Big Brother auto loans

Does the idea of spending money on things not exist in Europe or something? I know you guys are socialist but you still use money to buy things right?
Not if I need that money to pay off debts. In general I think the attitude towards credit is very different, you don't spend what you don't have. Buying something other than a house or a car on credit brings with it a sort of social stigma. There are ads on TV right now where a "re-financer" company (for people who have too many loans already) touts that when you apply for credit through them it only counts as one application in the records. If you have too many credit applications you will raise alarms. Doesn't matter if you pay got the loan or paid them in time or not, many applications on record simply means you are a fishy geezer that's not to be trusted.

The banking system collapsed in the early 1990's because people borrowed money they didn't have so I think the very strict system is preferable to giving credit to people who probably can't afford it.

Yep! And we hate freedom! :D
Oh yeah that too, nearly forgot!
 
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Not if I need that money to pay off debts. In general I think the attitude towards credit is very different, you don't spend what you don't have. Buying something other than a house or a car on credit brings with it a sort of social stigma.
That's not what I was saying though, I was saying that the way credit scores work here is by showing banks that prove yourself to be a responsible borrower. Even if the money is automatically taken out of your account you still have to be responsible enough to actually keep enough money in your account so that they can be withdrawn. That in turn means keeping an eye on your spending i.e. you can't go drop your entire paycheck on something when some of that money has to go towards your car note or mortgage, w/e else. It's not about remembering to pay someone it's about making sure you have enough money to cover your payments w/e they may be and not pissing it away. This is what banks look at here and how you establish credit.
If you have too many credit applications you will raise alarms. Doesn't matter if you pay got the loan or paid them in time or not, many applications on record simply means you are a fishy geezer that's not to be trusted.
That can also raise some red flags but it also depends on where the requests are coming from, for example car insurance tends to check your credit score so if you are shopping around and want the most accurate rate that will mean a lot of insurance companies making inquiries. From what I remember that does not make a difference in your score but having credit card companies run it will impact it.

P.S. I'm not arguing that credit is better/worse was simply explaining how it works stateside and what goes into it.
 
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