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February Check in thread

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Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: February Check in thread

This is from The 800 Club thread, a post from @user5387. I found it very helpful and I thought I would share it here.



@JMills wrote:

I am not there yet, but it is a goal I would love to accomplish. I am just wondering for all the folks that are in the 800 club, how did you get there? I know wants you reach 750+ you are pretty much in great standing but to have 800 is fascinating. Please tell me your journey or what you should or shouldn’t have to have a credit score of 800+


There are a few approaches that I have used over the years.

 

1.  In the first place, I avoid overt negatives, such as late payments, chargeoffs, collections, and so on.  I do this by keeping a written monthly schedule of all my payments and bills.  For example, my Amex BCE statement date is around the 15th of the month, and I take responsibility for this, whether or not I get the statement from Amex.  As I deal with each monthly item, I check it off the list.  Another part of this is only charging what I can afford to pay at the end of the month.

 

2.  The next thing I do is only apply for credit I really want and need, and I tend to favor a few cards with large CLs over a lot of cards with lower CLs.  Doing it this way tends to keep AAoA up, and I have fewer cards (currently six) to track.  I avoid store cards entirely.

 

3.  Related to the previous, I don't obsess over maximizing rewards.  I don't think a few extra dollars is worth it, unless the card already has other benefits I want like a high CL.  Rewards are really nice, but not at any cost.

 

4.  I keep utilization low, with one card reporting a small balance.  This is good for around 10 points vs. no cards reporting a balance.

 

5.  A few years ago I was in a financial jam, and tried to isolate it by carrying a balance on my PSECU card, while keeping a balance off my other cards.  This was a less than ideal situation, but my score was still around 770 while doing this.  I recommend that everyone have one or more CU cards for this type of situation.

 

 

Message 61 of 76
Piggeh
Established Member

Re: February Check in thread

Late check in for myself!

 

No speedbumps currently in my process but I'm feeling that next month will be difficult. I was able to get my tax refunds and I used all of the tax refunds to pay parts of my credit cards off and then I had to pay for my school fees and schoolbooks so it actually just came up even after that. I know I needed to pay for those things but it's just sad because I didn't really make a dent in my debt.

 

My goals are currently still the same. Just within touching distance of paying off my CareCredit so I'm glad I won't have that weighing on my mind. I'm glad I had it when I needed it though.

 

Hope everyone else is doing well!

Victoria's Secret Angel Card $2K - Emblem MasterCard $700 - United Mileage Plus Explorer Card $7K - American Express SPG $9K - CareCredit $7K

Starting Score: 4/27/2014 - TU:704 EQ:706 6/15/2014 - EX:764
Current Score:
TBD
Goal Score:
780+ for all three

Take the myFICO Fitness Challenge
Message 62 of 76
NuMeNuDay
Established Member

Re: February Check in thread

New to the Challenge, have been following for teh last year or so. These forums, help and give great ideas an inspiratin. I monitor my credit report by receiving copies offten and making corrections as needed. 

 

I am currently in the process of purchasing a mortgage, so I have removed the 5 negative items from my credit report in the last 15-20 days, by calling the credtior and disputng (Verizon, which they apologized and promptly removed), by requesting a courtesy removal of a 30-day late payment (TFS does a one-time courtesy, thankfully it was the first and ONLY one), calling Experian and requesting an item's DoFD and they told me it was eligible for early removal since it was withing the 7 year mark, calling Equifax and disputing an item marked as Paid Collection and having it removed since it was paid at the time of service (submitted receipt for proof); and finally in the final stages of paying off $7k worth of debt in 3 months, will be done by end of March.

 

I hope to qualify with my mortgage pull in mid-April!. My goals are while I maintain a relatively clean report, mostly high balances, my goals for 2015 are to be completely credit card, student loan and otherwise debt free (outside of mortgage) by December 2015. 

 

I currently work full-time and maintain a part-time job as well, while pursuing another side hustle. I hope to accomplish my goal early if possible. 

 

I look forward to any feedback, guidance, information, or help given.

 

Best of luck to ALL!

Starting Score: EQ644; TU633; EX632
Current Score: EQ704; TU714; EX707
Goal Score: 750+


Take the myFICO Fitness Challenge 2019
Message 63 of 76
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: February Check in thread

Checking in for February.   Income took a small dive this month as pay in regular job and side income was reduced.  However, still able to put some money towards savings and keep CC utilization low.  Encourged by FICO scores jumping 25-29 points this month, finally moving me from the fair orange to the good and yellow. Smiley Happy Though the scores jumped when utilization on one card went from $28 to $7, I suspect the jump also had something to do with my last 30 day late pay crossing the three year old mark.  

 

Movin on up!

 

Best of luck to everyone!

Message 64 of 76
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: February Check in thread

HI!

I would also like to apply for a USDA loan.

Have you already applied?

Message 65 of 76
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: February Check in thread

Awesome! How did up you do it?

Message 66 of 76
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: February Check in thread

New user to myfico....

 

Main goals for this year are as followed:

 

1. Pay ALL bills on time

 

2. Delete my unpaid Verizon debt from 1986 (I was born in 1989...?)

 

3. Add two new CCs to my portfolio (As of 2-23-15 I have added one from Credit One Bank CL $500)

 

4. Apply for a mortgage in August 2015....(trying to restrain myself from the tempation of renting) 

Message 67 of 76
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: February Check in thread

Checking in...  I had an erroneous hard inquiry done and lost 7 pts, but after numerous phone calls between Equifax and the credit card company, it is being removed and I should be getting those points back.  Per some excellent advice, I paid off a card/closed account that was charging me a monthly fee (in addition to the minimum due) and as of today, I gained 29 points.   I'm currently in 'pay off mode' and if all goes to according to plan, I should be debt free by September (*with the exception of Student Loans).  

Begin scores:  Equifax 557/Transunion 601/Experian 619  Jan 20, 15

Current scores  Equifax 556/ Transunion 603/Experian 648 Feb 23, 15

Message 68 of 76
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: February Check in thread

Starting Score (2/1/15): 561/592/596

Current Score: 590/613/617

Ch 7 BK 2011

 

 

One baddie that was incl. in BK dropped off EQ report.

 

CapOne reported (was at 89% UTIL went to 5%).

 

EX up 16

TU up 10

EQ up 15

 

Also added one bankcard on Friday (my credt union). INQ already posted, no drop. New CC has not posted yet - assuming mid-march or first of april. So with a good chunk of learning and a lot of work, I have been able to raise my scores 29 points, 21 points and 21 points respectively. Still some more upward movement going to happen in the next month but I'm close to just gardening. I need one more bankcard, but I may garden a month or two before trying to add.

Message 69 of 76
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: February Check in thread

I just sold my house and paid down my credit cards from 66% utilization to less than 10%....waiting to see what that will do. Also, haven't had a late pay since last May.....hopefully my score will be going up soon. The modelling I did from paying down my CCs netted me about 20 to 25 points per score on average....and paying my bills on time for 6 months got me another 20 each as well.

Message 70 of 76
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