Buy something $20 on your credit cards and pay the minimum for a few months, then pay it off. Yes, you are paying unnecessary interest, but it’s worth it to increase your score.

Buying your car and house with cash is HORRIBLE for your credit score.

My score increased into the 800s only after we got mortgage. We paid it off last November, and my score immediately went down by more than 40 points!

Get a zero interest card and don't pay it off every month. You aren't actually using the credit if you pay it off each month. What is the longest amount of time you've had the same account open? Do they regularly increase your limit? If not, ask for a limit increase.

820 here don't own a home but know how cc game works.

Do you own a home? That helps

*up to 800... not Tom!

Thanks so much for the responses!

To answer some Q’s, I’m 35 and have had a credit card since I was 18. I have several cards, so my credit is about 50k combined with all the cards. I’m hoping to get up Tom 800 but I’ve been stuck here for 3 years.

You need to use the credit too.

Anonymous wrote:Increase the credit limit on your credit cards. Mine was lower than I thought it should be (I thought it should be perfect . I asked what was up - my credit limit on my main card was like $5k, which I requested. I used about $3k a month and paid it off. They said because I ran close to my credit limit every month, it was a ding against me. I bumped my limit to $15k, still only spent about $3k and my score went up about 20 points over time.

+1 Or get another credit card and don't use it much. For some reason, the credit card company algorithm rewards people for having a ton of credit and not using much of it (which has always seemed stupid to me, because one day if I ever fall into dire financial straits, I have so many options to get myself into crippling debt.)

Increase the credit limit on your credit cards. Mine was lower than I thought it should be (I thought it should be perfect . I asked what was up - my credit limit on my main card was like $5k, which I requested. I used about $3k a month and paid it off. They said because I ran close to my credit limit every month, it was a ding against me. I bumped my limit to $15k, still only spent about $3k and my score went up about 20 points over time.

Anonymous wrote:740s is excellent for most lenders.

How old are you? Some of credit score is length if credit history. You can’t do anything about that except be patient.

That has been my experience as well

740s is excellent for most lenders.

How old are you? Some of credit score is length if credit history. You can’t do anything about that except be patient.

Anonymous wrote:Why do you need it higher?

[b]

I wanted it in case I ever do need an auto loan or a mortgage, because I never get offered good rates. All my credit cards are like 20% interest but I pay in full every month so it’s doesn’t matter. I want ‘excellent’ credit but I hover between good and very good.

Why do you need it higher?

I’m a nanny so my income is limited but I don’t have any debt and I buy everything cash (my home, car, everything). I use credit cards but pay them off immediately like it’s a debit card. I make about 60k per year but can’t get my score past 740’s. What can I do? People say to get an auto loan but my car is paid of and I bought my home cash. I don’t know how else to raise my score. I never carry a balance on my credit cards and pay on time. What am I doing wrong?

Thank you!