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I hope this can help in the great "How Many Debate"
Me last week
1 HSBC Master Card - $700 CL ($500 bal will be $350 once it updates)
1 Dillards store card - $850 CL ($0 Balance)
1 Macy's store card - $850 CL (Opened 2002 and unused since 2004, I thought it was closed)
4 Student Loans - $8,229
1 Auto Loan - $8353 (from $12,375)
1 30day late in 2005 on the dillards and a string of 90 day lates on 3 of the student loans
(Note: open all your statements even when your student loans are in deferment because if you aren't psychic it is hard to guess when they will come out )
Everything else is all good
Not a lot going on I know but my Credit History is 12yrs3mos old and my AAofA is 8 years
This week I have had 6 inquires (as many as 6 and as little as 3 on each but 6 in all)
I had one new account a Barklays Master card CL$700
Equifax is the only one I have a FICO score for and it jumped 20 points.
My TransUnion FAKO didn't change (but is showing the new card)
Experian FAKO went up 18 points
I will be buying my TU and EX Ficos next Friday.
I have one more credit card I have been approved for (Capital One CL $1000) that hasn't hit yet I will let you know what the change is when it does but that will be all the credit shopping I feel I need to do for a while.
Edited to add more spaces. My post was a BLOB!
@Anonymous wrote:
I work as a loan officer for a Credit Union. We pull exclusively Experian here, but honest to God, I've seen a score of 815 without any CC's, just an mortgage with 180mo+trade and an auto loan. 75% of the scores in the 800's I've seen, have had 1-3 cards. I've seen an 815 with a home loan, auto loan, and a Sam's club card at 15% util. I'm sure by have a good CC mix you can improve your score, but honestly I think payment history is the biggest factor. Personally, I have not seen a score in the 800's that had more than 3 cards yet. Most people with 5-15 cards have been in the 780's max (783 is a very popular number). I'm not saying you can't have an 800 with more than 3 cards, but personally that's what I've noticed (I've probably pulled about 8 scores 800+). I've also seen a 25 y/o with one major CC at 5% util with a 731 with only 27mo trade history!
That's interesting.
Well I had a score of 711 with 12 months of history: 2 CCs.
My third card, the Amex, pulled me down do 645.
The 4th CircuitCity card costed me only 2 points.
mademoiselle's post about rebuilding credit and getting a secured card has been split off to start a separate thread. New title:
rebuilding credit; should I start again with a new secured card?
Good question. Depends on the bureau I guess.
I have one BofA with a $27,300 CL and an Amex Blue with $10,000 CL; both with zero balances.
When I pull my TU, it dings me for not having enough "Premium Bankcard Accounts". WTF?
I do think that the bureaus like to see you in debt; if so, they score you higher.
But for me, my debt load is inversely proportional to my quality of sleep.
I've been going with the 2 CC's (BoA and WaMu) and 1 Store Card(Sears) set-up myself.
One of your Credit Cards should also be from a major national bank like Bank of America or Chase.
I've considered getting one more credit card, but undecided as to which one to get. I had planned on getting an AMEX but given how unpredictable they are it seems more a liability than an asset to me. PenFed sounds really good though...
Hey pushedtofar! I feel you. I haven't ben divorced or anything like that, but the damage to my credit i thought was un-repairable. I was wrong. I did bounce back and I believe you will too. I was in the low 400's and now on my way to the 700 Club.
I am rooting for you!
wannalearn's post has been moved to create its own thread, called "Have two cards; want to get above 720."