you had a great Labor Day Weekend.  I just received this great timeshare vacation package deal from Wyndham Rewards.  You can get a 3 day / 2 night vacation package for only 7,500 Wyndham Rewards Points.  That’s 7,500 points total, not per night.  You must book through this special link by October 15, complete your stay by November 24, and attend a 2 hour timeshare presentation.  Keep reading to see the 6 cities / resorts participating in this timeshare vacation package deal.

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How to Redeem Wells Fargo Go Far Rewards Points to Pay for Purchases

Good afternoon everyone, I hope your week is going well.  Earlier this month, the $175 annual fee posted to my Wells Fargo Propel World American Express Credit Card.  I made sure to max out the $50 statement credit from the Small Business AMEX Offer and used up the $100 airline reimbursement.  I was hoping to downgrade my credit card to the no annual fee Wells Fargo Propel American Express, but when I called Wells Fargo, I was told that the department that handles product changes is closed temporarily due to the Coronavirus Pandemic.

Since I couldn’t product change to a no annual fee and I didn’t want to pay the $175 annual fee, I asked the rep to close my account.  During the closure process, the rep said I had 365 Wells Fargo Go Far Rewards Points in my account and asked me if I wanted to redeem the points for purchases before they closed the account.  In this post, I will show you how to redeem your Wells Fargo Go Far Rewards Points to pay for purchases.  Sign into your Wells Fargo online account and click on your credit card, not your Go Far Rewards account.

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