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@JoshInReno wrote:Every year about this time I pull what scores I can to see if I am making progress to getting my scores up to a reasonable level. 700 would be nice, but I think I could live with a 680 or so. Every year, I tell myself, I'm going to buy a house in the spring. All year long I pay my bills ontime (there is not a late payment anywhere on my report), wait for some old baddies to fall off (I have 2 - they are 6.5 years old now), and make more than the minimum payments.
And every year my FICO remains flat. How flat?
That flat. I'm not sure what else I can do. I paid off an auto loan this year - also paid off 2 consumer finance loans. I now know these HURT a score - I was told originaly they were a good way to re-establish!!
I do have a judgement on my report that is about 4 years old (I think). I have 3 credit cards with a balance totaling less than $1500 (all 3 combined). Yes - my utilization is high. Really high - 92%. I would pay them all off (almost) right now, but according to Score Simulator that would barely budge my score. My total length of credit is 4 years, 5 months - so I know that is low.
Any suggestions?
The Score Similator must be pretty off. As UTIL makes up a large portion of your FICO, improving it would have a big impact on your scores. Plus, with the shark cards like your FP and Credit One, it's very expensive to keep a balance!
Your scores would receive some help if you decided to make PFD offers. Usually medical collections are open to it. And vacating the judgment would tremendously your scores.
As for a mix of credit, I would stop using the payday loan places and I don't see a need to take on any installment loans. People have built very high scores using just revolving credit. You may consider looking into store cards, as those are attainable with low 600 scores.
@SunriseEarth wrote:
@JoshInReno wrote:Every year about this time I pull what scores I can to see if I am making progress to getting my scores up to a reasonable level. 700 would be nice, but I think I could live with a 680 or so. Every year, I tell myself, I'm going to buy a house in the spring. All year long I pay my bills ontime (there is not a late payment anywhere on my report), wait for some old baddies to fall off (I have 2 - they are 6.5 years old now), and make more than the minimum payments.
And every year my FICO remains flat. How flat?
That flat. I'm not sure what else I can do. I paid off an auto loan this year - also paid off 2 consumer finance loans. I now know these HURT a score - I was told originaly they were a good way to re-establish!!
I do have a judgement on my report that is about 4 years old (I think). I have 3 credit cards with a balance totaling less than $1500 (all 3 combined). Yes - my utilization is high. Really high - 92%. I would pay them all off (almost) right now, but according to Score Simulator that would barely budge my score. My total length of credit is 4 years, 5 months - so I know that is low.
Any suggestions?
The Score Similator must be pretty off. As UTIL makes up a large portion of your FICO, improving it would have a big impact on your scores. Plus, with the shark cards like your FP and Credit One, it's very expensive to keep a balance!
Your scores would receive some help if you decided to make PFD offers. Usually medical collections are open to it. And vacating the judgment would tremendously your scores.
As for a mix of credit, I would stop using the payday loan places and I don't see a need to take on any installment loans. People have built very high scores using just revolving credit. You may consider looking into store cards, as those are attainable with low 600 scores.
If OP is having trouble paying down debt, it wouldn't be a good idea to apply for more credit. New creditors might deny based on the current debt/high util. Paying down the debt first would be the best option.
I'd use the snow ball method, and attack the credit card debt smallest to largest.
@RnJ wrote:
@SunriseEarth wrote:
@JoshInReno wrote:Every year about this time I pull what scores I can to see if I am making progress to getting my scores up to a reasonable level. 700 would be nice, but I think I could live with a 680 or so. Every year, I tell myself, I'm going to buy a house in the spring. All year long I pay my bills ontime (there is not a late payment anywhere on my report), wait for some old baddies to fall off (I have 2 - they are 6.5 years old now), and make more than the minimum payments.
And every year my FICO remains flat. How flat?
That flat. I'm not sure what else I can do. I paid off an auto loan this year - also paid off 2 consumer finance loans. I now know these HURT a score - I was told originaly they were a good way to re-establish!!
I do have a judgement on my report that is about 4 years old (I think). I have 3 credit cards with a balance totaling less than $1500 (all 3 combined). Yes - my utilization is high. Really high - 92%. I would pay them all off (almost) right now, but according to Score Simulator that would barely budge my score. My total length of credit is 4 years, 5 months - so I know that is low.
Any suggestions?
The Score Similator must be pretty off. As UTIL makes up a large portion of your FICO, improving it would have a big impact on your scores. Plus, with the shark cards like your FP and Credit One, it's very expensive to keep a balance!
Your scores would receive some help if you decided to make PFD offers. Usually medical collections are open to it. And vacating the judgment would tremendously your scores.
As for a mix of credit, I would stop using the payday loan places and I don't see a need to take on any installment loans. People have built very high scores using just revolving credit. You may consider looking into store cards, as those are attainable with low 600 scores.
If OP is having trouble paying down debt, it wouldn't be a good idea to apply for more credit. New creditors might deny based on the current debt/high util. Paying down the debt first would be the best option.
+1. I think that would be a good goal after getting UTIL in order first.