Credit Advice

I am doing the same thing your are doing trying to raise my credit score to a 620 so I can get approved for a mortgage loan. I recently done this and it work get two secured cards for $300 but don't charge 300 on the card because your credit utilization will be at 100% which is not good. You should always keep your credit utilization below 35% so when you get the cards charge between 40 or 50 dollars and when you pay the bill pay most of the balance while leaving only 10 dollars on the card this will help show credit utilization and payment history. If you pay it off completely your not showing any payment history and it would be like you never used the card. Also make sure whatever secured card you get reports to all three bureaus Orchard Bank is a very good card for this. I hope this helps I'm almost to my goal of 620 and I've seen my credit score go up more than 40 points in the past 3 months. Good luck.

I don't agree with needing to leave a partial balance in order to show payment history.  From experience, I believe that my Discover card reports my balance to the credit bureau when they issue my statement.  I've pulled my Experian report nearly a year ago, and they show the HIGH balance every month (not the payment due and not the current balance). I've got a credit score tracker on one of my credit cards.  I got a new credit card with a CL of 2100.  I put a high balance of around 830 dollars(roughtly 40% utilization on that card) and saw an immediate dip of my credit score from 712 to 697.  I immediatelly started keeping the balance under 30% utilization (around 600 dollars) and saw my score go up to 726. I also one of the 0% interest for 12 months offers while buying furnature.  They put a ballance of roughly 2100 dollars on a card with 2500 CL (nearly 85 % utilization).  My score took a hit from 726 to 688.  I just made a payment to bring the utilation to 35 %.  I'll know next month how that will affect my score.  Hopefully it's just a temporary hit. The lesson here is to keep the ballance below the 30% treshhold (and never miss a payment).

• Getting a secured card will help. 
• Charging $300 and then paying down will probably hurt. Just spend $30 and pay it off when it is due. 
• Also make sure all your other debts are paid and make sure everything is current. 620 is possible. 

Yes, it will go up alot of pints in the first few months. Regarding utilization, even if you have high utilization in the first few months and then pay it down it will not hurt your credit, they only look at the utilization at the moment you pull and not from months before. Just make sure it's under 20% before applying for any credit. (give it at least one week from the statement closing following the payoff)

 I did it in one month.  In January of this year I applied for a new car loan after my old car died.  I paid for my last car with cash and haven't had any credit cards (or need for them, I thought) I have had a car loan that was paid in full and never late 6 years ago.  When they pulled my credit they said I had zero credit, no new loans or anything else in the past 2 years.  I began to educate myself and found my Credit Karma score was 565. I got a $1500 secured card from Public Savings Bank and the next month it went up to 654.  I also got a $200 card from Orchard Bank the following month and it went up a few more points and has been slowly rising since.  In April I financed a new car much nicer than the one I originally looked at.  The finance manager said I had good credit then just not much substance behind it.  I have found with a little experimenting that going over 30% of your available credit will drop it significantly, about 30 points in my case, but paying it off brings it right back up.  The best scores I've had were when I kept it as low as possible 1 or 2% but not zero.  I do this by buying a tank of gas with both cards and then paying them off every month. Use the tools and info here on Credit Karma ro help you meet your goals.   Good luck.

Keep utilization ratio at below 30% look fro secured cards as people have mentioned below. However, don;t forget to check your local credit union -- they will work with you to get you a secured or unsecured card fi they can from them. Credit unions are more of a friend than a bank since they are non-profit.

personally i would recommend staying under 6 percent, AMEX said i had a high debt ratio at 21 percent. I went from 515 to 747 in 13 months.