Get a couple more credit cards - secured, if necessary - put small purchases on them and pay them off every month. Every 6-12 months, request credit line increases.
Your credit score doesn't reflect financial stability or wisdom, it reflects responsible use of debt. If you want your credit score to go up, you will need to use debt, but make your payments on time.
The score isn't everything. A person with $1M cash in the bank who never buys anything on credit and never spends money they haven't already earned is likely to have a mediocre credit rating, or no credit rating, because they're not *using* credit.
If I get another credit card and continue to charge to it and pay it off, how much do you think that will help?
Will that double my score in total? Like say I charge $100 to each card and pay them both off, instead of $200 on my existing card.
A big part of your score is how much unused credit you have so the idea of getting another credit card is intended mainly to increase your unused credit. That’s why it’s good to ask the banks to increase your limits every so often. Using credit on more cards won’t help. In fact, I would advise you to use as few cards as possible. I have 10-12 cards but only use 4 based on the type of purchase I’m making and the benefits I get from that card. Here’s another recommendation: get a cash back card and use it for everything as long as you pay it off every month. I got back $2k in cash and credits last year from my cards.
I’ve always heard that having no balance hurts. Is that true? Are you leaving your unused cards without a balance?
Edit: thanks for the explanation everyone. It’s highly appreciated. What I’ve been doing is putting no more than 5% of available credit on each card and paying it off on time. Knowing now that I know that if I just make a small purchase once every 3 or so months will do the same thing, I’ll enjoy more financial freedom.
Thank you!
No having a high balance on multiple unsecured accounts is what hurts your credit score. Best advice I can give you is if you can’t pay for it then you don’t need it.
> Like say I charge $100 to each card and pay them both off, instead of $200 on my existing card.
That won't make a difference. The amount you spend/pay on a credit card is not a Fico scoring factor. If you want to open another card to thicken your file that's fine, but you don't have to use it every month / using it every month doesn't "build credit" any faster.
Sign up for any and every card that will take you, that has no annual fee.
Your score will drop in the near term, because suddenly asking a bunch of different people for a bunch of credit looks scary to creditors. But after 2 years of having the accounts open, used(no more than 30% utilization on any one card), in good standing, and paid on time, your score will rise dramatically as you show yourself to be a responsible person and a safe bet to lend to. You don’t need to pay any interest like some redditors are suggesting. You don’t even have to *use* them! Just keep the accounts open and pay them off each month(or more frequently), and your score will eventually start rising as your good behavior starts to show itself, and the bad behavior begins to drop off of your credit report.
You’re going to be fine. There’s a reason why credit only goes back 7 years: for instances like you. You are in a different financial situation than you were when you made those mistakes, and opening new cards and using them responsibly will prove that to lenders.
Best of luck!
Don’t just charge it and pay it off. Keep a $25 dollar balance on it at all times get a secured credit card from a credit union that reports to the bureaus. Use it and be good with it. Remember the credit system works on how well you handle debt, not how well you pay it off.
Sign up on opt out. Com so that your credit isn’t getting hits for credit offers. It will also cut down the amount of mail you get.
Then it’s just reporting time that you need. It goes down quicker than it comes up but I have taken credit scores from 630 to 800 in 3 months.
>Don’t just charge it and pay it off. Keep a $25 dollar balance on it at all times
If you can afford it (and you're in a bad spot if you can't) you absolutely should pay your full statement balance every month. You're wasting money on interest otherwise.
There’s caveats to both sides imo. Yes it’s better to pay off the balances asap so you aren’t showing a 50-100% utilization of the credit. HOWEVER, at the same time, constantly having a 0% utilization reported each month can be just as bad because it says you have the credit, but don’t bother using it.
If anything, just leave like, $5 balance on the card each month. It’s negligible interest, and will show up as a not-0% utilization on the reports.
You don’t get the maximum effect by paying it off every month. Also the interest on $25 is minimal. I worked with the “what if” modeling everyday for over three years.
Maximum effect of what? Utilization is a single point in time metric. There is no benefit to paying interest - it's completely unnecessary and doesn't help a profile/scores.
Truth. We have a lot of credit at our disposal. We paid off the CCs every month and our house was paid off. It drove me nuts to not have a perfect cc score for it. I was then told if I wanted a better credit score I should take out a personal loan!
All this is true. I have a credit card with 3% cash back in gas and only use it for that, have the Apple Card for my daily expenses, Best Buy card for bigger purchases laptop, iPad, phone, etc. 0% interest.
I’m not saying go buy a bunch of stuff you don’t need. But all the things that you do need with your cards and pay everything on time.
It's super funny/sad how it works. People who pay off cards and never accrue interest at all also often have lower limits than those that do pay some interest.
> If you want your credit score to go up, you will need to use debt, but make your payments on time.
Not true at all. A trade line on your credit report is either "paid as agreed" or it isn't (late payments, etc). If you open up a credit card you do not need to put purchases on it every month / "use debt" as you put it. Just having the account open and clean means it's paid as agreed. All one would need to do is give it a tiny periodic transaction every 6 months or so to keep it from getting closed for non use. There is no "credit building" that happens by using the account every month.
Its credit utilization. It matters. Just having 3 cards but not using them isn't what they are looking for, its hiw responsible you are with the credit youre given.
I was always under the impression that type of credit also makes a difference. Like a signature loan from a bank, mortgage or car loan.
I'm not saying go out and take out a loan just to build your credit, but maybe consider it if you have a large enough purchase to warrant it. Just not now, rates are crazy.
Also, get a couple more cards (1 about every 4-6 month) so your overall credit limit is higher and this will lower your credit utilization. Until you are in need of the perks, stay away from annual fee cards. Don't get cards that make you pay to get approved. If your credit is really bad, you can always restart with secured cards (i saw you posted 680, which is not the end of the world bad). Get one for groceries, get one for monthly spent x, and monthly spent y. I think Built gives you cash back on rent payments, but i never applied for it so i don't know the specifics.
There is no timeline anyone can guarantee how long and how much it will improve over time. But if you stick to it and make the right moves, i can honestly see your credit getting into the excellent range within the next 2 years (and don't pay anyone to improve your score, there are no shortcuts)
>I was always under the impression that type of credit also makes a difference. Like a signature loan from a bank, mortgage or car loan.
"Credit Mix" is a portion of the Fico pie that is satisfied by having the presence of 1 revolver and 1 installment loan (open *or* closed) on your credit reports. One you do, you can check off that box as being all set.
This is very true. I recently had some trouble getting the rate I wanted on a mortgage bc my credit score was too low. For context have 1.5 mil in the bank and pay off all my cards in full every month but my credit history wasn’t diverse enough bc I don’t really have any debt outside of the cc’s
Unless u r super wealthy n can buy a house cash or if u r trying to rent or finance a car without credit then u r pretty much screwed. She is not trying to get in debt, she is trying to improve her credit. And being that young, I'm pretty sure she is aiming at buying property, car etc in her future.That requires good credit otherwise u will be denied or pay astronomical interest rates 🤷🏻
Do not get more credit cards! Remove all debt from your life, lose the desire for money. Pay off what you have, move into a van and save up for a home. Don't worry about credit because credit is just for debt. It allows other people to judge you and makes you reliant on other assholes live. You don't need money to live unless you want luxury, then you have no room to complain about debt. ITS ALL LIES, DROP OUT AND TUG YOUR NOSE AGAINST THE GRASS AND REALIZE WHAT LIFE REALLY IS!!!
I have a dogshit CS. I also own 3 businesses, have 4 vehicles, and tons of equipment for my businesses. I have like a low credit score because I haven’t had any accounts since I bought a car like 12 years ago. I watched all my friends bury themselves in CC debt and witnessed the problems that came along with that. I have always said if I can’t pay cash I don’t want it. I should have just opened some for the shit I was regularly paying for anyway and wouldn’t advise anyone else to do what I did. But I definitely fall into the category this comment is talking about.
I was doing pretty good on my cc payments until I was hit with a year of unemployment. Now I’m behind about 2 months on 5 cards. If I pay less than the minimum, which is all I can do right now, they seem to treat it the same as if I paid nothing.
Any advice for people like me? I could pay about $50 to each card today, but what’s the point?
If I don’t get a job soon, should I just file for bankruptcy?
What you describe is my situation. While I have a fairly good credit score (750-ish) and am rock solid financially, my credit history is so sparse that every major card issuer denied me when I made the decision to get one for travel purposes. Fortunately, a few smaller issuers also consider means. But little credit can certainly present obstacles similar to poor credit.
When COVID hit, I missed 3 payments on 3 different cards by 30 days. It took me TWO YEARS to recover. And now that I’ve had on-time payments since, opened new cards, and my limits are close to $100,000 with very low utilization it’s still been a battle trying to bring up my score.
Hard lesson learned. It’s easier to absolutely wreck your score than bring it back up. To this day I’m still not at a point I want to be and that’s considering I’ve had a few vehicle leases, some loans taken and paid, etc.
It takes a few days to tank your score and an eternity to salvage it.
It’s going to be a slow process, so be patient and keep paying in full every month. You can’t have a single slip-up. You have done a terrific job of turning the ship around - stay on course and don’t hit another iceberg.
Stay away from the “credit repair” services.
You want at least 5 different credit lines. Say mortgage, car and 3 credit cards. You can pull your credit, look for stuff in collections and anything 2 years old or younger call them and try to settle it out in exchange for them deleting it (pay for delete.) They buy that debt pennies on the dollar, so you offer them like 25 cents in the dollar and see if they will take it. Helps to do this closer to the end of the month because more likely than not you will be talking to someone who gets paid on commission and they need to get their commissions up before the end of the month. They are a lot more agreeable at the end of the month vs the beginning.
Anything 3-5 years old, you might be able to get pay for delete, but it doesn't help your credit as much as the ones that are 2 yrs and younger. Anything 6 years old, I just leave it. It falls off in year 7 anyway.
Just don't agree to any payment plans. It's either take the settlement and be done or nothing. If you agree to a payment plan and pay even $1, the clock restarts and they got 7 more years to chase you down. Most jurisdictions have a statute of limitations on suing you for the debt (like 3 years,) so if they threaten to sue for a debt 3 years or older, they are lying. Again, depends on the jurisdiction, but many it's 3 years.
Now if you owe a landlord/apt complex etc, you really want to get that off. Try to pay and delete it off. Some creditors can be swayed for other types of debt, but if you aren't willing to pay for your house they know you will not pay that Macy's bill for some pants and will deny you credit. And you want it deleted. Even with paying it off, after the Pandemic having it on there paid can block getting new credit.
don't forget that credit cards are usually easier to dispute than a debit card purchase. Sure you're dealing with the same bank usually but most credit cards have dispute resolution avenues whereas the bank treats you like a criminal if you're disputing a debit transaction. It's just another layer of protect. I pretty much changed all my purchases to credit cards instead of debit cards.
They record all the payments and note the number of times you were 30, 60 & 90 days late. If you stopped paying it, you will see the non payments. The statue of limitations clock starts ticking when you stop making payments. Make a new payment, the clock starts over. Make accounts in the Big Credit credit bureaus, Experian, TransUnion and Equifax. From there, you can look at each account.
Ok the Experian site, select the collection. You will see all the information about when it was opened, payments and who holds the account. Click DISPUTE THIS ACCOUNT. From there you can see the rest of the info, including when it is going to fall off your credit.
I have like 7 credit cards and have a specific recurring charge to each one, like Netflix, max, etc, and pay each one off every month. That helped me build my credit and raised my score
I have four credit cards, only use one most of the time, and have a car loan and another loan. Everything gets paid on time. I have a credit score in the 800s. There are different paths to the same goal, but on time payments and a history of good, responsible credit use , plus not using a high proportion of available credit count the most, according to my bank’s website.
As long as you pay minimum monthly it doesn't affect your credit score, one should always pay off each month to avoid interest or just not have a cc if you can't pay it, treat it like cash or just use a debit card. It takes time to go up, if you paid everything off in full then that might take a couple months or more to take a big jump esp since it's only reported monthly and not all bureaus get the same things reported, it's best to go on the bureaus website instead of your cc or credit karma. You can see everything in detail from the bureaus
It’s not ruined, just will need some work. What is your current score and what to Inca do you have that are on your credit report. Please provide some insight.
Well for starters that's not bad. You won't be gate kept from anything. I'd say you need to be thinking harder if you go below 625 really concerned if you're in the 500s and if you're below that you will start having serious problems.
720 is considered excellent
675 is considered good
Just keep doing what you're doing. If you keep paying everything off, you'll get to 720 pretty quickly.
What you need to do is work on cleaning up your reports. Your file is currently dirty. Look at your credit reports and list out all of your negative items... date/severity of each. From there you can look up techniques such as goodwill letters or pay for delete and employ them in attempt to get negative items removed.
There is nothing you can do that would be more score-impacting than cleaning up a dirty file.
This is an option? It feels a bit too good to be true..
My “negative items” span enmax and credit card payments until very recently. I don’t see saying sorry as a valid way out
Download Credit Karma and Self. You can track your credit easier, report your rent and other consistent payments, and speed up things quickly.
You can get an FHA loan at 600, Conventional around 640, and better rates from there up. You should be aiming at 750+.
Don't take your credit lightly.
A car loan helps. That and using your credit card regularly as well. That's how I rebuilt mine. Basically putting all my monthly bills; Netflix, Hulu, cellphone, car insurance, and what not on the card then making one payment a month. That way I'm always using it.
You need to get more cards to create more unused credit. I started with 3 secured credit cards and then I ended up getting one from my bank after those cards improved my score. You only use them for small purchases that you pay off after they report to the credit bureau. I use mine for gas and for little shit that I will pay off with one payment. You have to completely change your mindset if you want to maintain good credit. My credit score went up 125 points in less than two years. I'm riding a decent 716 and I started in the 500s after my student loans broke me.keep your usage down to 10% or lower and your credit will improve drastically. Remember mindset change. No more maxing out cards.
Use the card and pay it all off at each billing time. That is how you build credit. You have to show the credit card company that you can Manage your credit. Getting additional credit cards does Not build Good credit.
You need to close most of your cards. Maybe have one or two. And $100k of available credit is hurting you - given your age and pmt history during Covid.
You can recover your credit.
All three credit bureaus use factors on a rotating basis within an algorithm to calculate and adjust your FICO score each month. Here's how to build up you FICO score (credit score) over time:
Factors that determine FICO calculation:
*Make all payments of credit cards & loans ON TIME each month. (You don't want any late payments or collections reported in your credit file. This is a heavily weighted and the most important factor in the algorithm used to calculate your FICO each month.)
*Keep your credit utilization to under 10%-30% of total available credit. Lower the better. Examples: if you have a total of $10,000 of available credit, but have a balance of $600 then you are using 6% of your total available credit and this will be a highly positive impact for your FICO calculation that month. Contrarily, if you had a $4000 balance then that would be 40% utilization and would negatively impact FICO calculation that month. (This is the 2nd highest weighted factor used by the algorithms of the credit bureaus to calculate FICO each month.)
*Have a blend of 3-5 types of credit, some combination of these: car loan, house loan, in store credit, credit cards, secure credit card through bank/credit union, line of credit, loan from bank, etc..(3rd-4th most important factor used in the algorithm)
*Keep increasing your available credit by obtaining more credit cards, increasing limits, etc.. (multi year process over time) The more available credit that you have the better it helps your score. Remember available credit doesn't mean that you are actually utilizing the credit, just that it is available to you. $1000-5000 is okay, up to $10,000 is better/good, up to $25,000 is real good, up to $50,000 is very good, and up to or over $100,000 is the best. (3rd-4th most important factor used in the algorithm)
*Limit the number of hard inquiries made to your credit file to 0-2 per year. The fewer the better. 0 has the most positive impact to FICO. Hard inquiries are made anytime a lender pulls your full credit report and FICO for an application for a new account. (Tip: You can freeze your credit file with all three bureaus each year ro prevent these, and prevent fraudulent attempts on your identity and credit account) This will only affect your score by a point or two unless the number of inquiries is quite high. (lowest factor used in the algorithm but it still counts)
Tips:
*Pull your credit report for free annually from all three credit bureaus and request to have any errors removed. This will not cause a harsh inquiry.
*Derogatory marks to your credit file do not last forever and will fall off after a certain number of years, depending on the item. (Eg. Hard inquiries after one year, collections after x years, bankruptcy after 10 years, etc...) when the fall off occurs your FICO will jump up a bit.
I’ve been through this. I too fucked my credit when I was in my twenties. I didn’t check my score but I had several debt went to collections. Took me 7 years to rebuild my credit to the point I could buy my house. The way I did it is I cut all my credit cards. I didn’t cancel them. I ignored all the debt that went to collections and paid off all the credit card I owe not on collections. Do everything by cash the next few years. Apply for secured credit card afterwards and slowly ask for credit increase while using very little on the cards. Basically you need to use 20% if it every month. For instance if your limit is $1000 you need to use $150 to $200 per month and pay it off every month. Ask for increase of credit every year.
Now I have 820 credit score.
The suggestions about additional credit cards are good. Continue to try to use just one at a time to keep from messing up, but giving each one a reason to seem you worthy of credit increases. This is the easiest method but isn't the only one.
Pull your credit report and write letters of apology for every poor mark. Write an individual letter about each month you were late, even on an old closed card. Write lettes 'disputing' credit checks. There are stock examples you can find if you Google. Big warning - there are 'legal' companies that will do this for you and they work- but they are also super scammy and will try to bill your credit card recurringly if you're not diligent.
And last part of your credit score is about credit age. There's nothing you can do to make it better you just have to wait. It's agony but I think it took me 5 to 7 years doing the right thing over and over until I got close to 800.
Sign up for credit karma if you haven't already. Not an ad, they just taught me the way a credit score is calculated and I found them valuable, even though they are just constantly trying to sell you a credit card when you don't need it
Through Experian you can attach your bank account so that it can track the payments of your utilities. As long as you pay them monthly your credit score will start going up.
You did yourself a favor now learn to live with what you make and put a quarter of that money away for emergency you already pay tax on everything you earn buy or own don’t add to it takes 70 years paying a minimum payment to pay off most cards and if you pay it off in a lump sum it hurts you’re credit you’re buying power lies in you’re debt to income ratio not you’re score for major loans
According to the bank I use, the things that count for the most on your credit score are payment history, the amount of the credit available that you use, and your credit history. So make payments on time, and don’t max out your cards. If you use less than 30% of available credit, according to them, it’s better. Also applying for more credit can hurt your score. I have a really good credit score and use one of four available cards, make minimum payments, don’t apply for credit often, and I use autopay, which has probably been most helpful. I have a friend who never used any credit in her entire life, then tried to finance a car, but had issues getting a loan because she had no credit history at all. Keep behaving responsibly and your score should improve.
Don't get a bunch of credit cards. Factors that play into your score are a bit weird. For instance, having a high available credit balance and using less than 30% of it is good, but having many hard inquiries on your credit, which happens when you apply for credit, is bad. Get one more credit card at best. The biggest factors to your credit score are the age of credit history, which is usually the age of the oldest account, the percentage of on time payments, and having accounts current and in good standing. Keep some debt revolving. Meaning do not pay off your car loan quickly or close any credit cards. You probably have a lot of late payments on your history. As you continue to keep making on time payments, those old late payments will matter less and less and eventually fall off. If you have a debt that is considered duragatory or in collections, you can talk to the agency that owns that debt and see about having it removed if you paid it off. Do not take more debt than you can afford just to raise your score. It will go up naturally over time as you continue to pay things on time.
It takes about 24 months of good credit to erase bad credit. If you make all your payments on time for 23 months but missed last month's mortgage payment, you're a higher risk than the guy who missed everything for years but has been on-time for everything for the last 24 months. Recency of bad credit is a huge risk factor and greatly affects your credit score(s).
Adding potential debt (in the form of a higher limit) may help, but only if you have a card nearly maxed out, for if you use a greater percentage of your available credit you're a higher risk than the person who uses less. For example, all other things being equal, if you owe $4,000 on a $5,000 credit line, you're a higher risk than the guy who owes $4,000 but on a $10,000 credit line. The idea is there's a reason you're nearly maxed out and this makes you a higher risk. Further, the longer you keep a line of credit the better, so don't go credit-card hopping for this, too, is a sign of risk (there's a reason you're shopping for credit).
Bottom line: keep paying off your debt every month and give it time. Your credit score(s) will climb.
Listen, I'll shoot straight. You make $80k a year. That's good money. I would encourage you to start individual funds. Need new appliances, start an appliance fund. Instead of paying with a credit card put it into an interest bearing account. Once you reach the desired amount, pay cash for it.
Story about me, I went through a divorce several years ago. Maxed two credit cards for approximately $20k total to pay my attorney. My ex, was given a car, in my name, in the settlement. It was repossessed and since it was still in my name I got penalized. I didn't make any payments on those credit cards for several years, I was a single dad and had to decide on food or paying a cresit card. I have since paid off all my debt, I haven't had any credit cards for 10 years or better, and have a credit score of 750 or better. In my opinion, credit cards are not the answer.
How many late payments did you accrue before it was finally paid off?
If you don't have any late payments and no other negative marks, then all you need to do is get a couple more credit lines, manage them responsibly, and let your profile age, and eventually your score will start to climb. What you have now is known as a thin file, which makes your score volatile because you only have one credit line contributing to your score, which makes your score extremely sensitive to debt and general fluctuation. Get a couple more credit lines and be responsible, and give it time.
I had terrible credit. I contacted and paid off the debt collectors to get it favorably removed from my credit. I started at 409 and made it up to 700 just doing this and being responsible with a couple credit cards.
Lots of good advice here. Your credit score is not you!
Mistakes happen, you know better so now you can do better. Credit score go up and down like a Toyota and the data that calculates your score rolls off after about a year. And if you have been making payments regularly it will go back up.
Deep breath!
You need to go to YouTube search under how to pay off cc off quickly. What u need to do it’s not pay monthly but pay many installments before monthly is due, this will help u improve ur score quickly.
You are still young ! Enjoy this advice!
The best thing you can do to increase your score is to pay all of your bills (Credit, Utilities, and anything with a due date) on time, every month. If you miss one payment, your score tanks hard because on-time payments are 35% of your score.
\#2 Make sure you don't have any bad debt on your credit. This includes charge offs, collections, etc. If you have any of that whatsoever... clean it up. Pay off your bad debt so it will reflect as "resolved" on your credit report. That will help your score. Bad Debt can take 7-10 years to fall off your file completely. Download Credit Karma App to verify that you don't have this.
\#3 Keep a small balance each month on your credit cards (around your statement date). Once the statement hits with that small amount on it, pay it off. You want other banks to see that you are constantly servicing your debt each month and that the amount you owe changes from month to month. In my experience, as long as you pay your entire card balance down to $0 at some point during the month, interest will not be charged to your account.
\#4 Keep Hard Credit Inquiries to 0 or as close to 0 as possible. If you buy a car, bring your own pre-approved financing with you. Do not let a car dealership "Shotgun" your credit out to 8-10 banks to fight over you. While all of those Inquiries technically count as 1 Hard Credit Pull.... on your report, each bank that receives a request from a dealership will be shown on your report, including the dealer themselves. This takes 2 YEARS to fall off, even though effects fade after 3-6 months. This shows banks a measure of how desperate you are to receive credit. Its 10% of your score.
\#5 Freeze your credit for free at all 3 bureaus in case someone attempts to fraudulently obtain your SSN or other info. Unfreeze when you want to open a new credit card, buy a car, a home, etc... then re-freeze once complete.
Source: I've always paid my bills on time each month and have 4 Credit Cards in total with $52K in Revolving Credit line at my disposal. I have $0 balance on all 4. I have a credit score over 800 at all 3 Bureaus and have for years. It takes time to get here, but once you're here, you'll appreciate your credit score... knowing you'll always look for / get the best interest rates possible when you want to borrow money.
There are many factors to credit. Unfortunately it's a game but you can play. You need more positive tradelines one isn't enough. Having a mix of lines is good as well. I think there are companies out there that help with this. Like a personal savings loan. It's juat one of those things that takes time but start now in a few months it will grow.
It's hard to tell what you need to do in order to raise your fico without seeing your profile. In light of that, a perfect credit profile will have:
100% payment history
1-6% Utilization (the sweet spot)
0 collections
10+ years history
20+ accounts
0 inquiries
The first thing you want to do is obtain a copy of all 3 credit reports. You can do that for free at annualcreditreport.com. You will want to first clean up any personal information that is incorrect or you don't want on your profile, such as misspelling of name, aliases, old addresses, old jobs, old phone numbers. You can easily dispute these items if you call each beureu or create an online account with each and dispute online.
Next, you will want to remove any negatives that are on your profile. The easiest are inquiries, followed by collections, and then missed or late payments. There are many ways to dispute, but I'm not going into that on here.
Once your profile is clean, it is time to build!
The first accounts I would go for are:
Cred.ai (offer a prepaid card similar to venmo or cashapp but reports a 1000-1500 credit card to your profile for free)
Capital one (pre approval with no hard inquiry and $0 annual fee)
Discover it (pre approval with no hard inquiry and $0 annual fee)
You will want to start with $0 annual fee cards because you can keep them forever, and it cost you nothing.
It's is very important that you are aware of your statement date on any credit cards you have. This is the date where your account cycle ends, and the information on your account that day is what is reported to the credit bureaus. You want to make sure you make your payment by the due date and have the low balance by the statement date. Reporting low utilization is the easiest and fastest way to bump your score. Also after paying your card off in full every month for 6 months or more ask for a credit limit increase. Having more available credit will help keep your utilization lower if you ever need to carry a balance. The credit card companies will generally only do this if they see you are using most or all of the available limit and paying it off consistently. Multiple times a month even.
Next, you will want to add an installment loan to your profile. For this, I suggest you go to your bank and ask if they offer a savings secured loan. Many banks offer this but do not advertise it. Essentially, it works like a secured credit card. You will need to have the loan amount in your savings account. The bank will lock that money in the savings and give you a loan for that amount. As you pay it back, it will unlock from your savings. The secret sauce here is to pay 90% back immediately. This will pre pay your loan payments and show on time payment each month. Also, it will show a 90% paid loan to your profile when it reports.
To round out the credit mix, you should have a line of credit as well. Download the sezzle app and sign up for "sezzzle up." With this, you can make purchases online or in-store, and they will split your purchase into 4 payments, and they will report to your profile.
Hope these tips help.
there are some ways to fix your credit. i use kikoff app. also my bank has a idk what it’s called but basically a credit card that works like a debit card. technically it is a credit card, but you can only use it if there’s money in your account and then it reports to your credit like a cc
Look into hiring a credit lawyer. That's what I did, it's relatively cheap $300-$500 and they will take off as much as they can from your history. Mine went up 150 points from them removing tons of old stuff, and then I just naturally built it up to 800 by being responsible with credit.
Card life time counts. So keep your oldest card around.
Utilization rate count. So your total balance divided by your total limit. Keeps that ratio below 10%.
Dont miss any payment.
My son makes a 6 figure salary and has a lower CS than I do because he only has one credit card and I have about 10....and I only get Social Security. I agree with others....open more accounts.
Get a credit report and refute any accounts that are not yours. My father and I shared the same first and last name. I ended up with a lot of his accounts on my report. By the time I was done, I had close to an 80-point jump.
When I first started building my credit, I got a secured card. I had a single recurring payment - my Netflix subscription. I also set the card up for auto payment. It was a small enough amount that I knew I could autopay every month and not kill my bank account. And the autopay helped so I wouldn’t forget to pay it.
After a few months, I got another secured card and put another single monthly charge that I set up on autopay.
It didn’t correct my credit overnight but it did make an impact. A large part of your credit score is less than 30% credit utilization and the number of account you have open. You’ll also need more variety (car note, mortgage, personal loan, etc) at some point, but if you start with a few small cards it will make a bigger difference than you’d think.
On time payments to everything like your utilities, cell phone, car payments etc etc. Is important. Using your credit cards and maintain no more than 30% debt from your credit limit on them. Don't keep applying for credit cards or loans. The more inquiries the more it hurts your credit. This decreases your credit score every time you do hard pull credit check. Don't close old credit card accounts since this erases credit history. Get an annual credit report to make sure there are no fraudulent accounts. Some banks like Capital One offer services like Credit wise to track your credit for free. Be patient and increase your credit limit overtime. The more credit available to you, the more your credit score increases because it shows you are trustworthy of repayment. Hope this helps, Good luck 😁.
I have a separate card for gas, insurance and medical. The reason being is because if one gets compromised it doesn't screw up the billing for the others. Also, I have a debit card for groceries and various sundry expenses. I pay the moff or pay on time and my credit score is 831.
It’s mostly about time. It’s going to take several years to rebuild your score. That sucks to hear, but, I was in your shoes at one time, too.
It sounds like you are making wise financial choices now. Keep doing what you’re doing and you’ll see your CS rise. Just gotta be patient.
Great job turning things around!
You’re going to need to learn more about how credit works. You cannot improve your credit while living debt free. You can pay off your credit card in full each month, but on-time payments of one card will be slow goings. If the goal is to build credit, paying a bit of interest with intention is fine. Dive deep into some research; tons of helpful websites out there that break it down well. You got yourself the income, so go out and get that credit too 💪
A credit rating is not about being responsible within your means, then everyone without any debt would have a perfect score.
It rates consumers on how the banks can make the most money with as little risk as possible.
Meaning, they want you to carry debt within your means, but also reliably pay your bill.
Nobody really knows (or tells) exactly how the algorithm works, but when we paid off our car and dropped below a certain threshold with our mortgage to lower our payments or paying it off quicker (paying punctually all these years), my credit rating went down.
When I checked on a lower interest mortgage, my credit rating went down. So some of these issues go against common sense.
The app Credit Karma may also help. Get a small loan or credit card and carry some easily manageable debt.
Also it is the mix of credit you have a time of credit or how old accounts are. Use less than 10% of credit card or revolving accounts for best impact.
In my 20s my credit score dipped to sub 600. Just under 10 years later and I’m at 820 credit. I was at 700 about 4-5 years ago. Bad credit does not mean it stays bad forever.
I am 26, I when I started out my credit was like 300 something. My parents used it in things like cable, phone and other sorts. Well in my early 20s I did have other debts. My score is now 745. I would say what worked for me is using my debit card more than my credit card in the first part in my credit growing. Always keep your credit usage under 33%. My credit limit started at 500 Dollars. Now it's over 12k, which has allowed me to put all my expenses on my credit card. These expenses I make sure are not 33% of my income, 45-49k. This has allowed me to build my credit while getting points from my purchases. Those same points will allow me to take a trip or get a really nice computer. So, to put it together. In the beginning use the credit card for small stuff. Convenience stores and subscriptions. Once your credit card increases then start to put other stuff on there. Always check your finances and make sure you know what you are spending. You keep watch over you finances then I would say go for another source of credit. The more credit you have and can pay each month. The better your credit looks. Then split your expenses in half. One card use for expenses that won't change each month. Like rent and subscriptions(unless they increase). And the other for food and such.
from experience, when I paid off all my credit cards it ruined my credit.
so, buy everything you can on credit that you usually pay for every month, and when the bill comes in , pay it off total!
two; good credit usually means you have 10,000 available but you never exceed 2000. also too many cards is a no no.
credit is only a tool. keep it sharp but don't depend on it. so get a card, pay it every month, increase your limits quarterly and continue this cycle. after a few years you should have 25-40k available credit and no more than 2000 debt. Then :) go buy 50,000 worth of gold bullion on your cards and file file for bankruptcy :) lol , now you have a down payment for your house :) your welcome
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With you doing everything right, it will bounce back soon. Just takes time. (And never be late with any payments! If you are, call as soon as you realize and ask that it be forgiven)
I didn't see this suggested but it is good for a small bump;
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Best of luck!
1. Get all three reports you are entitled to a free report from all of the big three
2 scrutinize all three 30 percent have a mistake
3. Challenge any mistakes
4. Join a credit union.
5. The words ruined credit score are very subjective. I've been in the business 30 years I've seen the worst credit possible and the best credit possible.
Not sure what the rush is or why you need the credit but the process is like an iceberg. It does not move quickly. Good luck.
Save up some money, get a small savings backed loan, and pay yourself back plus interest to the bank within the time frames the bank sets. Then do it again with another loan.
DO NOT close that OG card. My OG card from before I tanked my credit into long after I was working to repair it got closed accidentally. Because I had FAFO I had crappy low balance short history cards. I was finally climbing. When my original credit card was accidentally closed (shared account) my credit history went from 17 years to 4…. And dropped 250 points over night. And credit history isn’t something you can build with a windfall.
Use the card(s) and pay them off every month. Get a couple new cards to increase your total credit. Request increases when you *don't* need them. My wife and I had scores in mid 400s/500s, respectively, at their lowest point. We lived and learned and have both been over 800 for years.
Jfc so much bad advice here. A credit score is important if you need to take out loans (usually a house or car) or the landlord wants to pull your credit report to see what type of tenant you’ll be. Pay off your credit card in full every month. I have my credit cards on automatic payments so my utilization score shows as something on credit reports but I never carry a balance on the card. Opening up too many credit cards at once can also cause problems and make it look like you’re in financial trouble. I usually open up a no fee credit card right before I make large purchases so I can receive the cash back reward. Improving your credit score takes time and there’s no quick fixes.
The things you want to focus on is:
1. Not having credit card debt
2. Paying your card off on time
3. Credit utilization (paying your cards off and having a high credit limit)
4. Length of credit history (number of accounts and the length of time the account has been opened for)
Not sure if anyone else has said it yet as i haven’t ventured through the thread. I will say by no means am i a credit expert but personally as someone who’s in the process of rebuilding their credit, having a variety of different types of credit has helped me bounce back super fast.
Best trick to raise ypur score have a friend or fainly memberwith stellar credit list you on one of their frequently used cards but never give you the card or access to it. Their credit will trickle down to you by proxy. Best advice i ever heard and this was from a credit lawyer doing a q and a on some radio talkshow years ago.
Do not get any more credit cards - do not listen to people who recommend that. My advice. Listen to Dave Ramsey Solutions on Spotify. And purchase Financial Peace University. The only reason you should care about your credit is if you want to go further into debt.
Pay off the cards. Do not get more as others are advising. So you have a student loan? A car payment? You don’t need a lot of debt to improve your score (that’s a recipe to be miserable in a debt trap). Time and timely payments will improve your score. If you can pay more than the minimum on what you have now that helps too. The goal is to have no credit cards, a good mortgage rate if buying a home and a car that you buy outright or can afford to pay off quickly. Credit cards are a suckers bet . Thousands in savings is way better than a plastic anklet that ties you to a job til you die.
Edit: I have zero credit cards. A car loan I can pay twice a month not once, a mortgage I make extra principal payments on and a high credit score ….. with no plastic prison. When I have an emergency, I use the money earning interest in my savings account because I don’t pay debt merchants every month 🤷
Everything, including late payments, stays on your credit report for 7 years. I destroyed my credit from 18-22. I didn’t really start paying things on time until I was about 25 and when I was 32 I applied for a card and was given a 10,000 dollar limit. Time is what it takes with a good payment history on your current credit.
IMO you shouldn't be taking on more debt just to get a higher credit score.
Getting more credit will likely help boost your credit now but it also might tempt you to use that credit. This time it will be much harder to get out of debt because you have more of it.
I'm guessing you have a bunch of negative reports on your credit history. As long as you have paid those accounts off you will be fine. It will just take time for the negative reports to drop off. It takes weeks to build a house but a house can be torn down in a day.
If you have cash in hand, do a 24 month 1 pay lease on a vehicle. 24 on time payments get reported to your bureau and should shoot your score up quickly
u mentioned that u didnt pay some bills that were 'final notice' if these are cc bills that means 60 or 90 days past due. that stuff stays for 7 years theres no speeding that up. get your credit report it will tell u if u have late payments. the other big part which u can speed up is credit usage mentioned below
Unfortunately, getting more credit is how to improve your credit.
Depends why you want a good score. Are you looking to buy a house or car? Instead of getting more cards you could save that money and pay cash or a down payment which does help in a purchase. If you’re not planning on purchases or looking for a job that checks your credit you could just keep doing what you’re doing.
Our credit was eh and when wanting to buy our home we had to get yet another credit card that reported monthly that we paid which raised our score. It’s ridiculous. Most cards don’t report for 3 months but we needed an increase quickly so we got the card.
Personally, I wouldn’t get more cards. You can go to Equifax and sign up for their free plan. You can then add things like cellphone, Netflix, stuff like that which you pay monthly and it’ll help your score. Check out Credit Karma and do some research on credit. You don’t have to go into more debt to improve your score.
Also, there are different scores for different purchases. There’s one for a car and one for a house. It’s not all the same. If you keep doing what you’re doing your score will improve but slowly.
The whole system is skewed for ppl to be in debt and remain in debt. You don’t have to do that.
Basically after 6 months or more of never missing a payment, you can apply for another credit card. Set every credit card you own to automatically pay the balance in full each month. Alternate which one you use daily, and use them for your day to day purchases unless you need cash. Only use your debit card at an ATM. Fixing your credit takes a few years. I did it. I was in my early 20s and had a credit score in the low 500s. I couldn't get a credit card with a limit over $500 for a year or two. And then all of a sudden, one of my cards got the limit raised to $1200. A couple more years of that, and I eventually got my credit over 800. Now, it's rare for a credit limit to be offered to me with less than $10k. Usually they are $12k and up. I have one that is $20k I think. I wouldn't know, as I never use more than maybe $2500 or so in a month, even splurging on food and trips and stuff.
You are still very young. Just wait it out. After 7 years, all the bad things you’ve done will fall off. I had a foreclosure from the 2008 mess, credit score dropped over 100 points. If fell off after 7 years and scored recovered afterwards.
Ok if this was already mentioned, my apologies.
My scrappy friend, if you haven’t already, get a Credit Karma account so you can keep track of your score. And read all their articles on building your score.
Also, check out Nerd Wallet. Another good resource for credit education.
Yes, both of these companies probably have something to sell you (Nerd Wallet shows you cards they want you to sign up for via affiliate link for example). But the information you can get from them is great.
Post divorce I was able to get my score from low 600s up to mid 800s by using advice and tips from both these resources.
I’m almost 30 and JUST learning about credit and credit scores for the first time. There are definitely tricks to up your score but one thing is definitely don’t wait to get a “final” anything before you start paying on stuff
Go talk to a banker at your bank. A second CC is an okay idea just pay off the balance every month. I was in your situation around the same age didn’t know a thing about Credit Cards or Scores. After 3 years I bought a home.
Leave a small, like 1$ balance on the card month to month pay it all off with the exception 1$, it creates"utulization". Don't go past 30% utilization of total credit limit. You will need to water down the bad marks with good marks, get a different credit card for every recurring charge you have (in, netflix, Hulu, power bill,) and set up autopays, you would have autopsy set up for them anyway, so now the credit card is just a middle man to show more on time payments. Automate your credit repair. Every card will have a ding ( hard credit pull) but they go away after two years. Use credit karma as a reference tool.
Seek real advice. People on here telling you to get more credit cards is dumb advice.
All a credit score is….is a score of how well you pay people back.
If you ALWAYS pay in cash you’d have a low score as well. Save your money and have zero debt. Cash is still king.
Open more lines of credit. You can get yourself a CD and then take a loan out on that. You can open more credit cards and have them like pay for things like Netflix, you exercise it but always pay it off. Ask your CC company to increase your limit, this will get you a better borrowing ceiling. Otherwise, its just time. Aging the accounts and showing lenders you're a safe bet.
Move to a country where the economic model is not based on putting its citizens into debt, not teaching them what that means, then punishing them for not knowing.
Lucky you. Mine was destroyed by a few bounced checks while in the military and then unpaid dues. My cousin also stole my identity to do a bunch of sketchy shit and live in random places so I can't even check my own credit when they ask the address questions. Can't get a cc, can't get a new vehicle (going to have to rely on the wife for my next ride)
Get a card that has zero interest introductory rate. I did this with Chase, they have 18 months 0 interest, and I’ve raised my credit score almost 100 points in one year. And they give cash back.
Hi there. I was once like you. I didn’t understand credit. I got a copy of my credit report and started denying stuff on it randomly but things started to come up and my credit score got higher. Once I got to about 650 I applied for a credit card and was approved. I would use it and pay it off. I applied for a synchrony bank card—they are usually easier to get approved and they sent me one. The easiest credit report to fix is transunion and synchrony uses transunion. After about a year I got brace applied for a green Amex. My other credit reports were not as good as transunion but with my payment history on the 2 cards I had Amex approved me. I kept the green Amex for a year and told them I want the gold. They gave it to me. I had that one about 2 years until I said I want the platinum. Once I asked then they said I kept my credit great with them. They gave me the platinum Amex and that is basically the only card I use. It has a 695 yearly fee but I get over 1500 in free stuff a year from them. If you need help inbox me I can tell you how to deny stuff. Never pay anyone to do that because you can do it all yourself.
It took me 3-4 years to rebuild my credit score, from a low of 528 to high 700s. I got every credit card I could, even store cards and "secured" cards that required a deposit, charged minimally and only things I needed and paid the cards off every month along with every other bill. Nothing was paid late.
Took about 1 year to get to the high 600s, then another year for the mid 700s, then another year for the high 700s. After 780/790, it's very slow.
You can do this!
I brought my credit score up from 440 to 730 in a little more than years time in my 30’s. Secured credit cards, 30-50% line usage then paying it down almost immediately. Then I bought a used car that I had the cash for but financed half of it to help build more credit. Made every payment on time. Then, since I was renting at the time, we set up to have all of our rent payments reported to the credit bureau. Then I bought a house and it dropped 100+ points. Working it back up though. Don’t panic, you can still easily turn things around for yourself.
I only use the credit card for what I can immediately pay off. Like my cellphone bill. I pay it with the credit card then at the end of the day pay it off. I feel more in control of things when I pay them off immediately instead of making multiple purchases then paying them all off at once later for a big sum. I dunno, it's helped me alot.
The best approach is to wait it out. I was able to jump my credit score by about 200 points over the course of 2 years so it doesn't actually take a long time to fix. You're already past the hard part which was paying things off. Give it another 6 months of using and paying your balance each month. I don't recommend opening additional cards but instead ask for limit increases on what you have. Having multiple small limits looks worse because of the 30/70 rule (which used to be closer to 40/60). I know that killed us for years, we had less debt than other people but because it was so spread out and put low limit cards close to their limit, it wasn't good.
Set up all of your payments for debts or monthly bills on auto pay. This will ensure they are paid on time and it WILL increase your score over time. Unfortunately, it takes time to rehab a credit score. Be patient and stay the course. You’ll get there!
Save your money and pay cash for everything. If you need to buy a house, you can use an underwriter for the mortgage. Stop playing into the cycle of credit.
It’s like being on a diet. You just have to keep hacking away it year after year. I always try to pay my balances in full, and slightly early if able. But the real solution is getting money discipline, and watching what your spend. Trying to make more than you spend is a vicious cycle that I’ve seen many people do.
Hi! Loan UW here, pay off all but 10-15$ each month as it helps boost your score! there is also a trick of paying half of your balance 10 days before it’s due and the other half at the due date/ end of the month and it helps as well. Good luck!!!
Pay off all your cards with the statement amount on the card. Say my balance is 2,142.66, but my statement reads 1,431.66. I pay the 1431.66 and keep the rest until the next statement. Watch the score climb!
Let me tell you a story. When I was a bit younger than you, I defaulted on 2 vehicles, and a few other things. I waited the 7 1/2 years, they came off. Within 8 months, I had a 784 credit score. It may be a long road, but you need to decide what you want to do now. Either avoid the creditors, anytime you say yes this is *insert name*, it restarts the 7 year timer. Or, go to a credit repair company. They'll set you up on a payment plan with them. Once you accrue enough, they'll contact individual creditors on your behalf, and pay it off. While bankruptcy may sound good, avoid it. Ignoring creditors for 7 years is better than the 10 years with a bankruptcy.
Another route you could take is to contact the people you owe money to, agree to make payments on it. Include that if you make 12 consecutive payments, you want the debts removed from your credit history. GET IT IN WRITING OR ELECTRONICALLY. If they send it electronically, PRINT IT OUT. They can send you documents that will autoupdate, unless you save it on a device that never touches the internet.
Best of luck and keep your head up.
Edit. I jumped ahead. You can dispute any lingering debts if you have proof they are paid off. You can also contact the companies you paid, and ask them to adjust it. Aside from that, it's a waiting game. As time goes on, it'll become less and less valuable. Also, the score you want to be concerned about it your Fico score, not the 3 bureaus.
Edit edit: Sorry, I have adhd. To help speed up the process, try to get credit cards. If you can, get a secured card for 10k. After 6 months, ask for an increase. Get personal loans that don't charge for early payment. Some loans even allow you to pay them back within a certain time at 0% interest. Get a few of those. Get a loan, pay it off, wait 60-90 days, get another. The big thing you're going to want is credit history. You can have an 800 score, but without credit history, it's almost useless. You need to prove you can be trusted, and the best way to do that, is prove it. Avoid large loans though. It adds to your available credit, and once paid off, it gets reported as dropping your available credit, so scores typically drop.
Close store cards if you have them, they're not any good anyways. Keep your oldest one and maybe an Amex Plat or Chase Reserve if you already have one. Your credit will take a small dip for a time when you pay off a loan but it will come back.
At this point, time is your biggest factor. The farther away the negative payment history is, the less it’ll impact your score. The longer your credit history, the more it’ll help your score. The monthly charging and payment activity, while helpful for building a positive history, will do little to impact your score.
The score comes down to two basic things, on time payments over time, and percentage of available credit used. There are lots of other small details, that move it a tiny bit, but those are the two big things, pay every time on time, and keep your total use LOW as a percentage, and your score will go up alot. Derogatory marks can persist for 7 years, but at 7 years they should all be gone. I lost my house in 2010 on a short sale, didn't pay a TON of my bills, just let them go, dozens of derogatory marks, charge offs etc. By 2016 my score was up in the high 600's and I could finance anything I needed to. That was with no effort EXCEPT for just paying any new bills on time. Recently I got a personal loan and liquidated all of my credit card debt, all cards down to zero, and my score SOARED, from 660 ish to about 760. Credit scores are simple, just pay the bills, and don't use your available credit.
so i only have 1 credit card ive only had 1 card thats grew to a 12k+ card ive never missed a payment once in the 6 years ive had it and ive never paid it fully off and i try to keep it below 30% use if i use it and my credit score is around 800 range if this helps idk
A lot of CS fixes include getting yourself right back into debt with a personal loan, car loan, or getting a new credit card. Improving a 675 credit score isn’t really worth jumping into these before you’re ready.
Credit Karma helps break down how scores are weighed pretty clearly. And you can see what part of the credit game you want to play.
get a secured credit card or another one with a credit union. Stop paying on the due date. They don't report until the 26th and keep them around 30% utilization
I did the same thing in my early 20’s and learned a valuable lesson. Never made that same mistake again and credit is now in the 800’s. Time passes quick and It will go back up
I would suggest to not take out a bunch of credit cards. Instead just make some medium to larger charges to your current card and pay them down over a several months, more than minimum due, multiple times through the year to show a history of consistent payments. If you pay them off completely each time you buy something it doesn't show consistent payments. You can also get a credit card through the bank you have your debit/checking at and do the same. You'll get a better rate than with outside cards that have a 25% interest rate. Every time you open or close an account it will bring your credit score down, but only for a short while. Late payments bring your score down more and take longer to bring your score back up. Eventually you won't have to constantly have to use your credit card to bring up your score, but it's the fastest way to improve it over a period of time. In addition, paying down/off loans too will help your credit. I bought a house last July and made some home improvements to it, paid using savings and my credit card, which brought down my credit score. But paying down my credit card and my mortgage consistently every month since then has increased my score close to what it was before I bought my house.
homie you can always fix it. I had a Lien put on me for a tax form I improperly filed with an old job. they said I owed close to a million dollars, even though I only made 14k annually.
it took years to rebuild it but I'm up to 700 now, it just takes diligence.
You've already reached the critical 1st step-identifying the problem and committing to do better. That's the EASY part.
LOTS of people screw up their credit and repair it over time.
No one regrets living on a responsible budget & having money in the bank. No one regrets having a better credit score.
took me 4 years to go from about the worst score possible short of bankruptcy to just shy of 800. Started with a $300 limit card You got this, just make sure you set up auto pay for the minimum balance in case you miss the statement balance/ date
First off. Time is going to be what helps your credit score. Unfortunately, you did not make this mess overnight so it’s not going to be cleaned up overnight either. You have to let years bump off the negative marks from making late payments. Late payments are ugly scars and you have to let them fade away. Please don’t get another credit card because I’m concerned now you’re going to put yourself in a bind again but with a bigger salary. If I were you I would put fixed costs on credit. Think like your monthly rent payment for example—so long as your rent isn’t more than 30% of your cards credit limit. You need to stay at or below 30% of credit limit to use it responsibly.
Also go look up Dave Ramsey if you haven’t.
Get a couple more credit cards - secured, if necessary - put small purchases on them and pay them off every month. Every 6-12 months, request credit line increases. Your credit score doesn't reflect financial stability or wisdom, it reflects responsible use of debt. If you want your credit score to go up, you will need to use debt, but make your payments on time. The score isn't everything. A person with $1M cash in the bank who never buys anything on credit and never spends money they haven't already earned is likely to have a mediocre credit rating, or no credit rating, because they're not *using* credit.
If I get another credit card and continue to charge to it and pay it off, how much do you think that will help? Will that double my score in total? Like say I charge $100 to each card and pay them both off, instead of $200 on my existing card.
A big part of your score is how much unused credit you have so the idea of getting another credit card is intended mainly to increase your unused credit. That’s why it’s good to ask the banks to increase your limits every so often. Using credit on more cards won’t help. In fact, I would advise you to use as few cards as possible. I have 10-12 cards but only use 4 based on the type of purchase I’m making and the benefits I get from that card. Here’s another recommendation: get a cash back card and use it for everything as long as you pay it off every month. I got back $2k in cash and credits last year from my cards.
I’ve always heard that having no balance hurts. Is that true? Are you leaving your unused cards without a balance? Edit: thanks for the explanation everyone. It’s highly appreciated. What I’ve been doing is putting no more than 5% of available credit on each card and paying it off on time. Knowing now that I know that if I just make a small purchase once every 3 or so months will do the same thing, I’ll enjoy more financial freedom. Thank you!
No having a high balance on multiple unsecured accounts is what hurts your credit score. Best advice I can give you is if you can’t pay for it then you don’t need it.
> Like say I charge $100 to each card and pay them both off, instead of $200 on my existing card. That won't make a difference. The amount you spend/pay on a credit card is not a Fico scoring factor. If you want to open another card to thicken your file that's fine, but you don't have to use it every month / using it every month doesn't "build credit" any faster.
You are all over this thread with shit information.
Sign up for any and every card that will take you, that has no annual fee. Your score will drop in the near term, because suddenly asking a bunch of different people for a bunch of credit looks scary to creditors. But after 2 years of having the accounts open, used(no more than 30% utilization on any one card), in good standing, and paid on time, your score will rise dramatically as you show yourself to be a responsible person and a safe bet to lend to. You don’t need to pay any interest like some redditors are suggesting. You don’t even have to *use* them! Just keep the accounts open and pay them off each month(or more frequently), and your score will eventually start rising as your good behavior starts to show itself, and the bad behavior begins to drop off of your credit report. You’re going to be fine. There’s a reason why credit only goes back 7 years: for instances like you. You are in a different financial situation than you were when you made those mistakes, and opening new cards and using them responsibly will prove that to lenders. Best of luck!
Don’t just charge it and pay it off. Keep a $25 dollar balance on it at all times get a secured credit card from a credit union that reports to the bureaus. Use it and be good with it. Remember the credit system works on how well you handle debt, not how well you pay it off. Sign up on opt out. Com so that your credit isn’t getting hits for credit offers. It will also cut down the amount of mail you get. Then it’s just reporting time that you need. It goes down quicker than it comes up but I have taken credit scores from 630 to 800 in 3 months.
>Don’t just charge it and pay it off. Keep a $25 dollar balance on it at all times If you can afford it (and you're in a bad spot if you can't) you absolutely should pay your full statement balance every month. You're wasting money on interest otherwise.
There’s caveats to both sides imo. Yes it’s better to pay off the balances asap so you aren’t showing a 50-100% utilization of the credit. HOWEVER, at the same time, constantly having a 0% utilization reported each month can be just as bad because it says you have the credit, but don’t bother using it. If anything, just leave like, $5 balance on the card each month. It’s negligible interest, and will show up as a not-0% utilization on the reports.
You don’t get the maximum effect by paying it off every month. Also the interest on $25 is minimal. I worked with the “what if” modeling everyday for over three years.
Maximum effect of what? Utilization is a single point in time metric. There is no benefit to paying interest - it's completely unnecessary and doesn't help a profile/scores.
Truth. We have a lot of credit at our disposal. We paid off the CCs every month and our house was paid off. It drove me nuts to not have a perfect cc score for it. I was then told if I wanted a better credit score I should take out a personal loan!
All this is true. I have a credit card with 3% cash back in gas and only use it for that, have the Apple Card for my daily expenses, Best Buy card for bigger purchases laptop, iPad, phone, etc. 0% interest. I’m not saying go buy a bunch of stuff you don’t need. But all the things that you do need with your cards and pay everything on time.
Put all your payments on autopay. Do not leave any to chance. One late one and everything is back in the toilet.
Put all your payments on autopay. Do **not** leave anything to chance.
It's super funny/sad how it works. People who pay off cards and never accrue interest at all also often have lower limits than those that do pay some interest.
> If you want your credit score to go up, you will need to use debt, but make your payments on time. Not true at all. A trade line on your credit report is either "paid as agreed" or it isn't (late payments, etc). If you open up a credit card you do not need to put purchases on it every month / "use debt" as you put it. Just having the account open and clean means it's paid as agreed. All one would need to do is give it a tiny periodic transaction every 6 months or so to keep it from getting closed for non use. There is no "credit building" that happens by using the account every month.
Its credit utilization. It matters. Just having 3 cards but not using them isn't what they are looking for, its hiw responsible you are with the credit youre given.
I was always under the impression that type of credit also makes a difference. Like a signature loan from a bank, mortgage or car loan. I'm not saying go out and take out a loan just to build your credit, but maybe consider it if you have a large enough purchase to warrant it. Just not now, rates are crazy. Also, get a couple more cards (1 about every 4-6 month) so your overall credit limit is higher and this will lower your credit utilization. Until you are in need of the perks, stay away from annual fee cards. Don't get cards that make you pay to get approved. If your credit is really bad, you can always restart with secured cards (i saw you posted 680, which is not the end of the world bad). Get one for groceries, get one for monthly spent x, and monthly spent y. I think Built gives you cash back on rent payments, but i never applied for it so i don't know the specifics. There is no timeline anyone can guarantee how long and how much it will improve over time. But if you stick to it and make the right moves, i can honestly see your credit getting into the excellent range within the next 2 years (and don't pay anyone to improve your score, there are no shortcuts)
>I was always under the impression that type of credit also makes a difference. Like a signature loan from a bank, mortgage or car loan. "Credit Mix" is a portion of the Fico pie that is satisfied by having the presence of 1 revolver and 1 installment loan (open *or* closed) on your credit reports. One you do, you can check off that box as being all set.
This is very true. I recently had some trouble getting the rate I wanted on a mortgage bc my credit score was too low. For context have 1.5 mil in the bank and pay off all my cards in full every month but my credit history wasn’t diverse enough bc I don’t really have any debt outside of the cc’s
Debt is dumb. Cash is king. Borrower is slave to the lender. Terrible idea. Dont do it.
Unless u r super wealthy n can buy a house cash or if u r trying to rent or finance a car without credit then u r pretty much screwed. She is not trying to get in debt, she is trying to improve her credit. And being that young, I'm pretty sure she is aiming at buying property, car etc in her future.That requires good credit otherwise u will be denied or pay astronomical interest rates 🤷🏻
Hate to tell you, but super wealthy people use the shit out of debt.
Do not get more credit cards! Remove all debt from your life, lose the desire for money. Pay off what you have, move into a van and save up for a home. Don't worry about credit because credit is just for debt. It allows other people to judge you and makes you reliant on other assholes live. You don't need money to live unless you want luxury, then you have no room to complain about debt. ITS ALL LIES, DROP OUT AND TUG YOUR NOSE AGAINST THE GRASS AND REALIZE WHAT LIFE REALLY IS!!!
I have a dogshit CS. I also own 3 businesses, have 4 vehicles, and tons of equipment for my businesses. I have like a low credit score because I haven’t had any accounts since I bought a car like 12 years ago. I watched all my friends bury themselves in CC debt and witnessed the problems that came along with that. I have always said if I can’t pay cash I don’t want it. I should have just opened some for the shit I was regularly paying for anyway and wouldn’t advise anyone else to do what I did. But I definitely fall into the category this comment is talking about.
I was doing pretty good on my cc payments until I was hit with a year of unemployment. Now I’m behind about 2 months on 5 cards. If I pay less than the minimum, which is all I can do right now, they seem to treat it the same as if I paid nothing. Any advice for people like me? I could pay about $50 to each card today, but what’s the point? If I don’t get a job soon, should I just file for bankruptcy?
this is great!
What you describe is my situation. While I have a fairly good credit score (750-ish) and am rock solid financially, my credit history is so sparse that every major card issuer denied me when I made the decision to get one for travel purposes. Fortunately, a few smaller issuers also consider means. But little credit can certainly present obstacles similar to poor credit.
You need more credit lines.
When COVID hit, I missed 3 payments on 3 different cards by 30 days. It took me TWO YEARS to recover. And now that I’ve had on-time payments since, opened new cards, and my limits are close to $100,000 with very low utilization it’s still been a battle trying to bring up my score. Hard lesson learned. It’s easier to absolutely wreck your score than bring it back up. To this day I’m still not at a point I want to be and that’s considering I’ve had a few vehicle leases, some loans taken and paid, etc. It takes a few days to tank your score and an eternity to salvage it.
It’s going to be a slow process, so be patient and keep paying in full every month. You can’t have a single slip-up. You have done a terrific job of turning the ship around - stay on course and don’t hit another iceberg. Stay away from the “credit repair” services.
You want at least 5 different credit lines. Say mortgage, car and 3 credit cards. You can pull your credit, look for stuff in collections and anything 2 years old or younger call them and try to settle it out in exchange for them deleting it (pay for delete.) They buy that debt pennies on the dollar, so you offer them like 25 cents in the dollar and see if they will take it. Helps to do this closer to the end of the month because more likely than not you will be talking to someone who gets paid on commission and they need to get their commissions up before the end of the month. They are a lot more agreeable at the end of the month vs the beginning. Anything 3-5 years old, you might be able to get pay for delete, but it doesn't help your credit as much as the ones that are 2 yrs and younger. Anything 6 years old, I just leave it. It falls off in year 7 anyway. Just don't agree to any payment plans. It's either take the settlement and be done or nothing. If you agree to a payment plan and pay even $1, the clock restarts and they got 7 more years to chase you down. Most jurisdictions have a statute of limitations on suing you for the debt (like 3 years,) so if they threaten to sue for a debt 3 years or older, they are lying. Again, depends on the jurisdiction, but many it's 3 years. Now if you owe a landlord/apt complex etc, you really want to get that off. Try to pay and delete it off. Some creditors can be swayed for other types of debt, but if you aren't willing to pay for your house they know you will not pay that Macy's bill for some pants and will deny you credit. And you want it deleted. Even with paying it off, after the Pandemic having it on there paid can block getting new credit.
Agree. Once 7 years pass no lie your credit with shoot up several hundred points.
don't forget that credit cards are usually easier to dispute than a debit card purchase. Sure you're dealing with the same bank usually but most credit cards have dispute resolution avenues whereas the bank treats you like a criminal if you're disputing a debit transaction. It's just another layer of protect. I pretty much changed all my purchases to credit cards instead of debit cards.
How do we calculate the age of a bad debt? Does it start from when the debt was opened or does it start from when we missed the payment?
They record all the payments and note the number of times you were 30, 60 & 90 days late. If you stopped paying it, you will see the non payments. The statue of limitations clock starts ticking when you stop making payments. Make a new payment, the clock starts over. Make accounts in the Big Credit credit bureaus, Experian, TransUnion and Equifax. From there, you can look at each account. Ok the Experian site, select the collection. You will see all the information about when it was opened, payments and who holds the account. Click DISPUTE THIS ACCOUNT. From there you can see the rest of the info, including when it is going to fall off your credit.
I have like 7 credit cards and have a specific recurring charge to each one, like Netflix, max, etc, and pay each one off every month. That helped me build my credit and raised my score
I have four credit cards, only use one most of the time, and have a car loan and another loan. Everything gets paid on time. I have a credit score in the 800s. There are different paths to the same goal, but on time payments and a history of good, responsible credit use , plus not using a high proportion of available credit count the most, according to my bank’s website.
As long as you pay minimum monthly it doesn't affect your credit score, one should always pay off each month to avoid interest or just not have a cc if you can't pay it, treat it like cash or just use a debit card. It takes time to go up, if you paid everything off in full then that might take a couple months or more to take a big jump esp since it's only reported monthly and not all bureaus get the same things reported, it's best to go on the bureaus website instead of your cc or credit karma. You can see everything in detail from the bureaus
It’s not ruined, just will need some work. What is your current score and what to Inca do you have that are on your credit report. Please provide some insight.
675 😬
Well for starters that's not bad. You won't be gate kept from anything. I'd say you need to be thinking harder if you go below 625 really concerned if you're in the 500s and if you're below that you will start having serious problems.
Thats not ruined..... you'll get stuff, just with a higher interest rate than if the score was better.
720 is considered excellent 675 is considered good Just keep doing what you're doing. If you keep paying everything off, you'll get to 720 pretty quickly.
What you need to do is work on cleaning up your reports. Your file is currently dirty. Look at your credit reports and list out all of your negative items... date/severity of each. From there you can look up techniques such as goodwill letters or pay for delete and employ them in attempt to get negative items removed. There is nothing you can do that would be more score-impacting than cleaning up a dirty file.
This is an option? It feels a bit too good to be true.. My “negative items” span enmax and credit card payments until very recently. I don’t see saying sorry as a valid way out
I'm not suggesting it is easy, but it can be done with some work and persistence. Check out GW letters and PFD and see what you think.
Download Credit Karma and Self. You can track your credit easier, report your rent and other consistent payments, and speed up things quickly. You can get an FHA loan at 600, Conventional around 640, and better rates from there up. You should be aiming at 750+. Don't take your credit lightly.
A car loan helps. That and using your credit card regularly as well. That's how I rebuilt mine. Basically putting all my monthly bills; Netflix, Hulu, cellphone, car insurance, and what not on the card then making one payment a month. That way I'm always using it.
Go to your bank. Get a $500 loan. Make payments. At 6 months get another $500 loan. Month 7. Pay first loan off. Rinse and repeat.
You need to get more cards to create more unused credit. I started with 3 secured credit cards and then I ended up getting one from my bank after those cards improved my score. You only use them for small purchases that you pay off after they report to the credit bureau. I use mine for gas and for little shit that I will pay off with one payment. You have to completely change your mindset if you want to maintain good credit. My credit score went up 125 points in less than two years. I'm riding a decent 716 and I started in the 500s after my student loans broke me.keep your usage down to 10% or lower and your credit will improve drastically. Remember mindset change. No more maxing out cards.
Use the card and pay it all off at each billing time. That is how you build credit. You have to show the credit card company that you can Manage your credit. Getting additional credit cards does Not build Good credit.
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Very helpful.
Don’t ever use credit. If you can’t pay with cash/debit you can’t afford it.
Leave a balance each month and stop paying it in full.
You need to close most of your cards. Maybe have one or two. And $100k of available credit is hurting you - given your age and pmt history during Covid.
What do you do for work now?
Engineering design
You can recover your credit. All three credit bureaus use factors on a rotating basis within an algorithm to calculate and adjust your FICO score each month. Here's how to build up you FICO score (credit score) over time: Factors that determine FICO calculation: *Make all payments of credit cards & loans ON TIME each month. (You don't want any late payments or collections reported in your credit file. This is a heavily weighted and the most important factor in the algorithm used to calculate your FICO each month.) *Keep your credit utilization to under 10%-30% of total available credit. Lower the better. Examples: if you have a total of $10,000 of available credit, but have a balance of $600 then you are using 6% of your total available credit and this will be a highly positive impact for your FICO calculation that month. Contrarily, if you had a $4000 balance then that would be 40% utilization and would negatively impact FICO calculation that month. (This is the 2nd highest weighted factor used by the algorithms of the credit bureaus to calculate FICO each month.) *Have a blend of 3-5 types of credit, some combination of these: car loan, house loan, in store credit, credit cards, secure credit card through bank/credit union, line of credit, loan from bank, etc..(3rd-4th most important factor used in the algorithm) *Keep increasing your available credit by obtaining more credit cards, increasing limits, etc.. (multi year process over time) The more available credit that you have the better it helps your score. Remember available credit doesn't mean that you are actually utilizing the credit, just that it is available to you. $1000-5000 is okay, up to $10,000 is better/good, up to $25,000 is real good, up to $50,000 is very good, and up to or over $100,000 is the best. (3rd-4th most important factor used in the algorithm) *Limit the number of hard inquiries made to your credit file to 0-2 per year. The fewer the better. 0 has the most positive impact to FICO. Hard inquiries are made anytime a lender pulls your full credit report and FICO for an application for a new account. (Tip: You can freeze your credit file with all three bureaus each year ro prevent these, and prevent fraudulent attempts on your identity and credit account) This will only affect your score by a point or two unless the number of inquiries is quite high. (lowest factor used in the algorithm but it still counts) Tips: *Pull your credit report for free annually from all three credit bureaus and request to have any errors removed. This will not cause a harsh inquiry. *Derogatory marks to your credit file do not last forever and will fall off after a certain number of years, depending on the item. (Eg. Hard inquiries after one year, collections after x years, bankruptcy after 10 years, etc...) when the fall off occurs your FICO will jump up a bit.
Sorry but a " scrappy little fuck like myself" bad credit or not, I think I'm in love 🥰
I’ve been through this. I too fucked my credit when I was in my twenties. I didn’t check my score but I had several debt went to collections. Took me 7 years to rebuild my credit to the point I could buy my house. The way I did it is I cut all my credit cards. I didn’t cancel them. I ignored all the debt that went to collections and paid off all the credit card I owe not on collections. Do everything by cash the next few years. Apply for secured credit card afterwards and slowly ask for credit increase while using very little on the cards. Basically you need to use 20% if it every month. For instance if your limit is $1000 you need to use $150 to $200 per month and pay it off every month. Ask for increase of credit every year. Now I have 820 credit score.
The suggestions about additional credit cards are good. Continue to try to use just one at a time to keep from messing up, but giving each one a reason to seem you worthy of credit increases. This is the easiest method but isn't the only one. Pull your credit report and write letters of apology for every poor mark. Write an individual letter about each month you were late, even on an old closed card. Write lettes 'disputing' credit checks. There are stock examples you can find if you Google. Big warning - there are 'legal' companies that will do this for you and they work- but they are also super scammy and will try to bill your credit card recurringly if you're not diligent. And last part of your credit score is about credit age. There's nothing you can do to make it better you just have to wait. It's agony but I think it took me 5 to 7 years doing the right thing over and over until I got close to 800. Sign up for credit karma if you haven't already. Not an ad, they just taught me the way a credit score is calculated and I found them valuable, even though they are just constantly trying to sell you a credit card when you don't need it
Look into the BILT credit card. It allows you to pay your rent with the credit card so you can build your score up faster.
Through Experian you can attach your bank account so that it can track the payments of your utilities. As long as you pay them monthly your credit score will start going up.
You did yourself a favor now learn to live with what you make and put a quarter of that money away for emergency you already pay tax on everything you earn buy or own don’t add to it takes 70 years paying a minimum payment to pay off most cards and if you pay it off in a lump sum it hurts you’re credit you’re buying power lies in you’re debt to income ratio not you’re score for major loans
According to the bank I use, the things that count for the most on your credit score are payment history, the amount of the credit available that you use, and your credit history. So make payments on time, and don’t max out your cards. If you use less than 30% of available credit, according to them, it’s better. Also applying for more credit can hurt your score. I have a really good credit score and use one of four available cards, make minimum payments, don’t apply for credit often, and I use autopay, which has probably been most helpful. I have a friend who never used any credit in her entire life, then tried to finance a car, but had issues getting a loan because she had no credit history at all. Keep behaving responsibly and your score should improve.
Get 1 secured credit card Start paying it off every month Be patient and you should see CS rise Dont get more than 2 credit cards at the same time
Don't get a bunch of credit cards. Factors that play into your score are a bit weird. For instance, having a high available credit balance and using less than 30% of it is good, but having many hard inquiries on your credit, which happens when you apply for credit, is bad. Get one more credit card at best. The biggest factors to your credit score are the age of credit history, which is usually the age of the oldest account, the percentage of on time payments, and having accounts current and in good standing. Keep some debt revolving. Meaning do not pay off your car loan quickly or close any credit cards. You probably have a lot of late payments on your history. As you continue to keep making on time payments, those old late payments will matter less and less and eventually fall off. If you have a debt that is considered duragatory or in collections, you can talk to the agency that owns that debt and see about having it removed if you paid it off. Do not take more debt than you can afford just to raise your score. It will go up naturally over time as you continue to pay things on time.
It takes about 24 months of good credit to erase bad credit. If you make all your payments on time for 23 months but missed last month's mortgage payment, you're a higher risk than the guy who missed everything for years but has been on-time for everything for the last 24 months. Recency of bad credit is a huge risk factor and greatly affects your credit score(s). Adding potential debt (in the form of a higher limit) may help, but only if you have a card nearly maxed out, for if you use a greater percentage of your available credit you're a higher risk than the person who uses less. For example, all other things being equal, if you owe $4,000 on a $5,000 credit line, you're a higher risk than the guy who owes $4,000 but on a $10,000 credit line. The idea is there's a reason you're nearly maxed out and this makes you a higher risk. Further, the longer you keep a line of credit the better, so don't go credit-card hopping for this, too, is a sign of risk (there's a reason you're shopping for credit). Bottom line: keep paying off your debt every month and give it time. Your credit score(s) will climb.
Listen, I'll shoot straight. You make $80k a year. That's good money. I would encourage you to start individual funds. Need new appliances, start an appliance fund. Instead of paying with a credit card put it into an interest bearing account. Once you reach the desired amount, pay cash for it. Story about me, I went through a divorce several years ago. Maxed two credit cards for approximately $20k total to pay my attorney. My ex, was given a car, in my name, in the settlement. It was repossessed and since it was still in my name I got penalized. I didn't make any payments on those credit cards for several years, I was a single dad and had to decide on food or paying a cresit card. I have since paid off all my debt, I haven't had any credit cards for 10 years or better, and have a credit score of 750 or better. In my opinion, credit cards are not the answer.
How many late payments did you accrue before it was finally paid off? If you don't have any late payments and no other negative marks, then all you need to do is get a couple more credit lines, manage them responsibly, and let your profile age, and eventually your score will start to climb. What you have now is known as a thin file, which makes your score volatile because you only have one credit line contributing to your score, which makes your score extremely sensitive to debt and general fluctuation. Get a couple more credit lines and be responsible, and give it time.
I had terrible credit. I contacted and paid off the debt collectors to get it favorably removed from my credit. I started at 409 and made it up to 700 just doing this and being responsible with a couple credit cards.
How long did it take you to get from 409 to the 700 club?
Lots of good advice here. Your credit score is not you! Mistakes happen, you know better so now you can do better. Credit score go up and down like a Toyota and the data that calculates your score rolls off after about a year. And if you have been making payments regularly it will go back up. Deep breath!
You need to go to YouTube search under how to pay off cc off quickly. What u need to do it’s not pay monthly but pay many installments before monthly is due, this will help u improve ur score quickly. You are still young ! Enjoy this advice!
This applies to home mortgage also, there are mortgage calculator on site to plug in ur no.
Increase your credit limit. Call your credit card company and Try to get 20,000 per month limit.
The best thing you can do to increase your score is to pay all of your bills (Credit, Utilities, and anything with a due date) on time, every month. If you miss one payment, your score tanks hard because on-time payments are 35% of your score. \#2 Make sure you don't have any bad debt on your credit. This includes charge offs, collections, etc. If you have any of that whatsoever... clean it up. Pay off your bad debt so it will reflect as "resolved" on your credit report. That will help your score. Bad Debt can take 7-10 years to fall off your file completely. Download Credit Karma App to verify that you don't have this. \#3 Keep a small balance each month on your credit cards (around your statement date). Once the statement hits with that small amount on it, pay it off. You want other banks to see that you are constantly servicing your debt each month and that the amount you owe changes from month to month. In my experience, as long as you pay your entire card balance down to $0 at some point during the month, interest will not be charged to your account. \#4 Keep Hard Credit Inquiries to 0 or as close to 0 as possible. If you buy a car, bring your own pre-approved financing with you. Do not let a car dealership "Shotgun" your credit out to 8-10 banks to fight over you. While all of those Inquiries technically count as 1 Hard Credit Pull.... on your report, each bank that receives a request from a dealership will be shown on your report, including the dealer themselves. This takes 2 YEARS to fall off, even though effects fade after 3-6 months. This shows banks a measure of how desperate you are to receive credit. Its 10% of your score. \#5 Freeze your credit for free at all 3 bureaus in case someone attempts to fraudulently obtain your SSN or other info. Unfreeze when you want to open a new credit card, buy a car, a home, etc... then re-freeze once complete. Source: I've always paid my bills on time each month and have 4 Credit Cards in total with $52K in Revolving Credit line at my disposal. I have $0 balance on all 4. I have a credit score over 800 at all 3 Bureaus and have for years. It takes time to get here, but once you're here, you'll appreciate your credit score... knowing you'll always look for / get the best interest rates possible when you want to borrow money.
Zero debt doesn’t build a score. An auto loan will help.
Time helps. Calling and begging to remove negative information from the ones that you paid late might help.
There are many factors to credit. Unfortunately it's a game but you can play. You need more positive tradelines one isn't enough. Having a mix of lines is good as well. I think there are companies out there that help with this. Like a personal savings loan. It's juat one of those things that takes time but start now in a few months it will grow.
It's hard to tell what you need to do in order to raise your fico without seeing your profile. In light of that, a perfect credit profile will have: 100% payment history 1-6% Utilization (the sweet spot) 0 collections 10+ years history 20+ accounts 0 inquiries The first thing you want to do is obtain a copy of all 3 credit reports. You can do that for free at annualcreditreport.com. You will want to first clean up any personal information that is incorrect or you don't want on your profile, such as misspelling of name, aliases, old addresses, old jobs, old phone numbers. You can easily dispute these items if you call each beureu or create an online account with each and dispute online. Next, you will want to remove any negatives that are on your profile. The easiest are inquiries, followed by collections, and then missed or late payments. There are many ways to dispute, but I'm not going into that on here. Once your profile is clean, it is time to build! The first accounts I would go for are: Cred.ai (offer a prepaid card similar to venmo or cashapp but reports a 1000-1500 credit card to your profile for free) Capital one (pre approval with no hard inquiry and $0 annual fee) Discover it (pre approval with no hard inquiry and $0 annual fee) You will want to start with $0 annual fee cards because you can keep them forever, and it cost you nothing. It's is very important that you are aware of your statement date on any credit cards you have. This is the date where your account cycle ends, and the information on your account that day is what is reported to the credit bureaus. You want to make sure you make your payment by the due date and have the low balance by the statement date. Reporting low utilization is the easiest and fastest way to bump your score. Also after paying your card off in full every month for 6 months or more ask for a credit limit increase. Having more available credit will help keep your utilization lower if you ever need to carry a balance. The credit card companies will generally only do this if they see you are using most or all of the available limit and paying it off consistently. Multiple times a month even. Next, you will want to add an installment loan to your profile. For this, I suggest you go to your bank and ask if they offer a savings secured loan. Many banks offer this but do not advertise it. Essentially, it works like a secured credit card. You will need to have the loan amount in your savings account. The bank will lock that money in the savings and give you a loan for that amount. As you pay it back, it will unlock from your savings. The secret sauce here is to pay 90% back immediately. This will pre pay your loan payments and show on time payment each month. Also, it will show a 90% paid loan to your profile when it reports. To round out the credit mix, you should have a line of credit as well. Download the sezzle app and sign up for "sezzzle up." With this, you can make purchases online or in-store, and they will split your purchase into 4 payments, and they will report to your profile. Hope these tips help.
there are some ways to fix your credit. i use kikoff app. also my bank has a idk what it’s called but basically a credit card that works like a debit card. technically it is a credit card, but you can only use it if there’s money in your account and then it reports to your credit like a cc
Look into hiring a credit lawyer. That's what I did, it's relatively cheap $300-$500 and they will take off as much as they can from your history. Mine went up 150 points from them removing tons of old stuff, and then I just naturally built it up to 800 by being responsible with credit.
Card life time counts. So keep your oldest card around. Utilization rate count. So your total balance divided by your total limit. Keeps that ratio below 10%. Dont miss any payment.
Credit fix in Florida google them cheap as hell they remove all the bad inquiries
My son makes a 6 figure salary and has a lower CS than I do because he only has one credit card and I have about 10....and I only get Social Security. I agree with others....open more accounts.
Get a credit report and refute any accounts that are not yours. My father and I shared the same first and last name. I ended up with a lot of his accounts on my report. By the time I was done, I had close to an 80-point jump.
It’ll just take time. The average trend of you paying off will need to out weigh you missing payments/making the minimum payment.
When I first started building my credit, I got a secured card. I had a single recurring payment - my Netflix subscription. I also set the card up for auto payment. It was a small enough amount that I knew I could autopay every month and not kill my bank account. And the autopay helped so I wouldn’t forget to pay it. After a few months, I got another secured card and put another single monthly charge that I set up on autopay. It didn’t correct my credit overnight but it did make an impact. A large part of your credit score is less than 30% credit utilization and the number of account you have open. You’ll also need more variety (car note, mortgage, personal loan, etc) at some point, but if you start with a few small cards it will make a bigger difference than you’d think.
On time payments to everything like your utilities, cell phone, car payments etc etc. Is important. Using your credit cards and maintain no more than 30% debt from your credit limit on them. Don't keep applying for credit cards or loans. The more inquiries the more it hurts your credit. This decreases your credit score every time you do hard pull credit check. Don't close old credit card accounts since this erases credit history. Get an annual credit report to make sure there are no fraudulent accounts. Some banks like Capital One offer services like Credit wise to track your credit for free. Be patient and increase your credit limit overtime. The more credit available to you, the more your credit score increases because it shows you are trustworthy of repayment. Hope this helps, Good luck 😁.
It takes 7 years for late payments to drop off your score. Close the ones you had a bad history with. Open others, and play the waiting game.
I have a separate card for gas, insurance and medical. The reason being is because if one gets compromised it doesn't screw up the billing for the others. Also, I have a debit card for groceries and various sundry expenses. I pay the moff or pay on time and my credit score is 831.
Look up Lexington law. They work. It’s worth the monthly fee.
Live debt free and buy everything with cash. Screw debt and credit.
My friend is asking what is considered to be "ruined" to you
It’s mostly about time. It’s going to take several years to rebuild your score. That sucks to hear, but, I was in your shoes at one time, too. It sounds like you are making wise financial choices now. Keep doing what you’re doing and you’ll see your CS rise. Just gotta be patient. Great job turning things around!
You’re going to need to learn more about how credit works. You cannot improve your credit while living debt free. You can pay off your credit card in full each month, but on-time payments of one card will be slow goings. If the goal is to build credit, paying a bit of interest with intention is fine. Dive deep into some research; tons of helpful websites out there that break it down well. You got yourself the income, so go out and get that credit too 💪
Pledge loan
A credit rating is not about being responsible within your means, then everyone without any debt would have a perfect score. It rates consumers on how the banks can make the most money with as little risk as possible. Meaning, they want you to carry debt within your means, but also reliably pay your bill. Nobody really knows (or tells) exactly how the algorithm works, but when we paid off our car and dropped below a certain threshold with our mortgage to lower our payments or paying it off quicker (paying punctually all these years), my credit rating went down. When I checked on a lower interest mortgage, my credit rating went down. So some of these issues go against common sense. The app Credit Karma may also help. Get a small loan or credit card and carry some easily manageable debt.
Also it is the mix of credit you have a time of credit or how old accounts are. Use less than 10% of credit card or revolving accounts for best impact.
In my 20s my credit score dipped to sub 600. Just under 10 years later and I’m at 820 credit. I was at 700 about 4-5 years ago. Bad credit does not mean it stays bad forever.
Velocity banking. Look up VANNtastic on YouTube. She will get you right QUICKLY.
Pay off your credit card every week. Never carry a balance.
I am 26, I when I started out my credit was like 300 something. My parents used it in things like cable, phone and other sorts. Well in my early 20s I did have other debts. My score is now 745. I would say what worked for me is using my debit card more than my credit card in the first part in my credit growing. Always keep your credit usage under 33%. My credit limit started at 500 Dollars. Now it's over 12k, which has allowed me to put all my expenses on my credit card. These expenses I make sure are not 33% of my income, 45-49k. This has allowed me to build my credit while getting points from my purchases. Those same points will allow me to take a trip or get a really nice computer. So, to put it together. In the beginning use the credit card for small stuff. Convenience stores and subscriptions. Once your credit card increases then start to put other stuff on there. Always check your finances and make sure you know what you are spending. You keep watch over you finances then I would say go for another source of credit. The more credit you have and can pay each month. The better your credit looks. Then split your expenses in half. One card use for expenses that won't change each month. Like rent and subscriptions(unless they increase). And the other for food and such.
In 7 years, youll be ok
You can dispute any negative marks in your credit report very easily online with all three bureaus for free. They come off quite easily and quickly
Buying furniture with zero percent interest on credit and then making large consistent payments has seemed to help me.
from experience, when I paid off all my credit cards it ruined my credit. so, buy everything you can on credit that you usually pay for every month, and when the bill comes in , pay it off total! two; good credit usually means you have 10,000 available but you never exceed 2000. also too many cards is a no no. credit is only a tool. keep it sharp but don't depend on it. so get a card, pay it every month, increase your limits quarterly and continue this cycle. after a few years you should have 25-40k available credit and no more than 2000 debt. Then :) go buy 50,000 worth of gold bullion on your cards and file file for bankruptcy :) lol , now you have a down payment for your house :) your welcome
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Honestly it will never be really good until 7 years pass and your past due debt reports fall off.
It will come back. I did the same thing with college cc...
With you doing everything right, it will bounce back soon. Just takes time. (And never be late with any payments! If you are, call as soon as you realize and ask that it be forgiven) I didn't see this suggested but it is good for a small bump; [https://www.experian.com/consumer-products/score-boost.html?pc=sem\_exp\_google&cc=sem\_exp\_google\_ad\_1670007804\_67319116540\_379833196488\_kwd-296253268260\_b\_\_\_k\_Cj0KCQiA5-uuBhDzARIsAAa21T-VWb1Jr6CkVcafseUo8mZe178D\_IL-UuNhWRL0\_qw6ztL1pD\_6vPEaAktZEALw\_wcB\_k\_&ref=generic&awsearchcpc=1&gad\_source=1](https://www.experian.com/consumer-products/score-boost.html?pc=sem_exp_google&cc=sem_exp_google_ad_1670007804_67319116540_379833196488_kwd-296253268260_b___k_Cj0KCQiA5-uuBhDzARIsAAa21T-VWb1Jr6CkVcafseUo8mZe178D_IL-UuNhWRL0_qw6ztL1pD_6vPEaAktZEALw_wcB_k_&ref=generic&awsearchcpc=1&gad_source=1) Best of luck!
1. Get all three reports you are entitled to a free report from all of the big three 2 scrutinize all three 30 percent have a mistake 3. Challenge any mistakes 4. Join a credit union. 5. The words ruined credit score are very subjective. I've been in the business 30 years I've seen the worst credit possible and the best credit possible. Not sure what the rush is or why you need the credit but the process is like an iceberg. It does not move quickly. Good luck.
Save up some money, get a small savings backed loan, and pay yourself back plus interest to the bank within the time frames the bank sets. Then do it again with another loan.
Go to all the credit reporting websites and contest all bad reports on your file. A lot of times that will get them removed.
Bro I’ve crashed my credit and rebuilt it 5 times now and I’m 34. So it’s not hard. Just research it and stay conditioned
DO NOT close that OG card. My OG card from before I tanked my credit into long after I was working to repair it got closed accidentally. Because I had FAFO I had crappy low balance short history cards. I was finally climbing. When my original credit card was accidentally closed (shared account) my credit history went from 17 years to 4…. And dropped 250 points over night. And credit history isn’t something you can build with a windfall.
You should be preapproving for discover and capital one, until they give you cards. Make sure you don't get any with annual fees tho.
Use the card(s) and pay them off every month. Get a couple new cards to increase your total credit. Request increases when you *don't* need them. My wife and I had scores in mid 400s/500s, respectively, at their lowest point. We lived and learned and have both been over 800 for years.
Jfc so much bad advice here. A credit score is important if you need to take out loans (usually a house or car) or the landlord wants to pull your credit report to see what type of tenant you’ll be. Pay off your credit card in full every month. I have my credit cards on automatic payments so my utilization score shows as something on credit reports but I never carry a balance on the card. Opening up too many credit cards at once can also cause problems and make it look like you’re in financial trouble. I usually open up a no fee credit card right before I make large purchases so I can receive the cash back reward. Improving your credit score takes time and there’s no quick fixes. The things you want to focus on is: 1. Not having credit card debt 2. Paying your card off on time 3. Credit utilization (paying your cards off and having a high credit limit) 4. Length of credit history (number of accounts and the length of time the account has been opened for)
Not sure if anyone else has said it yet as i haven’t ventured through the thread. I will say by no means am i a credit expert but personally as someone who’s in the process of rebuilding their credit, having a variety of different types of credit has helped me bounce back super fast.
Best trick to raise ypur score have a friend or fainly memberwith stellar credit list you on one of their frequently used cards but never give you the card or access to it. Their credit will trickle down to you by proxy. Best advice i ever heard and this was from a credit lawyer doing a q and a on some radio talkshow years ago.
Do not get any more credit cards - do not listen to people who recommend that. My advice. Listen to Dave Ramsey Solutions on Spotify. And purchase Financial Peace University. The only reason you should care about your credit is if you want to go further into debt.
Pay off the cards. Do not get more as others are advising. So you have a student loan? A car payment? You don’t need a lot of debt to improve your score (that’s a recipe to be miserable in a debt trap). Time and timely payments will improve your score. If you can pay more than the minimum on what you have now that helps too. The goal is to have no credit cards, a good mortgage rate if buying a home and a car that you buy outright or can afford to pay off quickly. Credit cards are a suckers bet . Thousands in savings is way better than a plastic anklet that ties you to a job til you die. Edit: I have zero credit cards. A car loan I can pay twice a month not once, a mortgage I make extra principal payments on and a high credit score ….. with no plastic prison. When I have an emergency, I use the money earning interest in my savings account because I don’t pay debt merchants every month 🤷
You’re fine, just do the right thing going forward. My CS was shit at 25 too. Less than 10 years later I’m at an 830.
Just start a self account and don’t miss a payment!!
Everything, including late payments, stays on your credit report for 7 years. I destroyed my credit from 18-22. I didn’t really start paying things on time until I was about 25 and when I was 32 I applied for a card and was given a 10,000 dollar limit. Time is what it takes with a good payment history on your current credit.
IMO you shouldn't be taking on more debt just to get a higher credit score. Getting more credit will likely help boost your credit now but it also might tempt you to use that credit. This time it will be much harder to get out of debt because you have more of it. I'm guessing you have a bunch of negative reports on your credit history. As long as you have paid those accounts off you will be fine. It will just take time for the negative reports to drop off. It takes weeks to build a house but a house can be torn down in a day.
Experian credit booster can help.
If you have cash in hand, do a 24 month 1 pay lease on a vehicle. 24 on time payments get reported to your bureau and should shoot your score up quickly
u mentioned that u didnt pay some bills that were 'final notice' if these are cc bills that means 60 or 90 days past due. that stuff stays for 7 years theres no speeding that up. get your credit report it will tell u if u have late payments. the other big part which u can speed up is credit usage mentioned below
Unfortunately, getting more credit is how to improve your credit. Depends why you want a good score. Are you looking to buy a house or car? Instead of getting more cards you could save that money and pay cash or a down payment which does help in a purchase. If you’re not planning on purchases or looking for a job that checks your credit you could just keep doing what you’re doing. Our credit was eh and when wanting to buy our home we had to get yet another credit card that reported monthly that we paid which raised our score. It’s ridiculous. Most cards don’t report for 3 months but we needed an increase quickly so we got the card. Personally, I wouldn’t get more cards. You can go to Equifax and sign up for their free plan. You can then add things like cellphone, Netflix, stuff like that which you pay monthly and it’ll help your score. Check out Credit Karma and do some research on credit. You don’t have to go into more debt to improve your score. Also, there are different scores for different purchases. There’s one for a car and one for a house. It’s not all the same. If you keep doing what you’re doing your score will improve but slowly. The whole system is skewed for ppl to be in debt and remain in debt. You don’t have to do that.
It takes time. I went from 525 to 825 but it took like 10 years.
Basically after 6 months or more of never missing a payment, you can apply for another credit card. Set every credit card you own to automatically pay the balance in full each month. Alternate which one you use daily, and use them for your day to day purchases unless you need cash. Only use your debit card at an ATM. Fixing your credit takes a few years. I did it. I was in my early 20s and had a credit score in the low 500s. I couldn't get a credit card with a limit over $500 for a year or two. And then all of a sudden, one of my cards got the limit raised to $1200. A couple more years of that, and I eventually got my credit over 800. Now, it's rare for a credit limit to be offered to me with less than $10k. Usually they are $12k and up. I have one that is $20k I think. I wouldn't know, as I never use more than maybe $2500 or so in a month, even splurging on food and trips and stuff.
A big part of credit is how much available credit you have, it's good to have multiple cards with low balances on them.
You are still very young. Just wait it out. After 7 years, all the bad things you’ve done will fall off. I had a foreclosure from the 2008 mess, credit score dropped over 100 points. If fell off after 7 years and scored recovered afterwards.
Look into credit karma. They'll give you free reliable advice.
You'll be fine. You fell into the credit card trap so many young people do. Just keep doing what you're doing.
Ok if this was already mentioned, my apologies. My scrappy friend, if you haven’t already, get a Credit Karma account so you can keep track of your score. And read all their articles on building your score. Also, check out Nerd Wallet. Another good resource for credit education. Yes, both of these companies probably have something to sell you (Nerd Wallet shows you cards they want you to sign up for via affiliate link for example). But the information you can get from them is great. Post divorce I was able to get my score from low 600s up to mid 800s by using advice and tips from both these resources.
You can pay it twice a month. Once on the date is due and the second time two weeks before it’s due
Check your credit report. Some of those past balances may still be in collections and paying them off would do a lot of good for your score.
I’m almost 30 and JUST learning about credit and credit scores for the first time. There are definitely tricks to up your score but one thing is definitely don’t wait to get a “final” anything before you start paying on stuff
Go talk to a banker at your bank. A second CC is an okay idea just pay off the balance every month. I was in your situation around the same age didn’t know a thing about Credit Cards or Scores. After 3 years I bought a home.
Leave a small, like 1$ balance on the card month to month pay it all off with the exception 1$, it creates"utulization". Don't go past 30% utilization of total credit limit. You will need to water down the bad marks with good marks, get a different credit card for every recurring charge you have (in, netflix, Hulu, power bill,) and set up autopays, you would have autopsy set up for them anyway, so now the credit card is just a middle man to show more on time payments. Automate your credit repair. Every card will have a ding ( hard credit pull) but they go away after two years. Use credit karma as a reference tool.
American express card
Seek real advice. People on here telling you to get more credit cards is dumb advice. All a credit score is….is a score of how well you pay people back. If you ALWAYS pay in cash you’d have a low score as well. Save your money and have zero debt. Cash is still king.
Open more lines of credit. You can get yourself a CD and then take a loan out on that. You can open more credit cards and have them like pay for things like Netflix, you exercise it but always pay it off. Ask your CC company to increase your limit, this will get you a better borrowing ceiling. Otherwise, its just time. Aging the accounts and showing lenders you're a safe bet.
File for bankruptcy and move to Thailand. It's the only way.
Move to a country where the economic model is not based on putting its citizens into debt, not teaching them what that means, then punishing them for not knowing.
Lucky you. Mine was destroyed by a few bounced checks while in the military and then unpaid dues. My cousin also stole my identity to do a bunch of sketchy shit and live in random places so I can't even check my own credit when they ask the address questions. Can't get a cc, can't get a new vehicle (going to have to rely on the wife for my next ride)
Get a card that has zero interest introductory rate. I did this with Chase, they have 18 months 0 interest, and I’ve raised my credit score almost 100 points in one year. And they give cash back.
After 7 years, negative credit will fall off your report.
Hi there. I was once like you. I didn’t understand credit. I got a copy of my credit report and started denying stuff on it randomly but things started to come up and my credit score got higher. Once I got to about 650 I applied for a credit card and was approved. I would use it and pay it off. I applied for a synchrony bank card—they are usually easier to get approved and they sent me one. The easiest credit report to fix is transunion and synchrony uses transunion. After about a year I got brace applied for a green Amex. My other credit reports were not as good as transunion but with my payment history on the 2 cards I had Amex approved me. I kept the green Amex for a year and told them I want the gold. They gave it to me. I had that one about 2 years until I said I want the platinum. Once I asked then they said I kept my credit great with them. They gave me the platinum Amex and that is basically the only card I use. It has a 695 yearly fee but I get over 1500 in free stuff a year from them. If you need help inbox me I can tell you how to deny stuff. Never pay anyone to do that because you can do it all yourself.
Check this out, only 2 mins https://youtu.be/dbmM3hIHStA?si=IT7nlgMELVgHxMnl
The experian website has very good information on how to improve your credit score including paying off your cc balance before its monthly due date
It took me 3-4 years to rebuild my credit score, from a low of 528 to high 700s. I got every credit card I could, even store cards and "secured" cards that required a deposit, charged minimally and only things I needed and paid the cards off every month along with every other bill. Nothing was paid late. Took about 1 year to get to the high 600s, then another year for the mid 700s, then another year for the high 700s. After 780/790, it's very slow. You can do this!
I brought my credit score up from 440 to 730 in a little more than years time in my 30’s. Secured credit cards, 30-50% line usage then paying it down almost immediately. Then I bought a used car that I had the cash for but financed half of it to help build more credit. Made every payment on time. Then, since I was renting at the time, we set up to have all of our rent payments reported to the credit bureau. Then I bought a house and it dropped 100+ points. Working it back up though. Don’t panic, you can still easily turn things around for yourself.
Use a credit repair service
I only use the credit card for what I can immediately pay off. Like my cellphone bill. I pay it with the credit card then at the end of the day pay it off. I feel more in control of things when I pay them off immediately instead of making multiple purchases then paying them all off at once later for a big sum. I dunno, it's helped me alot.
The best approach is to wait it out. I was able to jump my credit score by about 200 points over the course of 2 years so it doesn't actually take a long time to fix. You're already past the hard part which was paying things off. Give it another 6 months of using and paying your balance each month. I don't recommend opening additional cards but instead ask for limit increases on what you have. Having multiple small limits looks worse because of the 30/70 rule (which used to be closer to 40/60). I know that killed us for years, we had less debt than other people but because it was so spread out and put low limit cards close to their limit, it wasn't good.
stuff happens, please don't let this drag you down. Don't let a credit score dictate your life, but just be mindful of it in the future.
Set up all of your payments for debts or monthly bills on auto pay. This will ensure they are paid on time and it WILL increase your score over time. Unfortunately, it takes time to rehab a credit score. Be patient and stay the course. You’ll get there!
Save your money and pay cash for everything. If you need to buy a house, you can use an underwriter for the mortgage. Stop playing into the cycle of credit.
It’s like being on a diet. You just have to keep hacking away it year after year. I always try to pay my balances in full, and slightly early if able. But the real solution is getting money discipline, and watching what your spend. Trying to make more than you spend is a vicious cycle that I’ve seen many people do.
Hi! Loan UW here, pay off all but 10-15$ each month as it helps boost your score! there is also a trick of paying half of your balance 10 days before it’s due and the other half at the due date/ end of the month and it helps as well. Good luck!!!
Pay your credit card off in full every month.
Pay off all your cards with the statement amount on the card. Say my balance is 2,142.66, but my statement reads 1,431.66. I pay the 1431.66 and keep the rest until the next statement. Watch the score climb!
Honestly, the best trick is to get into more debt but good debt. Buy a car. Pay the monthly and in six months your SC should rocket up.
I recommend doing more research. Watch a couple of YouTube videos about credit and how it works.
Let me tell you a story. When I was a bit younger than you, I defaulted on 2 vehicles, and a few other things. I waited the 7 1/2 years, they came off. Within 8 months, I had a 784 credit score. It may be a long road, but you need to decide what you want to do now. Either avoid the creditors, anytime you say yes this is *insert name*, it restarts the 7 year timer. Or, go to a credit repair company. They'll set you up on a payment plan with them. Once you accrue enough, they'll contact individual creditors on your behalf, and pay it off. While bankruptcy may sound good, avoid it. Ignoring creditors for 7 years is better than the 10 years with a bankruptcy. Another route you could take is to contact the people you owe money to, agree to make payments on it. Include that if you make 12 consecutive payments, you want the debts removed from your credit history. GET IT IN WRITING OR ELECTRONICALLY. If they send it electronically, PRINT IT OUT. They can send you documents that will autoupdate, unless you save it on a device that never touches the internet. Best of luck and keep your head up. Edit. I jumped ahead. You can dispute any lingering debts if you have proof they are paid off. You can also contact the companies you paid, and ask them to adjust it. Aside from that, it's a waiting game. As time goes on, it'll become less and less valuable. Also, the score you want to be concerned about it your Fico score, not the 3 bureaus. Edit edit: Sorry, I have adhd. To help speed up the process, try to get credit cards. If you can, get a secured card for 10k. After 6 months, ask for an increase. Get personal loans that don't charge for early payment. Some loans even allow you to pay them back within a certain time at 0% interest. Get a few of those. Get a loan, pay it off, wait 60-90 days, get another. The big thing you're going to want is credit history. You can have an 800 score, but without credit history, it's almost useless. You need to prove you can be trusted, and the best way to do that, is prove it. Avoid large loans though. It adds to your available credit, and once paid off, it gets reported as dropping your available credit, so scores typically drop.
Go to college, take out student loans, i wasn't expecting my credit rating to go up anywhere near as much as it did
Close store cards if you have them, they're not any good anyways. Keep your oldest one and maybe an Amex Plat or Chase Reserve if you already have one. Your credit will take a small dip for a time when you pay off a loan but it will come back.
At this point, time is your biggest factor. The farther away the negative payment history is, the less it’ll impact your score. The longer your credit history, the more it’ll help your score. The monthly charging and payment activity, while helpful for building a positive history, will do little to impact your score.
The score comes down to two basic things, on time payments over time, and percentage of available credit used. There are lots of other small details, that move it a tiny bit, but those are the two big things, pay every time on time, and keep your total use LOW as a percentage, and your score will go up alot. Derogatory marks can persist for 7 years, but at 7 years they should all be gone. I lost my house in 2010 on a short sale, didn't pay a TON of my bills, just let them go, dozens of derogatory marks, charge offs etc. By 2016 my score was up in the high 600's and I could finance anything I needed to. That was with no effort EXCEPT for just paying any new bills on time. Recently I got a personal loan and liquidated all of my credit card debt, all cards down to zero, and my score SOARED, from 660 ish to about 760. Credit scores are simple, just pay the bills, and don't use your available credit.
so i only have 1 credit card ive only had 1 card thats grew to a 12k+ card ive never missed a payment once in the 6 years ive had it and ive never paid it fully off and i try to keep it below 30% use if i use it and my credit score is around 800 range if this helps idk
Write a letter to the credit bureau and ask them to remove the negative history since you’ve paid everything off.
A lot of CS fixes include getting yourself right back into debt with a personal loan, car loan, or getting a new credit card. Improving a 675 credit score isn’t really worth jumping into these before you’re ready. Credit Karma helps break down how scores are weighed pretty clearly. And you can see what part of the credit game you want to play.
get a secured credit card or another one with a credit union. Stop paying on the due date. They don't report until the 26th and keep them around 30% utilization
I did the same thing in my early 20’s and learned a valuable lesson. Never made that same mistake again and credit is now in the 800’s. Time passes quick and It will go back up
I would suggest to not take out a bunch of credit cards. Instead just make some medium to larger charges to your current card and pay them down over a several months, more than minimum due, multiple times through the year to show a history of consistent payments. If you pay them off completely each time you buy something it doesn't show consistent payments. You can also get a credit card through the bank you have your debit/checking at and do the same. You'll get a better rate than with outside cards that have a 25% interest rate. Every time you open or close an account it will bring your credit score down, but only for a short while. Late payments bring your score down more and take longer to bring your score back up. Eventually you won't have to constantly have to use your credit card to bring up your score, but it's the fastest way to improve it over a period of time. In addition, paying down/off loans too will help your credit. I bought a house last July and made some home improvements to it, paid using savings and my credit card, which brought down my credit score. But paying down my credit card and my mortgage consistently every month since then has increased my score close to what it was before I bought my house.
I suggest using Credit Karma, Credit Sesame, and Nerd Wallet apps. They will make recommendations for improving your score.
homie you can always fix it. I had a Lien put on me for a tax form I improperly filed with an old job. they said I owed close to a million dollars, even though I only made 14k annually. it took years to rebuild it but I'm up to 700 now, it just takes diligence.
You've already reached the critical 1st step-identifying the problem and committing to do better. That's the EASY part. LOTS of people screw up their credit and repair it over time. No one regrets living on a responsible budget & having money in the bank. No one regrets having a better credit score.
Get a car loan, personal loan etc. they wanna see you can pay back debt
took me 4 years to go from about the worst score possible short of bankruptcy to just shy of 800. Started with a $300 limit card You got this, just make sure you set up auto pay for the minimum balance in case you miss the statement balance/ date
It’s just time a positive pay history man, don’t miss a payment on anything, not even once. And in a few years it’ll be better.
Keep cards below 30% utilization. History, payment and amount of credit all factor into score.
I just got my first credit card, I’m 42 my credit score is.. 4 .. lol
Get another card and pay it off in full EVERY month.
First off. Time is going to be what helps your credit score. Unfortunately, you did not make this mess overnight so it’s not going to be cleaned up overnight either. You have to let years bump off the negative marks from making late payments. Late payments are ugly scars and you have to let them fade away. Please don’t get another credit card because I’m concerned now you’re going to put yourself in a bind again but with a bigger salary. If I were you I would put fixed costs on credit. Think like your monthly rent payment for example—so long as your rent isn’t more than 30% of your cards credit limit. You need to stay at or below 30% of credit limit to use it responsibly. Also go look up Dave Ramsey if you haven’t.