Hiya…
I was using the FICO simulator this morning, and it basically indicated that I should get a credit card to up my score 30-50 points!
Wanna know what I get for paying my existing obligations ontime for 3-6 months? Nuttin. Not a darned thing.
Poop.
get a credit card but not putting a balance on it, will raise your score
“Nothing,” or just something low like a tank or two of gas each billing cycle?
If you don’t put anything on it you won’t get any benefit from it really. Do as you say and put a few tanks of gas on it each month. I’ve got a few store cards that I put one thing on then pay the minimum each month until they are paid, then do it again. Nothing major, just stuff like a new microwave.
keep balance under 30% and your score will rise…
The only problem is that if you don’t pay on time your score will go down. You need to use the credit cards for your score to go up. The card has to be used but not maxed out. Most people think maxed out is when the balance is 100% of the limit. The FICO score sees the card as maxed out when the balance is over 30% of the limit. The other thing that helps the score go up is the age of the account. If you have any old credit cards, don’t close the accounts. That will push your score lower also. To make the score go up get the old credit cards to raise the limits but don’t add more to the balance.
If you want to really raise your score, try to find somebody you know very well and trust very well (I used my parents) with an old credit card with great history on it. My parents have one with a HUGE line on it they haven’t used in years. My score went up close to 100 points overnight when they added me as an authorized user.
If you want to really raise your score, try to find somebody you know very well and trust very well (I used my parents) with an old credit card with great history on it.
JP_Bak,
That subject has been the topic of several discussions here is one of them: http://www.reiclub.com/forums/index.php/topic,29342.0.html
Credit bureaus are starting to take notice of this practice and it has been rumored that they will eliminate those accounts from the scoring process.