This credit stuff is killing me......

[susanto2826]

When I was younger I had horrible credit...so horrible that I swore off credit cards for the rest of my life.

Looking at my credit score it hovers around 770.  Looking at credit karma looks like not having a mc or visa is keeping my credit from

going any higher so I got a CC through my credit union at first they wanted to give me 15,000 but I capped it off at 500.  Now I called the

CU to see if I can bump it up to 1000 to build a new PC but they tell me they have to run a credit check again????? really?  the first time they

did one I lost like 40 points now they want to do another one?? this credit business is stupid in America....we are all tied to this stupid system..maybe I'm just ranting but I'm just sick of it.

[Anonymous]

Welcome to the forums!  Let us know if you have a particular question or goal in mind, and we'll be happy to see if we can help.

[SouthJamaica]

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@susanto2826 wrote:

When I was younger I had horrible credit...so horrible that I swore off credit cards for the rest of my life.

Looking at my credit score it hovers around 770.  Looking at credit karma looks like not having a mc or visa is keeping my credit from

going any higher so I got a CC through my credit union at first they wanted to give me 15,000 but I capped it off at 500.  Now I called the

CU to see if I can bump it up to 1000 to build a new PC but they tell me they have to run a credit check again????? really?  the first time they

did one I lost like 40 points now they want to do another one?? this credit business is stupid in America....we are all tied to this stupid system..maybe I'm just ranting but I'm just sick of it.

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My suggestion is that you calm down and try to learn more about it, rather than take precipitous actions. Reducing your credit limit to $500 at this stage was inadvisable. Next time you're thinking of doing something like that, check with us and we'll guide you.

1. Your Credit Karma score is a Vantage 3.0, not a FICO score, so it tells you nothing of what you need to know.

2. If you tell us your credit card limits and balances, and your loan balances and original loan amounts, we'll be able to give you some good advice. Is the one credit card you mention the only credit you have?

3.  Without knowing more, I would suggest that you do apply for the limit increase, and bite the bullet on adding an inquiry. It won't be a lot of points.

4. And stop listening to Credit Karma's recommendations, they are just marketing hype. One credit card is enough credit cards to get a perfect FICO score some day.

[Anonymous]

I read this and thought this was going to be a disaster of a story:

This credit stuff is killing me

Then:

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@susanto2826 wrote:

When I was younger I had horrible credit...

Looking at my credit score it hovers around 770.

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 Oh, that's not so bad!

Great job so far. The swings you mentioned are probably due to having a "thin" credit file, one not having a lot of credit sources. Small changes can appear oversized then. But, with a 770 current point then you have a lot more cushion.

Welcome to the community.  Lots of great advice here for how to keep things in order and optimize your accounts for your future credit goals.

[tooleman694]

I'm betting she doesnt have a 770.

[Physh1]

Without going into a rant of my own I'll start by simply saying calm down. Secondly, I hear this all the time from people & it's not just about credit. I work with cars, broken cars...most people do not know anything about cars but they all seem to know what it wrong & how they SHOULD work. Unfortunately, they nearly all get fuming mad when they realize that they don't work they way they think they're supposed to & the world is now over.

If you want to get good at the credit game than I'd suggest study, read, & ask. I think you made a mistake by capping your card at $500 & now that you see you shot yourself in the foot you're upset at the system because they need another credit pull. Take this as a learning lesson...IMHO high credit limits are not for bragging rights...high credit limits are there to be able to spend money you don't immediately have & there have reported balances not kill your score because your credit buffer is large.

If you needed to spend $1000 on a new pc & you have a $15000 limit you're utilization would be 6.6%...but if you have to spend say $800 on a $1000 limit you're at 80% utilization. In scenario 1 you're likely to see your score go up because you're having a responsibly util rate report...scenario 2 is not good for you in any way. More credit = much better ability to deal with lifes bumps without killing you're desire for a great score :-).

[Anonymous]

No one will be pointing fingers.

But lets just say that without the correct education on something, 

some things are not going to be full known understanding about it.

While the past cannot be wiped, we can work on fixing it...perhaps doing better than before.

Part of the processes to learn.

Ask the myfico community any questions or thoughts on your situation,

and myfico will help you. Help you learn, help  you fix, and help you make the wise educated decisions.

I will repeat what others have mentioned....credit karma scores are not true fico scores and are irrelevant.

Sometimes they can be in the ballpark, other times not so much.

So start from there.

[Anonymous]

Like any system in this world, the credit system in America isn't stupid or broken like you say. If you understand how it works it is very easy to use it to your advantage.

Decreasing your limit from 15000 to 500 wasn't the best move. If you learned about the system beforehand, you would've known that. Can't fix that, but you can make sure something like that does t happen again. Hang around here and learn how the system works.

Go ahead and take that hard inquiry to raise your limit. I'd also advise to raise it to more than 1000. Like someone else mentioned above, buying a new computer on a 1000 limit might max the card out fast. And that's not good for your score.

Finally, the credit karma scores aren't accurate for what you're using them for. You probably don't have a 770 and you definitely didn't lose 40 points for one inquiry. You probably lost 1-10 points for the inquiry and then a lot more points when the new account reported. Your age of youngest account and average age of accounts dropped which caused a severe drop. With a 500 limit you might've also had a high utilization which caused a big drop.

Anyway. Learn about how credit actually works and you won't be in the situation that you're in now in the future.

[Medic981]

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@SouthJamaica wrote:

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@susanto2826 wrote:

When I was younger I had horrible credit...so horrible that I swore off credit cards for the rest of my life.

Looking at my credit score it hovers around 770.  Looking at credit karma looks like not having a mc or visa is keeping my credit from

going any higher so I got a CC through my credit union at first they wanted to give me 15,000 but I capped it off at 500.  Now I called the

CU to see if I can bump it up to 1000 to build a new PC but they tell me they have to run a credit check again????? really?  the first time they

did one I lost like 40 points now they want to do another one?? this credit business is stupid in America....we are all tied to this stupid system..maybe I'm just ranting but I'm just sick of it.

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 One credit card is enough credit cards to get a perfect FICO score some day.

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The more credit cards you obtain, the higher the chance you can make a mistake that can negatively impact your credit score!

[Anonymous]

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@tooleman694 wrote:
I'm betting she doesnt have a 770.

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IDK, it's probably close. KK shows my score at &790 for EQ and 765 for TU. Yet Discover shows 811, and when I recently applied for a loan with Marcus, they also showed 811. I see a lot said about KK, but they have always been fairly accurate for my needs.