Take the myFICO Fitness Challenge 2025!

[Kenny]

Happy New Year to the myFICO Forums Community!

Can you believe we’re entering our SIXTEENTH year of the myFICO Fitness Challenge?!
If you have financial goals, the myFICO Fitness Challenge is the place for you!

What is the myFICO Fitness Challenge?
To take part in the myFICO Fitness Challenge, simply post an introductory note and state your financial goals for the coming year. Are you hoping to raise your FICO Score? Buy your first home? A new car? Get that coveted rewards card? Tell us about what you hope to achieve, and what reaching those financial goals will mean to you. As the year progresses, check back here to report on your progress, talk about hurdles you encounter, or simply reach out for support and encouragement from your fellow Fitness Challengers.

Monthly Check-Ins
To help you stay on track we encourage you to stop by for monthly check-ins. On the first day of each month, myFICO will post a monthly check-in thread for you to talk about your progress, successes, speedbumps, etc. Participation in these monthly check-ins is optional - but encouraged!

First time Challenger?
If you’re new to the myFICO Fitness Challenge, then welcome! To begin, set up your official  MyFICO signature on your Profile page (Go to My Settings➢Personal Profile➢Personal Information). Then just reply to this topic, telling us a little about your financial situation, your goals, and how you plan to achieve them during the coming year.

Returning Challenger?
Welcome back! Please be sure to update your myFICO Fitness Challenge signature, so it directs to the current challenge. If you'd like, you can review 2024's challenge here.

[TrapLine]

Sixteenth Year of the Fico Challenge is notable!

Many posters and guests have had an opportunity to benefit from the trials and tribulations of the Forum's extensive posting audience.

A lot of quality learning is available in this Forum and if a poster needs more information, they need only ask. Some one has usually experienced the matter.

Best wishes heading into the new year of 2025. Many actions swirling around in the financial markets that could affect consumers. Stay tuned.

[FromNYtoDubia]

Good Morning, 

Newbie here (6 days in) and extremely excited to learn about this community. I am currently in the stage of actually building credit. Unfortunately I am 33 with no credit profile whatsoever, so my goal is to create a great and clean profile so I can be like everyone else here and have a great credit score and etc. 

Goals: 

- Make a imprint in my credit score. 

- Obtain my first unsecured cc

- Start building a strong/smart profile 

(Hopefully I did this right. Please excuse me if I did not.) Looking forward to the completing my goals in this Challenge! Let's Go! 

[herverse]

Newborn challenger here!

I am 33 years of age and just reached a point in my life where I am able to learn about credit and personal finance. I filed a bankruptcy chapter 7 back in 2017 and have been trying to improve my credit over the past year after making some hiccups since filing my bankruptcy. I have been able to get some accounts removed and get some late payments removed via Goodwill request.

My goal for this year is to apply for an auto loan towards the end of February or beginning of March and then throughout the next 12 to 14 months. I want to make sure that I pay off all debts whether they are on or off my credit report and to maintain positive payment histories on all of my accounts to prepare for buying my first home around May or June 2026.

[HighHopes]

Hello,

I know we are already half way through the year but is it too late to join the challenge? If it is not then...

Hi, I'm Me from San Diego. I was hoping to be a part of a community to bounce my questions off of and stay focused on my credit repair goals through the years. It took no time to destroy and forever to repair but lesson learned.

I dont have all the markers memorized but at one point a few years ago i was in the 500's. Now my lowest score out of 3 is 684. My Goal is to have all three no less then 740 by or in 2026.

Thanks for listening.

[Luminosa]

---

@HighHopes wrote:

Hello,

I know we are already half way through the year but is it too late to join the challenge? If it is not then...

Hi, I'm Me from San Diego. I was hoping to be a part of a community to bounce my questions off of and stay focused on my credit repair goals through the years. It took no time to destroy and forever to repair but lesson learned.

I dont have all the markers memorized but at one point a few years ago i was in the 500's. Now my lowest score out of 3 is 684. My Goal is to have all three no less then 740 by or in 2026.

Thanks for listening.

---

Welcome to the forum, @HighHopes! Don't worry about joining in partway through the year. I joined the 2023 challenge in November or December, so I'd say you're right on time.

I can attest that the people in this forum are both really nice and insightful, so don't be afraid to ask questions. I wish you the best of luck on your credit journey. 

[RandomDude]

40 Year Old Here!

Went from 790 score at about 32 years old and very high income to a divorce and crashed out credit problems due to not protecting my cards during the divorce. You live and you learn!

I'm here rebuilding with a 533 score at the moment and on a journey to get things back on track.

My Goals:

1. Get score to 650.

2. Clean report up and eliminate negatives.

3. Get Chase and AMEX cards back (I used to travel the world free based off just these two brands and would love to get back there)

[bubbafrombama]

Vet reader here but never posted. I've learned so much over the years, so thank you all.

[bubbafrombama]

As of today, my scores are:

FICO 8 / FICO 9
• EQ: 823 / 817
• TU: 788 / 783
• EX: 789 / 783

TU and EX should both be at (or very close to) 800 within the next 2–3 days once a couple cards report $0.

For context, here’s where I was just a few months ago — August 10, 2025:

FICO 8 / FICO 9
• EQ: 672 / 643
• TU: 672 / 640
• EX: 645 / 604

This has been a long journey. I stayed stagnant in roughly the same score range for years, but when I finally doubled down and committed to a clean, disciplined strategy, things moved fast — unbelievably fast — in about 90 days.

My turning point was securing two personal loans (Best Egg + Happy Money), totaling $75,000. That consolidation and cleanup shot me into the low–mid 700s almost immediately. With those gains, I was able to obtain a DCU HELOC, and from there… the rest is history.

***Encouragement for Anyone Reading This***

If you’re grinding and feel stuck, I promise this:

You can be stagnant for years, and then suddenly everything shifts in a matter of months.

Credit improvement isn’t always linear — sometimes it feels like nothing is happening… until everything happens at once.

Keep your utilization tight.
Be strategic with your accounts.
Don’t be afraid to restructure your debt if it positions you better.

And above all: stay consistent.

Your “breakthrough month” can come out of nowhere — mine did.

If I can climb from the mid-600s to the 800s in less than a quarter, anyone can.

You’ve got this. 🙌

[Bngbender56]

Hello Everyone

  im a newbie been here about a week. im 69 graduated cololege last year with a bachelors in IT

am trying to get my credit back on track so i can buy a new home and obtain some other things in life 

i have always wanted. Most of my credit is in student loans which will be all paid up feb.6th 2026,

which should make a huge difference. I have opened a new account with Navy federal credit union,

got an Atlas rewards card. I also used the shopping card trick to regster for a couple other credit accounts

my score is 591 starting so lets hope i can improve that. 

Thanks 

Bryan Longlois