Looking for what to do next

Anonymous · ‎07-26-2016

Hello All,

I'm looking for what my next steps should be to improve my credit score.

right now, my credit score is showing as

transunion 658

Equifax is 659

financial picture is something like this:

income is 41k steady at my primary job at a corporate desk job.

i can make anywhere like 180 to 250 after tax on a friday night by being a truck driver. (i have a family and try and do this only twice a month).

credit cards Balance/limit

Cabelas - 3300/4000

citi 0/2500 (i just got this card with the purpose of doing a balance transfer as the intro apr is 0% for 18 months)

Barclay Bank 0/1500

Us bank 650/1000

American Express blue 0/1000

dell financial 0/1000

Credit one bank 0/700

Capital one 0/700

this is all according to credit karma

I have only made 94.7% of payments on time. i know this is a huge factor.

my credit is only about 2 years old because all of my old stuff has fallen off, i didn't know any better.

i have had 7 or 10 hard pulls on credit

no derogatory marks.

my question is, how should i best direct my money so that i improve my credit score faster. i have the capacity to work on weekends and make extra money. i also have a wife and two children, my wife contributes to paying for some of the utilities and things so its not like i have to pay the rent and things on my own.

your response is highly appreciated.

Anonymous · ‎07-26-2016

First of all, ignore the credit Karma scores. They are Vantage 3 scores which very few lenders use. Sign up for the $1 trial for Creditchecktotal.com and see what your Fico 08 scores are. You can call to cancel that and they'll offer it for 15/month for a set period of time (1 to 5 years). Other than that keep less than half your cards reporting a low balance. If planning on applying for new credit have 1 card report a balance of less than 9% (for that card ( for optimal scoring.

Anonymous · ‎07-27-2016

@Anonymous wrote:
Hello All,

I'm looking for what my next steps should be to improve my credit score.

right now, my credit score is showing as
transunion 658
Equifax is 659

financial picture is something like this:
income is 41k steady at my primary job at a corporate desk job.
i can make anywhere like 180 to 250 after tax on a friday night by being a truck driver. (i have a family and try and do this only twice a month).

credit cards Balance/limit
Cabelas - 3300/4000
citi 0/2500 (i just got this card with the purpose of doing a balance transfer as the intro apr is 0% for 18 months)
Barclay Bank 0/1500
Us bank 650/1000
American Express blue 0/1000
dell financial 0/1000
Credit one bank 0/700
Capital one 0/700

this is all according to credit karma
I have only made 94.7% of payments on time. i know this is a huge factor.
my credit is only about 2 years old because all of my old stuff has fallen off, i didn't know any better.
i have had 7 or 10 hard pulls on credit
no derogatory marks.

my question is, how should i best direct my money so that i improve my credit score faster. i have the capacity to work on weekends and make extra money. i also have a wife and two children, my wife contributes to paying for some of the utilities and things so its not like i have to pay the rent and things on my own.

your response is highly appreciated.

Sit back, pay off Cabelas and US Bank, and let your lines age. Thats all you need to do at this point.

Anonymous · ‎07-27-2016

^+1 on pay and wait.

If it was me, I'd also close the Credit One account ASAP, since that one carries fees on a monthly basis even when you don't use it. You have enough cards that losing that one $700 account shouldn't make much of a difference. And closing it doesn't erase it - the "closed by consumer" in good standing thing will remain on your reports for 10 years.

Second priority is paying down the Cabela's. You need to knock out $3K of that one to bring it into "ideal" reporting territory. At the very least, you need to get it below 30% (below $1200) as soon as you can. Third priority is US Bank, for the same reason, although this one might be easier to tackle first if you have a little extra cash - the goal on this one is a balance below $300 as soon as you can, then work it down from there.

Making all payments on time is essential as well. You aren't perfect, but you aren't too bad on that - however, each additional future late payment will damage you further, so it's important to make sure you are never late again. If it comes down to paying a minimum vs. charging something on a card for a month and letting a balance report, you should always choose to charge onto another card and make the payment before it is due. Any minor points lost on a higher reporitng balance will be gone the next month if you get that charge paid off - but the damage from a single late payment will last for years.

Anonymous · ‎07-27-2016

this is all very helpful. also, that was my first post, and so i've been doing a lot of deciphering to see what is meant by all the acronyms and such.

i'm assuming pay and wait is what they call gardening?

the citi bank card has a balance transfer offer that sounds appealing. i plannedon transferring some of the balance from the cableas to that card.

the credit one card,i called and asked them to close it but they gave me $25.00 and waived the monthly fee for 6 months at which point i plan on closing that card.

also, i'm not sure if this important at this time or not but how do i increase credit lines? and/or does that request cause for another hard pull on my credit that will further reduce my score?

finally i have a car loan that i forgot to mention that i only have 2 years and 3 months on. its a capital one auto loan at 9.00% this was better than the wells fargo loan at 14.9%. I did a refi the first chance i had and i only refinanced for exactly whatever term i had remaining on the original.

Anonymous · ‎07-27-2016

"Pay and wait" is more or less gardening, yes.

The concept of "gardening" means specifically to not apply for anything new, and simply tend to and try to grow the accounts you already have.

I do not think an app to Citi is advisable for you right now, even with the BT offer, but if you are pre-approved then maybe.

If you are not pre-approved, then I would advise against applying for it, as your score really doesn't meet their typical mark for approval.

Most creditors will consider you for increased credit lines with a soft pull (a pull that does not affect your score). If you have never asked for one, ask each of your card issuers except Credit One - because I believe they have a fee for that and may even be a hard pull for Credit Line Increases (CLI). Since you plan to close this one anyway, it isn't really worth the trouble trying to increase it. When considering you for an increase, most lenders will want to have seen some usage and payment on the account, and will sometimes want you to update income information. Most people, especially if they have borderline scores, do better on CLI if they call customer service as opposed to simply hitting the request button on the lender website (what is known as the "luv button" - usually says something like "request a credit limit increase" in reality).

Your car loan is the "installment" part of your file - as opposed to credit cards, which are "revolving." There is little you can do here until you gather up some more FICO points, but future refi isn't out of the question if you manage to work on your scores and get them up around 680 or so, where you'll start to qualify for the better interest rates (<5%). As long as you make your payments on time on this loan, it'll be fine. It doesn't hurt you to have an installment loan - helps your credit mix, actually - and the positive payment history helps your scoring.

Anonymous · ‎07-27-2016

@Anonymous wrote:
"Pay and wait" is more or less gardening, yes.
The concept of "gardening" means specifically to not apply for anything new, and simply tend to and try to grow the accounts you already have.

I do not think an app to Citi is advisable for you right now, even with the BT offer, but if you are pre-approved then maybe.
If you are not pre-approved, then I would advise against applying for it, as your score really doesn't meet their typical mark for approval.

Most creditors will consider you for increased credit lines with a soft pull (a pull that does not affect your score). If you have never asked for one, ask each of your card issuers except Credit One - because I believe they have a fee for that and may even be a hard pull for Credit Line Increases (CLI). Since you plan to close this one anyway, it isn't really worth the trouble trying to increase it. When considering you for an increase, most lenders will want to have seen some usage and payment on the account, and will sometimes want you to update income information. Most people, especially if they have borderline scores, do better on CLI if they call customer service as opposed to simply hitting the request button on the lender website (what is known as the "luv button" - usually says something like "request a credit limit increase" in reality).

Your car loan is the "installment" part of your file - as opposed to credit cards, which are "revolving." There is little you can do here until you gather up some more FICO points, but future refi isn't out of the question if you manage to work on your scores and get them up around 680 or so, where you'll start to qualify for the better interest rates (<5%). As long as you make your payments on time on this loan, it'll be fine. It doesn't hurt you to have an installment loan - helps your credit mix, actually - and the positive payment history helps your scoring.

Did some research, it's $15! Everything about this company infuriates me!