Rasing my score

[Anonymous]

Hello everyone, My name is Andrew and I am new to the FICO forums. I really want to get some advice on how I can raise my credit score. I have just recently paid off over 50,000$ worth of debt. At this moment I own 1 credit card, a buckle store card, and a ashley furniture card. My score at the moment is a 699. I really would like to get it in the lower 800's. Ive been thinking of opening 2 more major credit cards. Im wondering though is it good to keep your cards paid off completely or leave a little on it. I like to pay off every month in full. Also say I have a 1500 CL and I buy something thats 1500$ but I pay it off in that month period, does it still hurt my score because its 100% of the balace of the card? I really need to understand how all this works because im just to confused on the best way to use my cards and raise my score. Thanks for any advice.

[Anonymous]

Welcome to the forums! 

I would start by pulling my free reports from https://www.annualcreditreport.com/cra/order. 

When you say "debt" were you referring to collections, COs or just CC debt?

FICO looks at several things when calculating your score and these are

35% payment history

30% utilization

15% length of credit history

10% credit mix

10% inquiries.

As you can see, payment history is huge, then utilization.  I would get another CC.  You have a store card and I do not know what kind a buckle store card is.  The thing with the CC utilization is to keep it under 9% for the best scoring.  If you pay in full each month, make sure you pay before the statement posts to avoid paying the interest rates.  I would use half of my cards and leave the other half at a zero balance.  Keep overall utilization at 9% or under.

Read the links I have posted.  Any questions, just ask.

[Anonymous]

Most of my debt was a truck that I sold not to long ago and I would say the rest were credit cards and bank loans. I use to have a bad habit of going out and buying something because they ahd the one year no interest financing but then I couldnt get them paid in time so I would get a loan from the bank to pay off the card. I had two Capitol one credit cards but I had bad business with them and ended up cancelling the cards and now im down to just one credit card. I think im going to apply for a Citi card and maybe BofA.

So I want to stay under 9% but do I need to keep more then 0%?  When is the best time to pay on your cc when you make a purchase? When I buy something should I pay it down or off when I get home the same day? I read somewhere else that said you always want to stay below 30% of a credit limit? Sorry for all the questions, This is definatly confusing at first. Thank you for the links below I will read them threw.

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

Most of my debt was a truck that I sold not to long ago and I would say the rest were credit cards and bank loans. I use to have a bad habit of going out and buying something because they ahd the one year no interest financing but then I couldnt get them paid in time so I would get a loan from the bank to pay off the card. I had two Capitol one credit cards but I had bad business with them and ended up cancelling the cards and now im down to just one credit card. I think im going to apply for a Citi card and maybe BofA.

So I want to stay under 9% but do I need to keep more then 0%?  When is the best time to pay on your cc when you make a purchase? When I buy something should I pay it down or off when I get home the same day? I read somewhere else that said you always want to stay below 30% of a credit limit? Sorry for all the questions, This is definatly confusing at first. Thank you for the links below I will read them threw.

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For the best score stay under 9% total.  You only have one card but if you had 4 you would use 2 of them and keep the other at a 0 balance.  The 2 you use keep at 9% or under and pay in full before the statement posts.

[Percy]

what do you mean pay in full before the statement posts?

[smallfry]

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@Abester000 wrote:
what do you mean pay in full before the statement posts?

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Here's the easy way. If you had 4 credit cards you could use two each month and rotate. Get it?

[Percy]

i understand that part. but you say.... pay in full before statement posts... lets say i used my card for 200 dollars.... statement comes.... i pay that 200 dollars... then use a different card the next month? or do i pay before the statement closes so it remains a 0 balance?

[smallfry]

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@Abester000 wrote:
i understand that part. but you say.... pay in full before statement posts... lets say i used my card for 200 dollars.... statement comes.... i pay that 200 dollars... then use a different card the next month? or do i pay before the statement closes so it remains a 0 balance?

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Unless you pay before the statement cuts that card will report with a balance. You want half or less of your revolving lines to report a balance.

[Anonymous]

I think im making this seem more complicated then it really is but its really confusing. I know this is a dumb question but How do you find out when your statement posts and when it closes? Most of the time I just use my CC's for big purchases and I don't use them for gas, grocery's and small stuff like that. Im also wondering can I use 80% 90% 100% of my CC limit as long as I pay it back down to 9% or under or should you never put more then 9% on your CC at all?

If I go buy a TV for 1800$ tomorrow and my CC limit is 2000$ but when I go home a make a payment online for 1700$ on my CC im under 9%. Does that help me or go against me?

Also I've been looking at opening a couple more lines of credit. As of now I have an Ashley furniture card, a buckle card which is a clothing store, and a wamu or chase bank credit card. So ive been looking at opening either a Citi card, BofA card, or Discover card. I know there are still some places that don't take discover so im leaning toward the Citi and BofA. Is it just personal preference?

[Percy]

oh i get it.... pay off enough before statement closes so it reports  up to 9% utilization?