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New here with lots of questions

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Anonymous
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New here with lots of questions

Hi guys, 

 

I am wanting to really work on getting on my Fico to over 700. It is currently 616. Here is a look at my current situation ...

 

I have a Mortgage Loan that is in good standing 

 

I have 3 credit cards 

 

USAA with a 1k limit balance is 750.00 

Credit One with 500 limit balance is 149

Closed Navy Fed card ( closed by them ) limit is 5000 balance is 4000

Mattress firm loan in good standing. 

 

New auto Loan havent even made first payment yet. 

I have also have a charge off from 2013 

 

I am open to all opinions and suggestions on what to handle first to improve score the most. THANK YOU so much 

Message 1 of 6
5 REPLIES 5
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: New here with lots of questions

Can you help us understand the situation with your Navy Fed card?  It is closed, but also has a balance of $4000.  Does that mean you owe NF $4000?

 

The single best thing you can do is work on your credit card balances.  You want to pay them all down to $0, and then after that, continue to use one but make sure it is only reporting a small balance.  After you have done that for a couple months (all cards $0 except one, small positive balance reporting on the remaining card) take a look at your score.  You should see a substantial improvement.  After that you should resolve to always pay all of your cards in full each month, and be saving a big chunk of your pay check each month so that you have money for emergencies and don't need to put it on cards.

 

When you get all of your cards paid off, and your scores are significantly higher, you should look for a major credit card you really like and add it.  A long term goal should be to gradually increase the number of open credit cards that you have to 3-5 cards that you really like.  This is a goal for substantially down the road -- the other stuff I mention is a lot more important.

 

Moving forward, you should avoid any kinds of future finance agreements that are in any way like what you have with Mattress Firm.  These would be things like financing a big screen TV or a washer/dryer at Best Buy, or financing a sofa at Rooms To Go.  The lenders here are called finance companies and FICO considers them a mark against you on your credit report. 

 

Continue to make payments on time for all of your accounts -- never make even one late payment.  Your chargeoff will fall off your report in four years, which will give you a huge help.

Message 2 of 6
BallBounces
Valued Contributor

Re: New here with lots of questions

Couple thoughts:

 

1)  Where did you get that FICO score?

 

2) Listen to and answer whatever @CreditGuyInDixie says and asks

 

3) I am kind of curious on these items: 

- What is your Average age of accounts?

- What is your oldest account? 

- Other than being in closed status, what does the payment history on that NFCU card look like?

FICO 8 Scores for April 2025:      

Do you know your SuperFICO?  
Message 3 of 6
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: New here with lots of questions

Welcome to the forums, bkeyphoto! And kudos for taking charge of your credit situation.

 

There's every reason for you to be encouraged here. For a lot of people, the big thing holding their score down is bunch of (or even a couple of) legitimate derogs. And when that's the case, there's nothing to do except wait it out (unless you can get the creditor to take the derogs off out of good will). But in your case, at least a significant part of your score is the high utilization (you're using 75% of your available credit card credit, and you have two cards that are a 75% and 80% respectively). That's not good for your score, but it's something that you can address. You don't need to just wait for seven years until they fall off.

 

Once you bring both high-balance cards below 50%, you should see a jump in your score. And when you get everything paid down below 10% you should see another pretty decent jump (with gradual increases along the way as well).

 

Follow CreditGuy's advice, and you'll be well on your way to meeting your score goals!

Message 4 of 6
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: New here with lots of questions

I'd add to that to log in to Credit Karma.  It doesn't show your actual FICO score, but it does a good job of showing you whats on your record with 2 bureaus.  It has helpful advice on modeling how to increase your score.

CC utilization has a BIG impact on your credit score.  Yours is pretty high.  I'd pay it down and things will improve over time.  I'm guessing that and the charge off are the big hits to your score.

Message 5 of 6
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: New here with lots of questions

If you can work out a settlement on the closed credit cards, it helps. The damage has already been done, but settled accounts are better than otherwise. And bring down the util to less than 30% overall and individual. Best of luck
Message 6 of 6
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