@thingone62 wrote:Was not really thinking but at the end of July - 1) a car loan was paid off and closed, 2) I applied for Apple 1 year no interest card to pay for a new Macbook Air M2 for my son who is going off to college and it took FOREVER to repsond (days?) so I ended up paying for a new laptop for son with another card ($1000+), then after I did that, the Apple account was approved with an 8000 line.. THEN, we got a warrenty approval return on our matress at Ashley and ended up deciding to go with a super expensive matress and paid for the difference with 3 years no interest on an Ashley Citi Card (1600) and THEN we needed new tires and we got totally railroaded and hassled into getting a Costco credit card while we were reactivating out Costco memebership so we could save a bit of $$ on tires and a new battery (much chepaer than elsewhere).
SO, in the space of essentally 2-3 weeks all of that happened - we have been rushing around trying to get our eldest off to college, get his car ready for winter etc, etc and didn't really think too much of any of that although I was very hesitant about doing the Ashely thing (wife wanted a good mattress) and the Costco card (I objected strenuously and the woman bascailly strong-armed us into it and made it sound like a good idea and handed me an ipad to apply for it while I was saying NO).
Anyway - my Vantage 3 scores on Experian and TU on CreditKarma, Credit Sesame and all of the "free" scores on all of my cards went from 705 to like 635 **AND** my FICO 8 on Experian ($1 for 2 weeks or whatever) went from 740 or so down to 729 (it has not bled any more for the past few days - maybe it will when the Ahley account shows up).
So, I freaked out and paid ALL of the big chrages that we made in the past few weeks WAY down. We have not charged anything on the Apple card and I am wondering if I should dispute it on my Creidt Report and close that account. Now my credit utilization is about 10% lower than it was - we had 16800 of credit added (8000 Apple, and 8800 Costco) the Well Fargo Ashley has not come though with what I think was a $3000 line.
What should I do? Just leave it alone, quit usning cards for awhile and just pay down via usual month payments, etc?
Yes
Will the huge FICO 8 score drops go away?
They will go away but they weren't huge.
When?
Months
Should I completely ignore Vantage 3 massive drop?
Yes
Will FICO 8 drop more?
Probably not
I am assuning that now since my Credit Utilization is 10% less that it was a month ago that eventually my FICO score will go HIGHER than it was before, BUT my credit AGE (avg is now 15 instead of ?? years that is was before) and there are "inquiries" and "new accounts"... How long will it take to get back to FICO 8 740+
Months
Will other credit cards or lower my credit line with them because of this, thus increasing utilizaion and therefore lower score? (I don't want to know).
Not likely
ACK - knew we should not have done any of getting sucked into those "deals"...
Don't point the finger at others. These were your decisions.
@thingone62 wrote:Thanks. Nope - yeah - it was totally my fault (FOMO, YOLO, etc), ALTHOUGH, I *have* been thinking I should get MORE cards (as per you all here) to get my utilization DOWN and my scores UP (for whatever reason). No. Hopefully in the long run it will work itself out and there won't be an implosion. AND I was also thinking that instead of using large chunks of REAL money (which I can buy more TSLA with (which hopefully is not a bad idea) to pay for these things, I can use funny money at 0% int...
So, where is the BEST place to get REAL FICO scores - myFICO? I have a $1 trial to Experian right now.
I don't like that MyFICO wants me to scan my id.
Welcome to the forums @thingone62
Dont let CK run your credit life. You unfortunately had a knee jerk reaction to their scores. You just paid a loan, opened two new accounts and lost 11 FICO points. No biggie. Never heard of MyFICO asking for ID. Must be a new thing as many other creditors are starting to do the same thing. Finances over FICO we go by here. With the new cards and so forth. It will rebound. Sit back and relax. All is well. Your eldest is off to school and you sleep on a new fancy mattress. Life is good!
@thingone62 wrote:Thanks. Nope - yeah - it was totally my fault (FOMO, YOLO, etc), ALTHOUGH, I *have* been thinking I should get MORE cards (as per you all here) to get my utilization DOWN and my scores UP (for whatever reason). Hoefully in the long run it will work itself out and there won't be an implosion. AND I was also thinking that instead of using lasrge chunks of REAL money (which I can buy more TSLA with (which hopefully is not a bad idea) to pay for these things, I can use funny moeny ay 0% int...
So, where is the BEST place to get REAL FICO scores - myFICO? I have a $1 trial to Experian right now.
I don't like that MyFICO wants me to scan my id.
I guess the most complete place is right here, on MyFICO, with a 3 bureau report or monitoring service, but I can't call it "best" because it's expensive.
Hopefully some other folks can chime in with less expensive alternatives.
For me the most useful source has been experian.com, where I subscribe to a service that provides updated EX data and 7 or 8 EX FICO scores, updated daily. I don't even know if that particular service is still being offered.
Welcome to the forums, relax, breathe, you got this!
Don't dispute correct things on your credit report, you applied for the account and have to live with it. In a moment of weakness you applied for more credit than you need, but in the long run that is OK. You saved some money and you didn't take on any subprime accounts that are going to COST you money. Finances over FICO as many say here. You kept good scores for when you wanted to apply for credit and the time came.
Don't let buyer's remorse freak you out. All of your scores will recover and you got some shiny new accounts. Time to sit back and garden while you watch them grow.
Agree with others: don't get too riddled with anxiety! Life happens; you needed to make some big purchases, so you used credit for its intended purpose. PLUS you've already paid some things down. Your vantage scores aren't heavily used, and since utilization has no memory, your scores will bounce back in a month or two if your utilization stays down. Unless you need your scores optimized right this second for an imminent mortgage or something like that, you will be fine!
Also, you might as well leave the apple where it is. You've already taken the hard pull, so just consider it utilization padding until you need it for something else. Just my opinion.
