Have you progressed as far as you hoped? Were there any unforeseen expenses that cropped up and may have thrown you off schedule?
As a reminder, participation in these monthly check-ins is optional but encouraged. The goal is to help keep you on track, so feel free to post your progress updates here. This is a no-judgement zone; feel free to say what's keeping you up at night or give yourself a Kudo for having it all together.
Did you hit any potholes or speedbumps? Achieve some milestones, either small or mighty? Change your goals or add new ones?
Let us know how you're doing!
Another page torn off the calendar, another month of gardening…
My score did drop a bit last month as I charged dental work to my lowest CL card. I'd expect it to pop back on the next cycle as I do PIF.
Hello everyone, I am checking in. My goal is a 745 (Experian Vantage3) by 8/1/25 and I am currently at 722. Also my TransUnion FICO8 is 745, Equifax FICO8 (from Citibank) is 755, and Experian FICO8 is 721. I think the Equifax FICO 8 is an oddity because it said the range is 250 to 900.
My main tactic is to get my largest balance card below 29% utilization, which means paying this down another $1200.
There are different methods for paying down credit card debt, like the snowball method (focus on the smallest debt), and the avalanche method (focus on the card with the highest interest rate). I am instead using the utilization method where I focus on the card with the highest utilization (even though it has a lower interest rate than other cards), because I think this will help my credit score more.
I got a little careless at the end of my cycles in late February. I allowed five of my 11 cards to report a balance. Overall utilization is still relatively low at 8.99%. One of my 0% cards just went to about 45%. I had a short cycle on my AmEx HHS that I didn't keep my eye on and PIF the day after the statement closed. That will report at 27%. This will be a good science experiment for me to see what this does to my FICOs on all three CRAs. My prediction is that EX will be mostly unfazed, EQ will suffer about 10 points and TU will lose >20 points. We'll see.
INQs inching closer to having no affect. March will make this true on two of my INQs on TU.
Starting Score: 469Current Score: 819
Goal Score: 850
Highest Scores: EQ 850 EX 849 TU 850
Take the myFICO Fitness Challenge
Update: EX went up by three points to 816. I have no idea what the other two did. I no longer have access to EQ through Score Watch--I canceled it with the price increase. By the time I get my next TU update, I will have had so many other factors change it will be impossible to tell what the effect of having that many cards report a balance. My guess still stands though.
Starting Score: 469Current Score: 819
Goal Score: 850
Highest Scores: EQ 850 EX 849 TU 850
Take the myFICO Fitness Challenge
Hello, everyone!
I got my AZEO back up this month, so EX8 is at 744 and EQ8 is at 762 again, like in January. I'm hoping not to mess up with my reporting again so my scores can continue to grow instead of bouncing back and forth.
See you all in April!
Hey, the April thread isn't up yet, but I want to post now. My Experian VantageScore3 is at 739, which is 1 point below Very Good. I paid off 2 credit cards which don't reflect, so I should get another boost soon. My Equifax FICO 8 is 759, TransUnion FICO 8 is 741, and Experian FICO 8 is 729. I don't know what the discrepancy is.
For the record, one year ago, on April 1, 2024, my Experian VantageScore3 was 654, so I have increased 85 points in one year. I will post again in the new thread when my balances update.
