Revolving cards are where the bulk of your FICO score comes from. The instalment loans you have are good for the credit mix category, I would be concentrating your efforts on obtaining more bankcards, you need at least 3 to maximize your FICO score. I would also open 2 store cards this will help in the credit mix & utilization category, get ones that you will actually use, this board is full of members who opened store accounts using the shopping cart trick that they will never use and now regret having ever opened them. The cards that you app for should be inline with what your spending habits are.
@Jmoney6 wrote:Good afternoon all,
I'm wondering what is the best way to grow my credit. I am 23 years old and have just shy of 100k a year income. I had one judgement ($700) in 2010, but cannot find who owns the debt, so the judgement has yet to be satisfied. I am letting a sleeping dog lie and not digging, it will eventually fall off my credit report.
I currently have the following lines of credit open:
Car loan, orig amount $21554 opened Sept 2013, 5 year note. I've since paid the balance down to $13,500, ($4000 was paid instantly due to sale of old vehicle) and my father co-signed for me.
Personal loan, orig amount $5000 opened April 2013 3 year note. I currently owe $3200. Father co-signed for me.
I have a Discover card $1400 limti, and a Chase card $3000 limit.
My Fico is currently 648 (discover report).
My goals are credit freedom, what I mean is no need for my father to co-sign, I also want to buy a house within the next 1-3 years. What can I be doing better, paying faster or slower; doign in general?
Continue doing what your doing by making payments on time. Pay off either of the CCs (preferably the one with a higher APR) and pay the other down to 9%. The mix of credit appears to be pretty good, so I would just hold what you've got and allow time to help. What is the utiization of the 2 cards? Perhaps a 3rd card to help reduce that, but only for that reason.
