Equifax 70 point score increase!!!

[GettinCreditSavy]

Hey everyone!  I am a long time lurker of the forums, and recently decided to join as I am taking a more proactive approach in rebuilding my credit.  A little background......my credit score at one point was in the high 300's   

Now for the good news!  I received my myFICO scores for the first time on January 20th and my EQ score at that time was 513.  My boyfriend added me as an authorized user on his BofA credit card that he has had since 2002 with no lates, and very low utilization.  The card is reporting on all 3 of my credit bureaus and has boosted my score tremendously!  In addition, I have been actively paying off other debts which I am sure is aiding in my credit score boost as well.  There are still a few accounts that  I have paid off that are not yet reporting the updated information, one being an old AMEX account that had a 10k balance that I paid off at the beginning of this month, and two AFNI collection accounts that I paid off yesterday!   I recently even had success on a PFD letter on a medical bill that I paid in full.

Its looking like I will officially be debt free (minus my student loan) no later than June of this year....woot woot!!!! 

I am SOOOO proud of me, and I can't wait to see how my score continues to improve!  I will be getting a secured credit card from my bank in the next month or so and will only use it for gas, and a few smaller things that I will be sure to pay off every month.   

I just want to thank all of you for the great advice, and words of wisdom you all share on this site!!! 

[LIGHTNIN]

Hi and welcome to the forums,

No lurker no more, welcome to the myfico family.Congrads on paying down your debt and soon to be debt-free.

 to you!!!                Thank you for your story,wow 70pts thats great.!!

Well now since you are registered and no longer a lurker, I'll see you around on the forums.

[GettinCreditSavy]

Thanks so much!!! 

If anyone has any advice on how to continue to raise my score such cc usage etc, I would greatly appreciate it.  Getting back into the cc game scares me b/c I don't want to do anything to hinder my progress.  Thanks in advance!

[mauve]

I'd finish the bad debt off before I looked for additional cards, personally.

Make sure you've opted out at optoutprescreen.com

And keep up the good work!

[GettinCreditSavy]

Thanks Mauve!  I am only going to do the secured card through my bank for now, until I have completely eliminated everything.  Once that's done, I don't plan on applying for any additional credit in the immediate future.