Credit scores, do you know yours?

kittylover4ever

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I'm not real up on what is a good credit score/bad credit score, but ours is 798. I'm thinking that must be at least fair...........does anyone know?
 

gailc

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That is a very good score!!! Anything over 720 is excellent!!
Usually people do not know their score unless they have recently applied for credit and ask what their FICO is. Anything 619 and below is poor credit.
 

katiemae1277

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Um, yeah, Susie, that's really really good. much better than my slightly above 600 one


ETA: I just looked on experian.com and the average is 678, and the highest you can get is 850
 
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kittylover4ever

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Originally Posted by GailC

That is a very good score!!! Anything over 720 is excellent!!
Usually people do not know their score unless they have recently applied for credit and ask what their FICO is. Anything 619 and below is poor credit.
We financed a car for Jerry last Saturday and the loan guy showed us our credit report. I want 850!!!!
I don't know what else I could do!
 

gailc

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Lots of times its time at job/time at address that bumps the scores. Also being retired helps the score. Trust me with my many former years in auto credit I don't know if we ever really saw anyone with scores over 800!!
 
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kittylover4ever

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Originally Posted by GailC

Lots of times its time at job/time at address that bumps the scores. Also being retired helps the score. Trust me with my many former years in auto credit I don't know if we ever really saw anyone with scores over 800!!
Oh well then, I don't feel so bad. I work VERY hard at keeping our credit as good as I can.....when I met Jerry his was a mess! Great guy, just not great with money.
 

lookingglass

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Originally Posted by kittylover4ever

We financed a car for Jerry last Saturday and the loan guy showed us our credit report. I want 850!!!!
I don't know what else I could do!
850 is impossible to get. I don't want to burst your bubble, it's just the high mark that the bureau's set up. If you are about 750 you can get what ever you want.
 
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kittylover4ever

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Originally Posted by lookingglass

850 is impossible to get. I don't want to burst your bubble, it's just the high mark that the bureau's set up. If you are about 750 you can get what ever you want.
Hummmmmm, I would like to have a yaught!!!
 

momofmany

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OK, gotta brag. When I bought my last car, my score was 834. The guy told me he had never seen a score that high and asked me if I wanted a more expensive model. I told him no thanks, the reason why my score is that high is because I don't over extend myself.

So why is mine so high? Over the years I've bought 4 homes and fully paid off 1 of them, countless cars and paid all of them off in advance, and all of my credit cards are paid off at the end of each month. I think I've only missed a payment once and that's because it was lost in the mail and many years ago.

I think you just have to be buying on credit for a very long time to get your score up that high and you absolutely never want to over extend yourself.

As Gail said, being retired helps and I'm getting close to the point that I'm considering retiring.
 
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kittylover4ever

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That's great Momofmany!!! WOW!!
I have alot of little credit cards that I've had for years that I've never used. I wonder if I should close them out?
 

missourigrl

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Originally Posted by kittylover4ever

That's great Momofmany!!! WOW!!
I have alot of little credit cards that I've had for years that I've never used. I wonder if I should close them out?
I don't think you should close them out. Keep them open but just don't ever use them. Have you heard of Suze Orman? She's an expert at personal finance and has a show called "Money Matters."

Here's her example of why you never want to close out your credit cards:

"Till Debt Do We Part
Another thirty percent of your FICO score is made up of your debt-to-credit-limit ratio. Simply put, this is how much money you actually owe on those cards (your debt) compared to the available credit on those cards; what's called your credit limit. So let's take a look at those five credit cards that you have again. Each one has a credit limit of $2,000. So when we combine all five cards we're looking at a combined credit limit of $10,000. Now let's say that you really only use that one card you got two months ago and have charged that card up to its max of $2,000. Okay, that's not too bad, because when FICO looks at how much you owe ($2,000) in comparison to your credit limit ($10,000) that see you have used up only 20 percent of your available credit. So you have a debt to credit limit ratio of 20 percent.

But here's where so many of you go wrong: if you close those four cards you aren't using, your total credit limit is now $2,000; so if you charge $2,000 a month - even if you pay it off - your ratio is now 100 percent. That is going to be a major credit score bummer. So as I said, just keep the unused card someplace safe; by not canceling it you will be helping your credit score."

Here are a few links:
http://biz.yahoo.com/pfg/e02credit/art021.html
http://biz.yahoo.com/pfg/e35score/art021.html

I think she's great. She's got tons of great financial advice for everyone no matter what stage in life.

Oh, and she talks about a FICO score instead of a credit score. Apparently it's a little different and it's what creditors are starting to look at instead of the credit score, according to her.
 

sharky

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That is a great score .... EVERYONE should check it at least yrly... Mine shot up 110-150 pts just by clearing up some simple inaccuracys ....

in the USA EVERYONE can get a free score yrly.... it is the annual credit report to avoid all the ones that want you to pay ...
 

catlover19

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I wonder if there is any free way of checking your score if you are Canadian. I tried looking for websites but they all cost money.
 

samantha1979

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Originally Posted by missourigrl

I don't think you should close them out. Keep them open but just don't ever use them. Have you heard of Suze Orman? She's an expert at personal finance and has a show called "Money Matters."

Here's her example of why you never want to close out your credit cards:

"Till Debt Do We Part
Another thirty percent of your FICO score is made up of your debt-to-credit-limit ratio. Simply put, this is how much money you actually owe on those cards (your debt) compared to the available credit on those cards; what's called your credit limit. So let's take a look at those five credit cards that you have again. Each one has a credit limit of $2,000. So when we combine all five cards we're looking at a combined credit limit of $10,000. Now let's say that you really only use that one card you got two months ago and have charged that card up to its max of $2,000. Okay, that's not too bad, because when FICO looks at how much you owe ($2,000) in comparison to your credit limit ($10,000) that see you have used up only 20 percent of your available credit. So you have a debt to credit limit ratio of 20 percent.

But here's where so many of you go wrong: if you close those four cards you aren't using, your total credit limit is now $2,000; so if you charge $2,000 a month - even if you pay it off - your ratio is now 100 percent. That is going to be a major credit score bummer. So as I said, just keep the unused card someplace safe; by not canceling it you will be helping your credit score."

Here are a few links:
http://biz.yahoo.com/pfg/e02credit/art021.html
http://biz.yahoo.com/pfg/e35score/art021.html

I think she's great. She's got tons of great financial advice for everyone no matter what stage in life.

Oh, and she talks about a FICO score instead of a credit score. Apparently it's a little different and it's what creditors are starting to look at instead of the credit score, according to her.
I don't think you want to have too many though. A couple of years ago I tried to buy my house from my parents (I live here, they moved, I pay the mortgage) My score was 780 and I couldn't get the loan because I waited tables and I didn't have a "guaranteed" income. Whatever. I went through 3 mortgage companies that would pull my report, be in shock, promise me the sky, and then give up on it. Oh well. Anyway, at one point I was told that I should close some of my unused credit cards because I didn't make enough money to cover them if they got used. They said that would affect me negatively if I used them. Doesn't your debt to credit ratio also somehow include income? Just a thought. I never did close them. Wonder what my score is now....

Oh, and last year I got all 3 and they ranged from 670-820. Seriously, why the huge gap?
 

sharky

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Originally Posted by Samantha1979

I don't think you want to have too many though. A couple of years ago I tried to buy my house from my parents (I live here, they moved, I pay the mortgage) My score was 780 and I couldn't get the loan because I waited tables and I didn't have a "guaranteed" income. Whatever. I went through 3 mortgage companies that would pull my report, be in shock, promise me the sky, and then give up on it. Oh well. Anyway, at one point I was told that I should close some of my unused credit cards because I didn't make enough money to cover them if they got used. They said that would affect me negatively if I used them. Doesn't your debt to credit ratio also somehow include income? Just a thought. I never did close them. Wonder what my score is now....

Oh, and last year I got all 3 and they ranged from 670-820. Seriously, why the huge gap?
SOme difference is different scoring system s ie a 20 pt span ... but one like that is someone likely has inaccurate info or some are reporting good/ bad only to one beareau
 

duchess15

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I just checked mine recently. I was only fair because I didn't have a lot of history, but since getting a car and putting it in my name, it shot up to 763! So I was happy it was going up!

My mom bought a new car around christmas and the car dealer said he never had anyone as high as hers. It was 830! He would have let her drive with any car she wanted off the lot!
I hope to one day be able to have as good of a score as my parents have.
 
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kittylover4ever

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I've heard conflicting stories on whether to close or not close credit accounts you never use..........hummmmmmmmm
 

duchess15

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Originally Posted by kittylover4ever

I've heard conflicting stories on whether to close or not close credit accounts you never use..........hummmmmmmmm
I heard on the Early Show one morning that closing accounts that you have opened actually hurt your credit more than just leaving it open.
 
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