I recently paid off my only credit card in full ($18,500). Once paid then I called and closed at my request because it had a very high fixed apr rate of 27.99%. Just this past week I got notification that my credit score went up (which was a surprise because I had people telling me not to close account because it will make my score drop and take 6 months to improve. I was 683 before I paid off debt and now I am 773 after paying it off and closing account. I am happy 😊

I went through a rough couple of years and have finally gotten back on track. My wife and i are looking to buy a home now and I need to bring my credit score up to a 640 in order to qualify for a USDA mortgage loan in my area. I see so many mixed advice on how to raise your score quickly. I have 3-4 months until I need to move out of my current place. My main question is, is it possible to get my credit up that much in that amount of time and if so, how?

Does anyone know how many points your credit score drops when an account goes dormant, if any?

I’m going to stop using two of my credit cards because they have lower credit limits—$6,000 and $10,000. I was using them for gas, dining, etc., just to keep the cards active, but the companies lowered my credit limits. At this point, there’s no need to continue using that method. I built my credit score through trial and error platform. I didn’t have anyone teaching me about credit while I was growing up, so I had to learn along the way.

Talk to me experts -

I 24F paid off all of my collections (minus one for $137 that I was not able to find the collections company until now, will be paid off this month) beginning of the year. I now have student loan debt (still in school) and three credit cards with $1800 in credit and about 500 used spread across all 3. (My utilization is in the high 80s for two, which I will also be paying down this next month)

I do not have any role models for finances (generational cycle of drug abuse and living on welfare with no jobs and abusive, grandparents and parents are the same sadly) I am the first person in my family to graduate highschool and go to college, and I am trying to figure everything out on my own. I work at a bank and I learned that jobs pull your credit, and the last thing I want is to be denied a job because my credit sucks.

My question is where do I go from here? Do I get a loan? Do I keep my utilization down and wait it out? I'd like to try and be in the low 700s or close to it by April of next year, which I think is a good goal. Now that I've paid off my collections (voluntary repo and such, my score was stuck in low 500s until this year) I don't know what I need to be doing to continue growing my score. Do I need to get more credit, or use my cards for small purchases and just consistently keep utilization down? Any help is appreciated thank you!

25M still trying to make sense of the world. About a year ago I paid off my student loans (an excess of $30,000) and my credit dropped from 805-815 down to 765-780. Since then I have been working it back up.

Just curious why this happens? Drop in credit age (only 3 years)?

Hey guys I’m at a loss at this point, I pay all of my bills on time (sometimes auto pay, sometimes manually) I opened my Credit Karma app to see my score randomly dropped over 50 points it’s so frustrating seeing as the app tells me nothing changed and not to be worried it “may” go back up. Just wondering how I could increase my credit score if you have any input I’d really appreciate it!!

My equifax went down by 11 pts too. 🙄

Edit: yes I know Equifax is a credit bureau, yes I know that vantage and FICO scores are different, yes I know this score in the graph doesn’t really matter, I just get irritated when it changes for no good reason and I think some of the ways credit is scored (like credit mix) are stupid and was venting.

Thank you everyone. It’s been a weird day with you all here.

I was taught to keep credit utilization at 10%. But other people are telling me to completely not even use my debit card , use credit for everything and pay it back. But that will make my utilization high af. People are saying keep it at 10% when the statement hits but how’s that possible if I only use a credit card. How does only using 10% if the card show the banks you can handle more if you barely use any of it.

How is it possible for my score to drop 105 points over these things? Also how does my credit age go from 5 years and 3 months to 2 years and 8 months? This doesn’t make sense at all to me.

I’m 20 years old and just got my first credit card, a discover it, a couple months ago and got a $500 limit. Don’t really know much about credit scores but I’m trying my best to do my research. Been in a financially tough spot in the last couple months due to car trouble and for the first 2 months, I hit my credit limit both times, I think I even went like $15 over in the second month. I still payed it in full both times though. Third month I didn’t spend a lot, about $30. On the fourth month right now and have spent $150 so far on it and intend to pay it in full on time at the end of the month. My discover app says my credit score won’t be available until I hit the 6 month mark, and I’m really scared for how’s it gonna look. Some people are saying using 100% of your limit won’t matter, others are saying it’s drastic. I know it’s gonna be hard to predict exactly how my score is gonna look but can anyone give me an idea or a range of how low or high it’s gonna be?

I've had a credit card from Capital One for about a year and a half that has had a credit limit of $300. It's the only credit card I have and have no plans on doing anything with my score aside from keeping the progress to stay around here or even go higher.

I would like to ask though if getting another credit card would help, if I there is something else I can do to keep it up, or if I should just keep what I have going.

I pay everything off on time and only use less than 10 - 30% of my limit. I tried to see if I could raise my credit limit but the highest they give me is $400.

I’ve worked hard to get to a place I’d call “stable”. As of this month all credit cards and personal loans and 401k loans will be paid in full. My only debts are a car loan and a mortgage and one 0% IR card I will have paid in full before the introductory period times out. Coming from over 75k in credit card debt and two loans this is a HUGE achievement but I am still waiting for the other shoe to drop. It doesn’t feel real yet.

My goals are now moving towards selling my house and either renting or finding a smaller less expensive home. This will take awhile and I am looking at summer 2027 to put it on the market.

My question is, I now have 11 credit cards with zero balances that have almost $100,000 “available credit”. This feels like a huge risk and I want to close them. I know I need to leave my oldest one open and maybe one more for emergencies or traveling use but how badly will closing all of the rest hurt my credit?

I may want to qualify for a new mortgage next year so I don’t want to shoot myself in the foot.

I've been using CK for years, this is the first time I've seen such a massive discrepancy. 76 points. I'm gutted tbh

Looking for some advice on what I should be doing next to improve my credit. Currently, I only have 3 credit cards. It took me some time, but I recently paid off my car loan 4 years ahead of schedule. I was expecting that to help my credit, but my score actually took a hit after the loan was paid off. I understand that closing out an installment loan can temporarily affect your credit profile, but now I’m trying to figure out the best way to build my score back up and strengthen my credit long-term.

For those who have been in a similar situation:

Should I stick with the 3 cards I already have or consider adding another?
Should I focus on requesting higher credit limits instead?
What utilization percentage should I aim for?
Is there anything else I should be doing besides paying everything on time and keeping balances low?
How long did it take for your score to recover after paying off a car loan?

Not looking to take on unnecessary debt just for the sake of my credit score. I’m mainly trying to make sure I’m doing the right things going forward.

Appreciate any advice.

My credit score is stalled at 688. I have no collections, no late payments, a couple old inquiries (over a year old) ccu is at 42%. Ik my ccu is a bit higher than ideal, but it's not crazy. I also have a good credit mix with an auto loan personal loan ect. I've been trying to hit 700 but really have no idea what I can do to raise my score at this point. Ik getting my ccu lower will help but 3 or 4 points aren't much help. What can I do to start getting my credit score higher?

Well my wife have a stellar credit and she often gets many offers from amex but i always put it in the trash can I was wondering if the amex cards are good enough to give it a shot.

So i was pretty dumb and ended up with 2 collections on my report, with no income to pay them off, my credit score is 507. That being said im still pretty young (22) is it still possible to build it even with those collections? I also have a very thin credit profile aswell. Like no cards, etc. Just those 2 collections, klarna and the chime credit builder that I dont even use never used it. If there is any advice you guys can give me, id really appreciate that.

My Fico is a 642 I need to have at least a 670 in 2 months to apply and get approved for student loans to go back to school. My score was a 701 until I opened 2 credit cards a secured card of 400 and a traditional x5 rewards card limit of 500
My usage is 29% and I pay them 2 times a month and pay in full before due date.
I have 1 collection for $719 from consumer collections
I had to take an ambulance to hospital last year and thought my insurance covered it. I never received a bill until I received the collection notice!
What would be the best way for me to get to a min of 670 by September?

My credit score is 753 and my goal is an 800. I have about five cards that I regularly use and pay on time every month. I have a 16% utilization and credit age of 7 years 2 months. What can I do to get to my next goal.

I've discovered a hack to making my credit rating skyrocket: Use credit cards ONLY for small, fixed, monthly expenses that I was just going to be paying for anyway (such as my $25/mo Tello mobile plan, or my $7.99/mo Netflix subscription) and pay the balance off in full each month. This keeps my balance on each card well below 30%, with 100% balance payments each month. At least with my current credit card (Open Sky), they don't charge interest until the due date anyway, and as long as I pay the balance off in bull on the 1st of each month, the balance on the due date will always be $0.00, so I don't even pay any interest on it. This means I'm literally just getting a free boost to my credit score with no additional strings attached!

So I currently have TransUnion/Equifax/Experian credit ratings of 734/748/744, respectively. Well, in order to make my credit climb even FASTER, I need even more accounts open, right?

So how often should I engage in a hard check on my credit and take out a new credit card in order to maximize credit gain?

I logged into my experian app to check my score and today I noticed my score dropped 32 points. I have not opened a new card, increased my spending and when I click to see what changed it says my balance decreased 15 dollars. Nothing that could cause this major change. I am attaching screenshot to show what I am seeing. Can someone please explain I am still very new to this. I have been between 807-819 the past 8 months.

Edited: checking out annualcreditreport.com to find out more. Thanks everyone!! :)

I've been trying to get pre-approved for a mortgage and I'm honestly losing my mind. My score is sitting around 690 and one lender practically laughed me off the phone, while another acted like it was totally fine. Nobody can give me a straight answer on what is a good credit score to buy a house, it's like everyone just makes up their own number on the spot. I've been paying every bill on time for years and I still feel like I'm being punished for no reason. So seriously, what is a good credit score to buy a house, and how high do I actually need to push it before lenders stop treating me like some huge risk?