How can I get my credit score from 711 to 750 in 2 years

[Anonymous]

My credit score was 725 in january, but I didn't know inquiries affected your credit.

I get pre-approved credit card letters in the mail every week. I have since then, got hip to it and tore them all up.

I had several inquiries. My credit score currently is 711.

But, it may go up or down... I closed 2 credit cards, that I didn't use.

Now, I am left with 2 cards.

I paid off the  total balance of one credit card today, before the statement comes out.

I have a balance of under $1000 on a barclay's card. I plan to pay that off very soon also.

I am a bit confused. Some websites say, that more credit cards affect your credit positively and some sites say the opposite.

Did, I make a mistake closing credit cards.

I read that paying off the barclay card can make your credit increase 40 points. Is that possible?

My goal is to get a new car and I would need a loan. I read that on most websites that auto loans only require a 700 credit score. But, I think 750 would be better.

[KellyP25721]

Based on my experience, paying off the second credit card is probably going to cause a drop in your scores.  Ideally you want 3 credit cards, two reporting $0 balance and the third one reporting less than 10% of the cards limit.  By paying off the cards completely, it appears that you are not using the credit, thus not showing that you can use credit responsibibly...hurting your score.

[Anonymous]

oops, didn't know that....

[jamie123]

Just make sure that you have a small balance on 1 card before applying for your auto loan. Make sure to wait for at least 10 days to 2 weeks after that credit card's due date before applying for the auto loan.

Yes, you can pick up 40 points by paying down balances.

After you get the auto loan you want to apply for 1 or 2 more bank credit cards per year until you have a total of 5 to 8 credit cards. Credit cards are the foundation of good credit scores. You want to have quality bank credit cards that you can keep open for life. It is generally a bad idea to close any credit cards.

[takeshi74]

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@Anonymous wrote:

 How can I get my credit score from 711 to 750 in 2 years

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We can't tell you that.  We can't guarantee that doing X will get you Y points.  However, you can look at the relative weights of the usual factors and use that info

http://www.myfico.com/crediteducation/whatsinyourscore.aspx

...along with other general recommendations to work on improving your credit.  If you have derogs then hit the Rebuilding subforum and see what you can do to address them as derogs can hold your scores down.  If your revolving utilization isn't in check (i.e. under 30%) then get it in check.  When you're ready to app you can optimize it by allowing only one balance to report at 10% or less.  Most other factors just take time and responsible management to build.

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@Anonymous wrote:

I am a bit confused. Some websites say, that more credit cards affect your credit positively and some sites say the opposite.

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You'll always find conflicting information on the internet and you have to learn to consider your sources, validate, corrborate, etc.  General advice on number of cards is to have at least 2-3 for scoring purposes.  Beyond that it's the individual's needs/wants that dictate the number of cards.  CK indicates that there is a correlation between number of accounts and score but keep mind that correlation and causation are two entirely different things.  One does not need a large number of cards for high scores.

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@Anonymous wrote:

Did, I make a mistake closing credit cards.

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This thread is linked in the Helpful Threads sticky in the Credit Cards subforum and is pointed quite frequently in threads asking about closing cards.

 http://ficoforums.myfico.com/fico/board/message?board.id=creditcard&thread.id=117125&jump=true

Do the math to determine the impact to your revolving utilization to aid you in your decision making when you closing cards.

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@Anonymous wrote:

I read that paying off the barclay card can make your credit increase 40 points. Is that possible?

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Depends on the impact to revolving utilization.  Generally speaking, lower is better but, again, we can't say that you'd get X points for paying off that card.  The scoring models are not that simple and straightforward.  It's never just a matter of the action but of one's credit and how the action factors in.