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(NBC Washington)   Three simple steps you can take to improve your credit score this year. 1) Get more money. 2) No, more money than that. 3) Seriously, you're gonna need a lot more money   (nbcwashington.com) divider line
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    More: Obvious, Credit score, credit score, Credit history, Credit card, higher tier of rewards credit cards, Fair Credit Reporting Act, Credit, worse credit  
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620 clicks; posted to Business » and Main » on 18 Jan 2022 at 1:36 PM (17 weeks ago)   |   Favorite    |   share:  Share on Twitter share via Email Share on Facebook



31 Comments     (+0 »)
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Sin_City_Superhero [TotalFark]
2022-01-18 11:44:17 AM  
I used to pay cash for everything.  No mortgage, no car payment, no credit cards, no loans...nothing.  I had no credit score.  I'm not saying that I had a low score...I had no score at all.  I got an unsecured VISA from my bank and started paying for everything with that.  Then I'd just do an online transfer to keep the balance at $0.  After 3 months my credit score was over 700.
 
SurfaceTension [TotalFark] [OhFark]
2022-01-18 11:56:29 AM  
While one missed payment can quickly tank your score, it takes slightly longer than that to fix it. That's why it's important to pick up positive habits as early as you can and stay consistent with them throughout the year.

One thing I've been doing for over 15 years now is I set up two separate checking accounts at my bank. One is for daily expenses (food, gas, entertainment, etc) and the other is for bills. I track my bills in a spreadsheet and make sure I have enough in the bills account to cover everything. Most of my paycheck is deposited into that account. I try to budget $50/day for daily expenses as well as save a couple hundred each paycheck as well. This system took me from a sub-500 to over 750 today.
 
dr_blasto [TotalFark] [OhFark]
2022-01-18 12:51:35 PM  
"It's actually easier to go from 620 to 720 than it is for 720 to get to 820,"

How hard is it to get from 820 to 850?
 
some_beer_drinker
2022-01-18 1:16:28 PM  
i.pinimg.comView Full Size
 
OccamsWhiskers
2022-01-18 1:58:28 PM  

dr_blasto: "It's actually easier to go from 620 to 720 than it is for 720 to get to 820,"

How hard is it to get from 820 to 850?


A very important aspect of that is there is no functional difference between an 820 and 850. My wife's scores on some systems can make that jump if we pay off both active credit cards to report $0 balances. Mine's 15-20 points lower, so we did that last time we were refinancing a mortgage, just to make it as smooth as possible.

I've never heard of any lender or other user of credit scores caring about scores over 780, and think many treat 760 as the start of their top tier.

We've paid attention to improving scores for 25 years or so, and it's paid off very well. Having money helps a great deal, as subby suggests, to avoid any late payments.

We've never paid any credit card interest, I'm not sure that was ever a factor in any credit scoring model despite the myths about that.

We've got a ton of open credit card accounts, but since the days of bumpage, have been careful to space those apart, as recent applications for new credit and young accounts both pull scores down.

My wife's reports showed a manufacturer car loan for a while - that only seemed to affect her scores by the balance relevant to available credit - the "usage" referenced in TFA. We paid it off a few months ago and her net score improved, despite not having the variety of kinds of accounts that many score access sites suggest is helpful.

Keep in mind there are a ton of scoring systems out there, even specifying "FICO" doesn't narrow it down much. Scores you see are probably not going to be exactly the same as any creditor buys. And the systems are all proprietary formulas, subject to change without notice. So no advice can be 100% reliable, but it has been worth our efforts for the great deals on credit it's given us access to.
 
eKonk
2022-01-18 2:14:21 PM  
Meh, credit scores. Everyone knows that the average Farker's credit score is 850 - you can even verify that with their wives, Morgans Fairchild...
 
Sam's Club Sandwich
2022-01-18 2:16:38 PM  
Credit in America is a scam. It costs more to be poor. The system is designed this way purposefully to prevent class mobility.
 
TheSubjunctive
2022-01-18 2:16:58 PM  

dr_blasto: "It's actually easier to go from 620 to 720 than it is for 720 to get to 820,"

How hard is it to get from 820 to 850?


Anything over 830 (and there's lots of FICO variants) is a crapshoot.  I've never had a car loan, so that's a tiny ding.  If I took out a car loan, paid it off, and waited 18 months (so it wasn't a fresh inquiry), I might hit 840.  Or might not... nobody can really say for sure.  It also totally doesn't matter.
 
Telos
2022-01-18 2:27:40 PM  

Sam's Club Sandwich: Credit in America is a scam. It costs more to be poor. The system is designed this way purposefully to prevent class mobility.


Intelligently using credit can help class mobility.

For instance, get a loan for a car, drive for Lyft/Doordash/Whatever and earn money you wouldn't have been able to if you couldn't afford to buy a car in cash.
 
Telos
2022-01-18 2:28:51 PM  
Literally, none of the steps they mentioned require more money or even any money. Have a credit card and don't use it and it will improve your score, it's literally that simple. (Or use it but pay the balance every month.)
 
hotmoonsauce
2022-01-18 2:50:10 PM  
The day you no longer give a shiat about credit scores is one of the best days of one's life.

I totally get that some people need it to secure financing for things but beyond a house we learned to pay with our own funds after the fact. If we couldn't afford it, we didn't buy it. You can find cheap used cars and cheap everything else if you look for it.
The only major expense that is hard is farking health insurance. I farking hate this country when it comes to medical expenses. It's f'n insane.
 
groppet [TotalFark]
2022-01-18 3:07:50 PM  
Just saw my score dropped by 56 points and said my debt increased to $85k, scared me for a minute until i realized it was my home refi.
 
majestic
2022-01-18 3:43:39 PM  
822 is about as high as I've been able to get my score. I have zero debt and pay off the one credit card I have each month. At this point, I don't really care if it goes higher.
 
Bovine Diarrhea Virus
2022-01-18 3:48:38 PM  
Credit scores are a scam. You use credit and it goes down.  You buy a house and your credit score goes down. Your mortgage gets bundled and sold to another investor, and during the interim where the balance is being transferred and it looks like your mortgage is paid off, your credit score shoots up. It's ridiculous.
 
Telos
2022-01-18 4:26:14 PM  

Bovine Diarrhea Virus: Credit scores are a scam. You use credit and it goes down.  You buy a house and your credit score goes down. Your mortgage gets bundled and sold to another investor, and during the interim where the balance is being transferred and it looks like your mortgage is paid off, your credit score shoots up. It's ridiculous.


How is any of that ridiculous?
 
natazha [BareFark]
2022-01-18 4:37:37 PM  
My wife and I both have excellent credit scores, although hers is better, I think because she is listed first on the mortgage.  The biggest hit they've taken in the last 10 years was when the loan officer at Wells Fargo kept requesting reports, because she restarted the mortgage process every time she asked for more information.

Ditched WtF and got the loan from Onpoint Credit Union in 40 days.
 
austerity101 [TotalFark]
2022-01-18 5:27:24 PM  

Telos: Sam's Club Sandwich: Credit in America is a scam. It costs more to be poor. The system is designed this way purposefully to prevent class mobility.

Intelligently using credit can help class mobility.

For instance, get a loan for a car, drive for Lyft/Doordash/Whatever and earn money you wouldn't have been able to if you couldn't afford to buy a car in cash.


And how do you expect to get a loan for a car to begin with?
 
austerity101 [TotalFark]
2022-01-18 5:29:37 PM  

Telos: Literally, none of the steps they mentioned require more money or even any money. Have a credit card and don't use it and it will improve your score, it's literally that simple. (Or use it but pay the balance every month.)


Getting a credit card isn't easy when your credit sucks and you don't make much money.

Hell, my credit scores right now are 677 and 700, higher than they've ever been. Everyone is hounding me to get a new card and increase my credit potential. But every time I apply for a card, I'm denied, and each one of those hurts my credit score. And then the same credit people who keep telling me to get a new card start scolding me for too many hard inquiries.

There is no real solution. If you're poor, you're screwed. Literally every single solution to improving my credit score requires me to have more money than I do.
 
austerity101 [TotalFark]
2022-01-18 5:32:42 PM  

hotmoonsauce: The day you no longer give a shiat about credit scores is one of the best days of one's life.

I totally get that some people need it to secure financing for things but beyond a house we learned to pay with our own funds after the fact. If we couldn't afford it, we didn't buy it. You can find cheap used cars and cheap everything else if you look for it.
The only major expense that is hard is farking health insurance. I farking hate this country when it comes to medical expenses. It's f'n insane.


Having bad credit can affect tons of things, like car insurance, or even your ability to rent a car. I once almost got stranded at an airport because when I went to collect the car I had reserved, the system told them under no circumstances to rent me a car. It was crazy. It seriously said something like "DO NOT RENT. NO FURTHER INFORMATION PROVIDED." It took me hours to figure out a workaround solution that required several monetary transfers. Just so I could rent a f*cking car.

For the record, I had rented many cars before. I had never had a problem. I have never damaged a rental car or had any trouble with any agency ever.

Oh, and I was on my way home to see my father before he died of cancer. Fun f*cking times.
 
DORMAMU
2022-01-18 6:28:24 PM  

austerity101: hotmoonsauce: The day you no longer give a shiat about credit scores is one of the best days of one's life.

I totally get that some people need it to secure financing for things but beyond a house we learned to pay with our own funds after the fact. If we couldn't afford it, we didn't buy it. You can find cheap used cars and cheap everything else if you look for it.
The only major expense that is hard is farking health insurance. I farking hate this country when it comes to medical expenses. It's f'n insane.

Having bad credit can affect tons of things, like car insurance, or even your ability to rent a car. I once almost got stranded at an airport because when I went to collect the car I had reserved, the system told them under no circumstances to rent me a car. It was crazy. It seriously said something like "DO NOT RENT. NO FURTHER INFORMATION PROVIDED." It took me hours to figure out a workaround solution that required several monetary transfers. Just so I could rent a f*cking car.

For the record, I had rented many cars before. I had never had a problem. I have never damaged a rental car or had any trouble with any agency ever.

Oh, and I was on my way home to see my father before he died of cancer. Fun f*cking times.


I lost a "career position" offer due to credit rating when my now ex-wife had gotten a bunch of credit cards behind my back when I was stationed over seas.

It can affect security clearances and job prospects as well as options for an apartment.
 
CaptSS [OhFark]
2022-01-18 6:45:22 PM  
It can be done. I hit it March 2020. It stays there until my paid off car loan fell off my credit report. It dropped to 820 then.

Fark user imageView Full Size
 
bo_loo
2022-01-18 6:47:47 PM  
I've had an 850 score for over a year (yay).

Then, a company bought my mortgage from my bank.

Score dropped by 22 points.

I can only assume it's because I don't have a "history" of on time payments with the new company.
 
Oreamnos
2022-01-18 7:19:39 PM  
3 simple steps:

1. Always pay on time.
2. Don't max out all of your available credit.
3. Always pay on time.

Bonus tip:

4. Always pay on time.
 
QFarker
2022-01-18 8:43:47 PM  
I don't like owing anything.  I have no idea what my credit score is.
 
Lucky Stu [TotalFark]
2022-01-18 9:44:08 PM  

hotmoonsauce: The only major expense that is hard is farking health insurance. I farking hate this country when it comes to medical expenses. It's f'n insane.


I hear ya.
Why the fark we don't have universal coverage is beyond my comprehension. It makes no sense to me.
 
Flowery Twats
2022-01-18 9:57:12 PM  

dr_blasto: "It's actually easier to go from 620 to 720 than it is for 720 to get to 820,"

How hard is it to get from 820 to 850?


Don't know and don't care.
 
cryinoutloud [BareFark]
2022-01-19 1:47:00 AM  

Sam's Club Sandwich: Credit in America is a scam. It costs more to be poor. The system is designed this way purposefully to prevent class mobility.


It's designed this way to reward consumption.  So it preys on the poor, who think it should be good for them, like it says, and it rewards the people who have enough money and are anal enough to figure out how to get all the advantages.

QFarker: I don't like owing anything.  I have no idea what my credit score is.


I owed a few things, and a few unavoidable things, but mostly I don't use credit.  My score can be whatever it wants to be.

/And I'm old now and have my home, so I don't give a fark.
 
kittyhas1000legs [TotalFark]
2022-01-19 7:32:19 AM  

QFarker: I don't like owing anything.  I have no idea what my credit score is.


Same here.  I know when I took a loan out for a car in 2009 my score was 760.  I paid it off, I keep my credit card paid off, and I have no idea what my score it is.  My score won't really matter unless Mrs. Kitty and I want a house, in which case it should be fine since we always pay our cards in full every month.

/should probably check that credit report soon just in case
 
Linux_Yes
2022-01-19 8:30:41 AM  

Sin_City_Superhero: I used to pay cash for everything.  No mortgage, no car payment, no credit cards, no loans...nothing.  I had no credit score.  I'm not saying that I had a low score...I had no score at all.  I got an unsecured VISA from my bank and started paying for everything with that.  Then I'd just do an online transfer to keep the balance at $0.  After 3 months my credit score was over 700.



i use my CC only a very little and pay it off every month.  that way, i don't reward Banksters with more CC swipe fees ( higher than Debit swipe fees) and don't pay any interest.

my credit score is 814.  been doing this for years.    this way, you get all the win and little of the lose.

90% of what i buy is debit card.  the rest is cash.  in an ideal world i would use cash or crypto only.  that way, the banksters and their lazy sit at home stock owners don't get rewarded every time i buy something.
 
Linux_Yes
2022-01-19 8:32:23 AM  

Sin_City_Superhero: I used to pay cash for everything.  No mortgage, no car payment, no credit cards, no loans...nothing.  I had no credit score.  I'm not saying that I had a low score...I had no score at all.  I got an unsecured VISA from my bank and started paying for everything with that.  Then I'd just do an online transfer to keep the balance at $0.  After 3 months my credit score was over 700.



if banksters had their way, everyone would be in debt.
 
Izunbacol [TotalFark]
2022-01-19 6:36:14 PM  

CaptSS: It can be done. I hit it March 2020. It stays there until my paid off car loan fell off my credit report. It dropped to 820 then.

[Fark user image 850x580]


I hit 850 for a bit with the Experian FICO 8. My FICO 3 with Experian (monitored by another bank) never went above 815.  My Vantagescore (CK) has hovered in the mid 810's for years.

I think FICO 8 is just more generous, or easy to game (assuming that what I'm  doing is gaming it)

It's down a little right now because of a refi in August, and some large purchases that were one of  my cards mid December and were paid off by end of month.

It's not hard though... never missed a bill in my life, keep old cards active for extra length of credit, keep my utilization down ($45k limit across all the cards, but I use the no-limit AMEX mostly, and generally only charge 2k -  $3k in a month, which all gets paid off monthly), and take out a car loan every now and then just for a few years to have it on my records.

/if you're complaining that it's hard to fix, you're right.  It's a credit history, not a credit now
 
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