Credit Advice

Personally, I would use much caution before simply following the advice they offer in your personal credit section. If I followed their advice, I would "save" money on my auto loan by paying less each month, but for 72 months rather than 36, at 6.6% instead of 5.6.  Hmmmmm Next, I could also "save" by apping for a capital one card at 17.9% interest, instead of keepint the ones I have which are 9.9, 11.3 & 12.9.  That sounds like a hell of a deal!  (not) If you follow the basic rules of keeping your credit card balances low, not applying for credit that you don't need, and keep an eye on your reports to be aware of any unknown charges on your cards & ID theft....then your reports will be looking great & in time, even any negative marks will age & fall off. I get my credit information from a broad range of places.  Mostly from the myFICO forums, Suze Orman & Clark Howard.  Here...not so much.  CK even says my insurance score is just "medium".  I have full coverage w/geico...100/300k coverage, towing, loaner car, all the bells & whistles with a $250 deductible... $225 per 6/mo.   That sounds a lot better than MID to me!

they said I would save money balance transfering 3k from my navy fed 8.9 apr to a chase 15.9 apr card plus transfer fees after rewards.......right.....pass

How long did that take?

I went from 522 to 616 in 6 month, stemming from the recession and moving to a new state.

Hello.  I am in the same boat as you.  I currently have a 601 and would like to raise it up to 780 (Gosh...that would be wonderful!!!).  I have credit card settlements on my history: ( But...am wondering if I can still raise my credit as high as yours.  Any suggestions?  How did you do it?  Thanks, Crystal

Yes, most credit card companies charge off the debt.  If you go to credit companies (transunion, equafax) and challange them, they wont respond and they take it off your credit.  I had 4 removed and credit went up 40 points immediately.

Crystal - Yes, you can get it up, easily.  The settlements come off after 7 years.  You can try disputing them to get them to be removed, but that doesn't work every time.  Some times, you will just have to wait.  But in the mean time, you need to build credit history, since you have old accounts that are going to drop off.  You need to get a credit card, but never spend more than 15% of the total credit, and as soon as the bill comes, pay it ALL off so you won't have to pay any interest.  This way, you can get a capital one card with a 25% interest rate and it won't even matter (and those are easy to get).  Also,  store cards are easy to get.  But the trick is to NOT get store cards from stores that you are really tempted to shop at.  Get one from a store that may have one or 2 things you'd actually care to buy.  For instance, if you love American Eagle, get a card from Old Navy.  You won't be tempted to use it, but I'm sure you can find something there to buy so that you can show that you are actually using your credit (you have to use your credit for it to help at all).  And again, pay it all off each month immediately after the bill comes (if you pay it off before they bill you, they may not report it to the credit bureaus).   If you have student loans and/or a car loan that will remain on your credit report for awhile because you are still paying them off, then that's great because it will keep building positive credit history. One way or another, you MUST keep credit history.  If you pay everything off and never get another loan or credit card, it will be impossible for you to get credit once everything drops off your credit report.  Bad credit is better than no credit (of course great credit is better than bad credit).  A friend of my girlfriend has never had a loan or credit card and she is 28.  She couldn't get an apartment without a co-signer, even though she had enough income.  She tried to get credit cards to build a credit history, but she couldn't get a credit card because of not having any history.  She has had to co-sign everything with her father and had to get him to have a credit card issued to her, on his account, so she could start building some kind of credit history.  It's ridiculous honestly.