Brehs/Brehettes with 750+ Credit Scores, step in here

[BrehWyatt]

TL;DR - I'm trying to build my shyt up but don't want to get another credit card to do it. Can I avoid that, or do I have to hold what I believe is an L in the short-term to get a W in the long-term?

Long version: Student loans continue to fukk me up but it appears that due to paying on them, my credit score is fair, in the 690-695 range (it went down as bad as 520 or so at one point but I've managed to rebuild it). Point is, I'm trying to reach that higher peak.

From talking with my brother, he said the best (short-term) way to help your credit score basically boiled down to opening a line of credit somewhere/buying something major with a credit card and paying it off over time (he said the longer the payment process is drawn out, the better). I'm not sure on that as I feel like the quicker you wipe out a debt the better but I'm largely illiterate on the shyt as it is and furthermore I am as fukk when it comes to the idea of getting another credit card (the one I do have was a dental/medical-focused one that I ended up getting because I needed a wisdom tooth extraction with the quickness and my dental insurance didn't kick in prior to the procedure), primarily because of how long it took me to rebuild my score back to what it was and -- keeping it a buck -- I'm not particularly used to having a "comfortable" level of income, although things took a considerable turn for the better in that regard.

But my brother said that I wouldn't be able to make any significant gains on my score unless I made some sort of purchase, for example, like getting a Macbook or something and paying it off over a year. The other prevalent method I heard was to get a card and designate it for certain purchases (gas, groceries) and pay that shyt off ASAP over and over.

Anyway, while I have my own reservations about the advice, when I consider the source -- he manages money/has more of it than most others in my family -- I'm taking it under advisement. What say y'all? How can I reach the range of credit scores without putting myself at significant risk?

Somebody drop some gems/advice in here

 

[aliG]

Dont build credit. Build income/wealth.

 

[JahFocus CS]

Focus on paying off your existing debt. You should also get a rewards card of some kind and charge your recurring expenses on there (gas, food, utilities, etc) and simply pay the balance off on a monthly basis.

The major contributors to a good credit score are consistency in on-time payments, age of your oldest credit line, and your credit utilization rate (the lower, the better).

 

[无名的]

I just bought a new car and they pulled my credit at 831.



Many years ago, my wife didn't have bad credit, but no credit history, so she couldn't get a card. Capital One had a card geared towards people with no credit or needs to build credit back up. Find something like that with a $500 limit, so you're not tempted to max out something you can't afford. Always pay it on time and in full.

 

[luvaznpoon]

Focus on paying off your existing debt. You should also get a rewards card of some kind and charge your recurring expenses on there (gas, food, utilities, etc) and simply pay the balance off on a monthly basis.

The major contributors to a good credit score are consistency in on-time payments, age of your oldest credit line, and your credit utilization rate (the lower, the better).

Will any rewards card do? I was thinking of applying for one with Amazon actually

 

[BrehWyatt]

Will any rewards card do? I was thinking of applying for one with Amazon actually

A good friend of mine swears by this Discover It card.

 

[mannyrs13]

I agree with opening a line of credit but keep the balance low. The thing with credit scores is that 35% is payment history. Gotta stay consistent no matter what. Opening a new card may help with your credit utilization. Do you have any credit cards? But you gotta be smart about it and live within your means. I got cards with thousand dollar plus limits that I charge barely thirty bucks. Can't fall into that trap. Where did you check your credit score? Try creditkarma.com if you haven't. I would also highly recommend you download the Mint app. You'll need it. I had my credit score in the low 500s like you and what's helped me out was my car. Variety of credit also helps. Like audio and home. Maybe even student debt but I'm not sure on that. Not telling you to go buy a car or house. But the majority of your score is payments on time and percentage used. Try to not close any credit cards.

 

[BrehWyatt]

I agree with opening a line of credit but keep the balance low. The thing with credit scores is that 35% is payment history. Gotta stay consistent no matter what. Opening a new card may help with your credit utilization. Do you have any credit cards? But you gotta be smart about it and live within your means. I got cards with thousand dollar plus limits that I charge barely thirty bucks. Can't fall into that trap. Where did you check your credit score? Try creditkarma.com if you haven't. I would also highly recommend you download the Mint app. You'll need it. I had my credit score in the low 500s like you and what's helped me out was my car. Variety of credit also helps. Like audio and home. Maybe even student debt but I'm not sure on that. Not telling you to go buy a car or house. But the majority of your score is payments on time and percentage used. Try to not close any credit cards.

No credit cards outside of that medical one I mentioned earlier. Have only used it once.

Using Credit Karma to monitor my scores, but it says my shyt is in the 690s while Discover says my FICO score is in the 670s. I keep hearing about that Mint app, though. What's it about?

 

[mannyrs13]

No credit cards outside of that medical one I mentioned earlier. Have only used it ones.

Using Credit Karma to monitor my scores, but it says my shyt is in the 690s while Discover says my FICO score is in the 670s. I keep hearing about that Mint app, though. What's it about?

Mint is basically a hub for all your financial accounts. It tells you your balances, due dates on credit cards, plus spending and budgeting habits for the month. You can put credit cards, bank accounts, everything. I even got my 401k on there from work and my separate roth ira. You just sign in thru the app and it saves your account. It even has a credit score thing too. The budget thing let's you set budgets on certain categories like fast food, restaurants, coffee shops, gas. That way you limit yourself on unnecessary spending. It's like a money tracker for all your accounts. Good way to see where your money is going.

Yeah I think there's gonna be different scores based on which bureaus calculate it. Not sure how that works. You likely won't get a high limit card but the trick is to keep the balance under 30%. And pay it off if they charge interest.

 

[Rawtid]

Is there something you're trying to borrow money for, if not your credit score doesn't matter. Focus on saving, invest and paying down debt you already have.

 

[winb83]

From talking with my brother, he said the best (short-term) way to help your credit score basically boiled down to opening a line of credit somewhere/buying something major with a credit card and paying it off over time (he said the longer the payment process is drawn out, the better).

No. This helps you pay interest not build credit.

If you want to build credit have no late payments or stuff in collections and if you've had that stuff in the past distance yourself from it by not having any more or either for a very long time.

Have multiple types of debt, credit cards and installment loans (which student loans are) and pay them on time over a long period of time.

Keep your utilization low meaning the amount of credit you have vs the amount you're using. I try to keep mine closer to 5% of my total limits being used at any given time.

Keep old credit cards active by using them at least once a year. Never let the oldest cards you have be closed.

Keep inquiries as low as possible meaning don't continually apply for new credit.

I had a 500ish credit score 5 years ago and I've built it to 800 doing those things and that's it. It's been in the 800 range at least the last 2 years. I probably have about 13 different credit cards. My credit score has dropped dramatically in the past several months because I opened 2 new credit cards and I had a 3 year long installment loan I paid off in late December so all my active credit is only credit cards. I took almost a 50 point hit on my credit score because of that activity. It doesn't really matter because at one point I had a max fico score so losing 50 points is still about 800.

 

[winb83]

No credit cards outside of that medical one I mentioned earlier. Have only used it once.

Using Credit Karma to monitor my scores, but it says my shyt is in the 690s while Discover says my FICO score is in the 670s. I keep hearing about that Mint app, though. What's it about?

Credit Karma uses the Vantage score. That's not a real credit score it's just an indicator of where your credit is. Many lenders use fico 8 which Discover is telling you. Discover uses Transunion. Amex uses Experian.

Also if you have a Citi card they give you Equifax but it's a fico bankcard 8 score which isn't a regular fico score and goes to 900 rather than 850.

 

[Mr210]

No. This helps you pay interest not build credit.

If you want to build credit have no late payments or stuff in collections and if you've had that stuff in the past distance yourself from it by not having any more or either for a very long time.

Have multiple types of debt, credit cards and installment loans (which student loans are) and pay them on time over a long period of time.

Keep your utilization low meaning the amount of credit you have vs the amount you're using. I try to keep mine closer to 5% of my total limits being used at any given time.

Keep old credit cards active by using them at least once a year. Never let the oldest cards you have be closed.

Keep inquiries as low as possible meaning don't continually apply for new credit.

I had a 500ish credit score 5 years ago and I've built it to 800 doing those things and that's it. It's been in the 800 range at least the last 2 years. I probably have about 13 different credit cards. My credit score has dropped dramatically in the past several months because I opened 2 new credit cards and I had a 3 year long installment loan I paid off in late December so all my active credit is only credit cards. I took almost a 50 point hit on my credit score because of that activity. It doesn't really matter because at one point I had a max fico score so losing 50 points is still about 800.

I couldn't have said it any better. My credit scores range from 785-800.

Graduated college without loans, now I have 3 credit cards which are 12-13 yrs old. Never had 1 single late payment. On my first car not never paid late. As of October I have a new car not, was able to get an interest of 3.0 percent

 

[ViShawn]

I've been trying to get my credit score above 760. Briefly it was at 770. Could I attribute this to the age of my credit history?

 

[BlackStarLine]

I have a 750 plus credit score. Im in debt too from my graduate degree. I try not to make big purchases like buy a car until I actually get some money to make a good down payment. Same with buying a house.

I think what improved my credit score was paying off a credit card in less than 12 months. No late payments. Paying well over the monthly minimum each month.