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Raising your Credit Score

Ivy

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Finances have never been a strong suit for me. We went through a couple of rough patches a few years back and our credit took a dip. Now we are in good shape but our credit is still not great. What kinds of strokes do you have to use to get a credit erection? (Not proud of that metaphor, but not ashamed enough to erase it.)
 

Ivy

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It seems like it's not as simple as that, since my score is still mediocre despite some time of paying bills on time and in full.
 

ceecee

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First I would get copies of all your credit reports and make sure they are mistake free. If there are mistakes, dispute them. Next, pay your bills on time all the time. Payment history accounts for 35% of your FICO score. I don't know if you have credit cards but if not, get one. Even a secured one, with regular payments will make a difference, at least in the beginning. If you have cards, don't close them and keep the balances low, low enough to pay off monthly. If you have not had a long payment history, there isn't much you can do but give it time but it counts less and less as your payment history lengthens.

Improve Credit Score - Credit Tips at Experian.com
Seven Steps to a Healthier Credit Score | TransUnion
Five Steps You Can Take to Help Improve Your Credit Score and Creditworthiness | Equifax Finance Blog
 

Ivy

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Yeah, that might be a big part of it, ceecee- we cut up our credit cards after we paid them all off after racking up a big debt (for us- it was never more than a few thousand bucks) during our lean times, and have been gun shy about getting new ones. I think I remember reading "insufficient positive credit" in the report.
 

prplchknz

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I have no credit. I don't want credit, yeah sure if I want to buy a house, but lets be realistic unless something magical happens I will not be able to ever afford a house.
 

93JC

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Yeah, that might be a big part of it, ceecee- we cut up our credit cards after we paid them all off after racking up a big debt (for us- it was never more than a few thousand bucks) during our lean times, and have been gun shy about getting new ones. I think I remember reading "insufficient positive credit" in the report.

Oooh, yeah, cutting up your credit cards seems like a good idea to reign in your spending but it would be better to keep them around and keep making small purchases with them. It's good to pay off the debt you've accumulated but your credit score would go back up much quicker if you kept using the card. If you're not using the card you're not using the credit, and if you're not using the credit you've already got a lender isn't going to want to give you more.
 

ceecee

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Yeah, that might be a big part of it, ceecee- we cut up our credit cards after we paid them all off after racking up a big debt (for us- it was never more than a few thousand bucks) during our lean times, and have been gun shy about getting new ones. I think I remember reading "insufficient positive credit" in the report.

I understand completely. One thing you may want to look at is your bank. They can be very helpful, especially when it comes to rebuilding credit and if you don't have a regular account, go speak to them about one. Direct deposit agreements help as do using bank bill pay for at least a few bills (I love this service, btw). We have accounts with an identity alert product that comes with it. We can look at all our credit reports at any time through it. This really helps when you monitor things and would feel so good to you to see it going up. Talk to them about a credit card. Even a $250 or $500 limit, used and paid off every month will make a difference in a fairly short time.
 

Ivy

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I should add that we also closed the accounts- we didn't just cut up the cards and let the accounts sit open.
 

ceecee

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93JC

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I should add that we also closed the accounts- we didn't just cut up the cards and let the accounts sit open.

Aye-yi-yi...

This also hurts your credit score, because rating agencies take into account the average length of time your accounts have been open and how long you've had the oldest one open. :(
 

Ivy

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See, I thought we were doing the right thing there- not just having accounts hanging out unused.
 

ceecee

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See, I thought we were doing the right thing there- not just having accounts hanging out unused.

Right and it doesn't look like it would cause problems. It looks like the responsible thing to do.

How FICO scores work: Credit utilization

There are things that matter more (look at the pie chart) but they all matter but now that you can make improvements, the best thing you can do is read up on it. See what is legit and what makes a difference in a positive way and get advice from professionals who can help.
 

PocketFullOf

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I liked the metaphor. It was hard and nasty just like managing finances correctly. What I actually came in to say is that I got a recent spam email of the same title and in light of the recent conversation about spam I was excited to catch the culprit posting on these forums. As far as finances go...I'm very stereotypical for my type in that category.
 

Coriolis

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Yes - the paradox is that to have a good credit score, you actually need to incur debt and then pay it off.
 

kyuuei

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Create the illusion of being able to get massive amounts of money at any time while also having the illusion that you're super responsible and trust worthy of said money. The more people willing to loan you more money, with you not using that money all up, is best. And it's a pain in the D.

I was getting punished because I had awful credit. Not because I ruined my credit, but because I didn't have any. I opened the only place that would give me a CC at the time--walmart of all places. I'd buy my gas there monthly, pay it off and just turned my gas money into a monthly bill, and after a couple months I was able to get another credit card (I went with Amex Sky Blue, pretty satisfied with it so far--use it for vacation payments, then pay it off at the end of the month in full, and it gives me points for $100 off flights sometimes.. Pretty simple exchange. It's like an extra step to me of getting my money out of my bank account.) that was actually practical. If I were to do it again, I'd get a bigger better CC with no annual fees, no same-month-fee or total-pay-off fees (you gotta ask about those things, sometimes they're really shady and make you pay in installments, or charge you interest same month. Most I don't think are allowed/don't do that, but still something to watch for), that offered simple cash back on groceries and gas.. Then I could make both of those a simple monthly bill and get some little insignificant pieces back via points. I buy those more frequently than I buy flights.

Things that hurt credit - Anything that makes you look like you need money. For example... Inquiring about your credit (i.e. to get a card, to apply for a loan to a house, etc.) 1 a year of hard inquiries won't hurt.. but 2+ starts to hurt. I didn't care at the time, building credit is a slow burn, so I took the slight hit in exchange for having accounts open and active. Opening a credit card. (Hah!) Only initially though, for similar reasons. Asking for a loan on a house. Not paying bills on time. etc. A credit card company automatically closing your account for non-use and not even informing you about it. (Ask me how I know.)

Things that help your credit - Pretty much who's willing to lend you what and how much and how often. If you're loyal to most credit cards, they'll ask you after a year or so to boost up your credit line. The more people willing to lend you credit, the better off you look. But, really, you don't need tons and tons of credit cards for all of that. Just some slow burning time on the same ones. Subscribe your netflix account, for example, to be paid with it or something, then have auto-pay set up for the credit card, and boom--easy, you can hide the thing and it's just like it's being taken from your bank account. Paid in full each month without fail, constantly getting used.



So, things that are hurting my credit for example:
- I had a credit card closed on me when I never knew it would be closed. I planned on using it each year once a year, and that didn't work out well at all. That was before the walmart CC. Nothing much to be done there.
- Bank of America had my car loan, and I paid them off on time but we had a dispute about the final payment amount--they said I didn't pay it, my bank account showed it was taken out. Lots of arguing over a year in Africa later, they finally say, "Oh, yeah, you did." and closed my account. Well, now I have a closed loan amount on my score, AND I have a 'derogatory remark' because they already labeled it as unpaid by the time we got it sorted through. They fixed it in THEIR books, but they don't give a hell about fixing it on my credit. So, I've got to whip out my writing skills one day and write a nice letter to have it disputed and taken off my record.
- I was trying to get a house loan at one point, and so I was inquiring to my old bank about it. They ran 2 different hard inquiries on my account, and I TOLD them how I made my money, and then they said, "Oh, yeah, sorry, turns out we can't accept your style of income as stable income." So now I have those inquiries on my account for a while too.


If you do ONE little thing wrong, credit drops like 50 bazillion points. If you do something right, it goes up 2.
 

Snoopy22

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Your use credit to raise your credit score. It’s a scam that traps many people into debt. Take a long term approach, start saving money by getting rid of the frivolous money traps (expensive phones, TV and internet with others), paying off bills and saving.
When you have enough saved and invested pay off large debts (home and cars), then you will be in position to save even more while using a credit card that is paid off each month, also pay cash for any new vehicles. The money not spent on interest is added back to your savings/investment as earnings allowing you more freedom with spending on frivolous items in the future. I have a credit rating of 812 to 820 with no carry over debt (our averages are $2,251.07, $2,185.32, $2,144.85, $2,172.90 per month over the last four years), when we spend more it goes up, less down.
 

Qre:us

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Yes - the paradox is that to have a good credit score, you actually need to incur debt and then pay it off.

Not really a paradox as your credit score is basically your payment history used to forecast what type of a borrower/liability you will be to your potential lenders. So, if you have no payment history, it makes sense that you will not have a credit score, because they have no basis re: what type of a borrower you will be.

I have no credit. I don't want credit, yeah sure if I want to buy a house, but lets be realistic unless something magical happens I will not be able to ever afford a house.

I'd highly recommend you change your stance on this. You may not want it, but usually it becomes important when you need it, and then, you're in a bind. But, if you do it, make sure you are very vigilant about paying off any debts incurred, in full, and on time.
 

prplchknz

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Not really a paradox as your credit score is basically your payment history used to forecast what type of a borrower/liability you will be to your potential lenders. So, if you have no payment history, it makes sense that you will not have a credit score, because they have no basis re: what type of a borrower you will be.



I'd highly recommend you change your stance on this. You may not want it, but usually it becomes important when you need it, and then, you're in a bind. But, if you do it, make sure you are very vigilant about paying off any debts incurred, in full, and on time.

I have no debts, i make sure i don't have debts, i'm actually very anal about it. I don't do more then i can afford. don't assume i spend willy nilly, because i don't. I actually stay within budget cuz i hate being broke and I hate people coming after me, I just don't give a shit about what my credit is.

I pay all my bills by the due date sometimes even earlier I pay everything that is upcoming and have bill for before I spend anything on food.

when I made that post i had just gotten electric in my name and they said i had no credit i might have more credit now cuz i have 2 utility bills in my name internet and electric but probably not much. I am not gonna kill myself over building credit my philosophy is if i can't do a down payment in cash and can not do monthly payments in cash after I do not deserve it.
 

rebeccasofia

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It has always baffled me that in order to build credit, you have to use credit. But to get credit, you have to have it already. :shock:
 
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