New Score

[wildbillcody]

I started cleaning up my credit back in January and when i first checked my fico score it was horrible at 531, after only a few months of doing some clean up work and getting my BOA secured card for $1000, my score has now shot up to 605 as of today. back when my husband and i were younger (21) we had every credit card known to man and after a while we had to file bankruptcy and that was back in 1989. when we filed we were told to get rid of all credit except for the house and we have always followed that advice. we thought that since we screwed up with having credit cards in the past that we should never use any type of credit for anything other than a house or car loan. We have always paid cash for everything we own because we have never had a credit card since that day in 1989. we always thought we were doing better than everyone because we paid cash for Christmas and all the other holidays that people spend money on. We had no idea until recently that because we didn't any other type of credit besides our home and car loan that we were actually hurting our score. Now we have 2 credit cards, 1 jewlery store card, 1 target card, 1 car loan, 1 house loan and we keep just a little bit on all the cards, even if it's just $25. If we do put a larger amont on the card, we pay it off right away. Thanks to everyone that contributes on this board and with time on my side, i will eventually get to a 700 score.

[Anonymous]

I am happy to read story such as yours.  It gives me hope while I climb this credit score mountain.

I was wondering what was your score when you applied for the Target card?  I am thinking of doing that but not sure if i will be approved.

Great Job, this credit score clean -up seems hard at times but, it is worth it in the long run.

[wildbillcody]

my score was 595 when i applied. yes there is hope for us all, just got to keep at it.

[llecs]

Congrats on entering the 600 club.

Prior to finding this site, DW and I paid cash for everything. Paid cash for Christmas presents, trips, vacation, entertainment, big purchases like computers, and so on. And there's nothing wrong with that. It felt good to say I had no CC debt. I later learned that there was a lack of open accounts and a lack of history and those inhibited our scores. Most people equate CCs to debt. I found that I could continue to pay for everything with cash and open and use CCs once every 3-4 months to buy a Latte or chewing gum just to keep them open and then pay in full. This way I'd have $0 balances and no interest at all, and my scores would remain high.

After your secured card reports, then you'd likely see a score bump. Your mix of credit probably suffered a little by not having a revolving card, but you'd have that fixed. You could easily hit the mid to high 700s with the credit you have. Congrats on the rebound.

[Anonymous]

One more question applying for Target, did they pull all 3 CRA's?  If not, which one did they use?  Ops, thats 2 questions!!

[wildbillcody]

we were the same way, we paid cash for everything we had. if we needed a new fridge or washer and dryer then we bought it around January when one of us would get a bonus. We paid cash for every sheet of toilet paper, every morsel of food and every stick of clothing that went on our backs and we were proud of that but it actually hurt our score a bit. Live and learn i guess! Right now our goal is to buy another home at the end of the year (Lord willing) up in a mountain comunity that has as some acerage for our animals, that is our goal...

[wildbillcody]

i am so upset right now. my score went from 605 back down to 535 in a matter of days and it's all because equifax keeps messing with the way my car loan is reported. They keep saying the loan has been sold and paid off even though i have faxed them my current statements that capital one auto finance gives me to fax to them i don't know what kind of game they are playing but its really ticking me off.

[aquatic1]

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@wildbillcody wrote:

i am so upset right now. my score went from 605 back down to 535 in a matter of days and it's all because equifax keeps messing with the way my car loan is reported. They keep saying the loan has been sold and paid off even though i have faxed them my current statements that capital one auto finance gives me to fax to them i don't know what kind of game they are playing but its really ticking me off.

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I feel your pain.  EQ has been reporting my car loan incorrectly and even after they investigated and GMAC verified that my account was open and current, they are still reporting it as a closed account.  They even told me that they would update and that it should be fine today, still incorrect after pulling a new report.  I am tired of calling them as well!!

[moondog7324]

reallytrying- Please stay away from the Target card-unless you plan on never spending $25 dollars on it. You are likely to get a $200 credit limit- and anything >$25 will kill your utilization.

To the original poster- congrats on managing debt! you are on your way to the 700 club. You don't need a bunch of junk to get there- just some good balance and good history.

[Anonymous]

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moondog7324 wrote:

reallytrying- Please stay away from the Target card-unless you plan on never spending $25 dollars on it. You are likely to get a $200 credit limit- and anything >$25 will kill your utilization.

To the original poster- congrats on managing debt! you are on your way to the 700 club. You don't need a bunch of junk to get there- just some good balance and good history.

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How much you spend has no effect on your util.

How much you carry over and let get reported affects your util.

I got the $200 CL when approved and a $300 CLI a few months later.