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When I turned 18 and no one explained anything about credit.. I have had some good accounts and cards that I have closed or were closed due to my ignorance but know I am a single mom, working on my 2nd college degree, and would love to get things right and hopefully by a home in about 2 to 3 years! Maybe!Hopefully! Who knows. I have been reading for days and still need some help. Just got my score on here as 663 EQ. I have student loans 2 I am currently paying back and only 1 credit card that is open. Its a JCP with 1350 cl and 300 balance. Because of my old days i have some late payments but my last late was OCT 2011. My AAOA is 4 years due to me closing some old accounts back in the day im assuming? Right? So im confused on the ratio of balance/limits thing. It says 16%. Is this a good or a bad? Im not sure. Sorry for being so slow. Im guessing if I keep paying everything on time I should be good. My JCP will be paid in full next month so i will just be paying 2 loans since the rest are deferred. Im thinking i should get one credit card and use sparingly but i have 3 inquiries from last year so maybe I should hold off to apply since the more inquiries the more effect it will have on my score and with that score and very small income, I may not get approved for anything. Any suggestions for me?
Well I would start by trying to clear the lates. You can try sending letters to the company you were late on and explain why you were late and ask them to remove the lates. Removing the lates will boost your score.
Having your utilization below 9 % is what I have been told is ideal. I would possibly look towards getting a major cc. The hard pull may hurt a bit at first but in the end be a great way to boost your score.
I would say to check out credit karma there is a section that talks about your score and what you could app for and probably be approved for. It has worked really well for me. I am working towards buying my first home.
Good Luck I hope this helps.
No, closing an account does not remove it from your AAoA calculation. As long as it is still being included in your CR, it is factored into your AAoA.
Check out the math.
Your current score, with a relatively low AAoA and some prior derogs, is really pretty good. I would first concentrate, as suggested, in getting the derogs deleted before attempting to get new cards. New cards will inevitably result in inquiries to app for them, and a reduction in AAoA when you get them. You can manage % util in the interim by keeping balances low rather than getting more CL by way of more cards. The derogs are hurting more than the new cards will help. I would put the horse before the cart, and try to improve your score by way of deletion of the derogs.
GW, GW, GW.
@bltrrt wrote:When I turned 18 and no one explained anything about credit..
Side note, we as a community all need to collectively fix this. Many of us (myself included) also fall into this category!
@Anonymous wrote:
@bltrrt wrote:When I turned 18 and no one explained anything about credit..
Side note, we as a community all need to collectively fix this. Many of us (myself included) also fall into this category!
+1,000,000
@Eberron wrote:Well I would start by trying to clear the lates. You can try sending letters to the company you were late on and explain why you were late and ask them to remove the lates. Removing the lates will boost your score.
Having your utilization below 9 % is what I have been told is ideal. I would possibly look towards getting a major cc. The hard pull may hurt a bit at first but in the end be a great way to boost your score.
I would say to check out credit karma there is a section that talks about your score and what you could app for and probably be approved for. It has worked really well for me. I am working towards buying my first home.
Good Luck I hope this helps.
Thank you. I will write and see. Those are what they call good wills? right? I saw that on credit karma about the credi t card match but i let that go because they had my score as over 700 and i was reading that those scores where not the real ones but i will find some cards within my score. Thank you!
@RobertEG wrote:No, closing an account does not remove it from your AAoA calculation. As long as it is still being included in your CR, it is factored into your AAoA.
Check out the math.
Your current score, with a relatively low AAoA and some prior derogs, is really pretty good. I would first concentrate, as suggested, in getting the derogs deleted before attempting to get new cards. New cards will inevitably result in inquiries to app for them, and a reduction in AAoA when you get them. You can manage % util in the interim by keeping balances low rather than getting more CL by way of more cards. The derogs are hurting more than the new cards will help. I would put the horse before the cart, and try to improve your score by way of deletion of the derogs.
GW, GW, GW.
Thank you!I did not realize that. I will definitely try the GW
@Crashem wrote:
I agree with other posters. Try to get those lates off. Addyionally, you need to get a couple more cards. Cards 2&3 will likely raise your score assuming pif behavior. You need to actively manage your credit for next year. Don't ever keep balance. Don't worry bout inquiries. A couple more wont really hurt your score that much but you can afford very few rejections. So need to be careful what to go for. Btw, what are 3 existing inquiries for and what happened. Btw, your fico is decent so there are cards out there for you much you probably need to manage every point.
Ialll the inquireis were declined for credit cards I cannot remember why i was delined though.I got sime of those pre- approval things and i still got shot down .