Improving Your Credit Score

[duckmanep]

Pay cash and you don't have to worry about your credit score...blah, blah, blah

You know that guy is coming!

No credit is just as bad as bad credit when the time comes you need to borrow some money, they going to stick it to ya with the interest rate.

[Traildust]

No credit is just as bad as bad credit when the time comes you need to borrow some money, they going to stick it to ya with the interest rate.

If you have to borrow money....you cant afford it! ~ that guy

[jer_james]

My problem is the no credit thing. With a Dad who owned a car lot, I didnt get my first car note until I was 32. My first house was bought through my Dad, and our house now is in my Better Half's name.

Luckily I dont need credit, but my score has always been abnormally low, due to lack of use of credit. The highest limit on a cc that I have is $1k.

[Throwin Darts]

There is absolutely no reason to carry a balance on a credit card for credit score purposes. It's crazy that someone would pay interest on a balance in an attempt to possibly save interest on something else. That seems counter intuitive.

There is also no reason that you need to wait until your statement to pay your credit card off. I pay mine off every other Friday. Doing so keeps your balance/availability low.

[tigerscowboy]

Key areas to focus on (order of importance but not all inclusive):
*Payment history (no late payments)
*Age of credit (longer the better )
*Amount of available credit being utilized (approved for more and use less)
*Negative Remarks. Any? Ever?
*Number of inquiries. Keep activity low on businesses searching history. Example: When you move and connect utilities and services, assume they are all checking your credit.
*Available credit.

[tigerscowboy]

My problem is the no credit thing. With a Dad who owned a car lot, I didnt get my first car note until I was 32. My first house was bought through my Dad, and our house now is in my Better Half's name.

Luckily I dont need credit, but my score has always been abnormally low, due to lack of use of credit. The highest limit on a cc that I have is $1k.

^^^^^
Great example. In this case, the credit score would be low because there is virtually no history. He simple does not use credit which means a low credit score.

A score can be low for a number of reasons.

One way to immediately raise this credit score would be to request a higher limit on the CC and build on the credit history (time).

[bbqfan5909]

I just do not understand getting a CC for the points reason. Aren't most CC'ed capped on points and will this offset the interest charged?

Now, I do carry an Amex that my company pays each month. I do this purely on its easier to itemize a statement. But for personal use, we do not have a CC as we live with our means "if you cant pay cash, you cant afford it".

For those claiming needing debit for credit, go to the bank and show them your assets, you will get a lone just fine.

Maybe my expreience will help someone else. I had always had a good credit score. We pay any credit cards off every month. In 2016 we started building a house. So where it made sense I used a cash back credit card to pay suppliers. Some months the card would have 10 to 15K on it at the end of the billing cycle. We paid this off every month. After several months I notched my credit score had declined considerably. One would think that showing the financial ability to pay off this level of charges would have either a neutral or positive effect on credit score. What I found was my creit score was declining. What I found was using a larger percentage of the available credit was causing the decline in credit score. So what I started doing was to go in online a few days before the closing date on the account and pay off all but a few hundred dollars so when the statement came out it appeared that I was using a smaller percentage of the overall credit. In a few months the credit score was back to about where I started.

[duckmanep]

If you have to borrow money....you cant afford it! ~ that guy

few people can pay cash for their home.

[Flex]

Not to sidetrack, but if anybody on here could send me a pm I am also trying to raise mine.

When we had kids we took on some debt, etc. I have paid off everything we had financed now. And only have a Cabelas CC that I pay off when I use, and a car note for 2 more years.

When we looked at refinancing our house about a year ago my score was back to 700.
I looked into possibly upgrading trucks a few months ago, and my score is now a 620.

If anybody on TBH is an expert on these things I would appreciate some help. Don't know how I feel about these online credit repair things.

[WItoTX]

For those claiming needing debit for credit, go to the bank and show them your assets, you will get a lone just fine.

LOL, you confuse the fact that lots of people buy way more than they can afford because "the monthly payment is only_____" and they don't generally have any assets that hold value.

Also, the bank is going to get you a loan, no doubt, but they are going to price their risk into that interest payment. Then if/when a person defaults, take the house and get their money back. They really can't lose so long as homes aren't overvalued.

[Tbar]

Life Lock

[sahunter]

tagged

[scott1022]

few people can pay cash for their home.

I think that you are missing the sarcasm

[bbqfan5909]

Aint this the truth.

Make sure you have a homestead on your residence, protect that home!

LOL, you confuse the fact that lots of people buy way more than they can afford because "the monthly payment is only_____" and they don't generally have any assets that hold value.

Also, the bank is going to get you a loan, no doubt, but they are going to price their risk into that interest payment. Then if/when a person defaults, take the house and get their money back. They really can't lose so long as homes aren't overvalued.

[Throwin Darts]

I just do not understand getting a CC for the points reason. Aren't most CC'ed capped on points and will this offset the interest charged?

No one says you have to pay interest to have a credit card. I've never paid a dime in interest. I have a Southwest card that I use and I've flown 51 times in a row without paying.

Now, I do carry an Amex that my company pays each month. I do this purely on its easier to itemize a statement. But for personal use, we do not have a CC as we live with our means "if you cant pay cash, you cant afford it".

You can pay your credit card off daily, weekly, bi weekly, monthly, whatever, making it operate the same as cash while also offering you greater consumer protections than debit.

For those claiming needing debit for credit, go to the bank and show them your assets, you will get a lone just fine.

You can have great credit while being smart about debt. If you can find a bank to make you a "lone" without credit history I guaranty you that you'll end up with lower loan proceeds at a higher rate than the next guy that walks in with established credit history.