I've worked in the finance industry for 6 years, the last 5 years for a large bank. It never ceases to amaze me, the number of adults that haven't got the slightest clue on how to manage their credit, or the importance of knowing how to. I too was completely oblivious when I graduated from high school, but luckily 2 years later, I took a job with a sub-prime mortgage lender and learned first hand, the importance of credit and the effect it has on your life.
Since then I've learned so much about how FICO scoring works and different techniques for handling your credit expenses that I could probably write a small book.
Some Key Factors with regards to your FICO:
1) The most obvious rule is....don't be late! CB agencies only track 30, 60, and 90 day lates. So don't freak out if your only a couple days late (aside from the fact that your paying more interest and possibly some late fees), but be very weary of getting over a whole billing cycle.
2) Revolving debts (i.e. credit cards, lines of credit) have much more bearing on your FICO score than installment loans. The FICO scoring was formulated to track the ongoing behavior of a consumer's credit activity. Since revolving debt is ongoing, it only makes sense that these are substantially more important. Not to say that car loans and mortgages aren't important, it's just that the most dramatic effects to your score will result from revolving acct activity.
3) Keep your revolving debt utilization below 75%. Meaning, if you have a $1000 credit limit, try not to keep a balance in excess of $750. Anything over 75%, equates to maxed out credit in the FICO scoring system. This definitely has a negative impact on your score.
4) If possible, always try to pay off credit cards as soon as possible. I say this every time I open a student credit card for some college student, "the credit card is not extra cash! Just because you have $50 in your checking, and $500 available on you credit card, does not mean you have $550 to spend!" I say this because without understanding this they fall into the same trap that everyone else does.........debt. Credit cards are just a convenience item. You should only use them for planned and intended purchases that you were going to use your hard earned money to pay for anyways. If you stick to this, then you should be able to pay off your credit cards every month. I gaurantee that if you do this your credit score will jump up considerably.
These are just some of the key things I advise customers of, there's a lot more however. Feel free to ask me specific questions if you've got them.
One thing that i would say to Sorearms, One of the easiest and most effective ways to pay off your debt and increase your credit score consistently, is to pick one credit card at a time to focus on. Once you've picked one, pay only the minimum payments on all of your other cards. Take whatever is left over and pay down the one card. Do this until the balance is paid, then pick your next card and do the same. Paying off one card at a time helps your credit score more and also helps you get more dramatic principal reduction. DO NOT fuck around with debt consolidator unless you do not have enough money to pay your bills. Doing so can negatively impact your CB report in the same way a bankruptcy does. Lenders view debt consolidators the same way because in essence that's what a chapter 7 (or 13 I always get confused on which is which) does. They negotiate smaller payoffs and payments and then the bankruptcy court pays everyone less than is owed, and you just make the one payment to them. This is what a debt consolidation company does.
Hope this is helpful.
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It's a never ending battle it seems...one day though I will conquer!
