Why after moving to the USA you need to actively take out loans: the experience of an immigrant

Author of the channel “Americano | Americano" on Yandex.Zen talks about his experience of creating a credit history in the United States and how Russian immigrants live in the first time after moving. Further - from the first person.

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We moved to the USA a few years ago, now I already have a normal job, but at first after moving it was hard.

We immigrated with little money, exclusively for the first time, plus a little in reserve, so we immediately had to look for at least some job. Although my specialty is related to the IT sphere, no one brought me a position on a silver platter, and at first I worked as a bartender for 2000-2500 dollars a month (by local standards, this is not enough, but already better than the rubles with which we arrived, and they just melted before our eyes!).

We didn’t live in a cardboard box, but we rented a small one-room apartment, or, to put it correctly, 1BR (one bedroom), but there was almost no money left for leisure, and we ate average food. Over time, things slowly got better, and we moved from Carolina to California, and I found a normal job.

On the subject: Medicine, credit cards and other disadvantages of life in the USA: the opinion of a Russian-speaking immigrant

But today is not about that. As for my loans: have I gotten into debt a lot?

Everything is simple here. At first, when we just arrived and there was no normal work yet, loans would simply not be approved - local banks are stricter about this than in the Russian Federation, and they give loans very carefully by studying your credit history. Therefore, at first we lived without loans at all, we saved, squeezed, got smart, and so on.

After moving to Los Angeles, we began to actively collect and repay loans. To a greater extent, not even because of real need, but because of the local system. Personally, I don’t accept loans, even though the interest rates are good. However, the US system is designed in such a way that in many situations you are judged on your credit history. The more you collect and pay out, the more reliable you are. Even when applying for a job, they look at your credit history. Personally, we prefer to save up, but due to local subtleties, we started taking out loans, mostly small ones (like phones, gadgets, equipment, etc.).

So yes, we really have a large number of closed loans; at the moment I am paying off two more to improve my financial reputation, since we usually take out on credit what we could live without without any problems.

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The local consumer society plays a role here. We entered this style and now, if a new phone or set-top box comes out, of course, we update ourselves, like most of those living here.

Original column published on the blog. “Americano | Americano" on Yandex.Zen

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