When I got my new credit card last year it was 790.
That makes sense. Maybe I should start being late with my payments…lol!
Not even that. Just don’t pay off your card in full one month and let the bank make a couple of buck worth of interest, just to see what impact it has on your score, if any.
Hey Pete. I hope you know I was kidding. Maybe I’ll do what you recommended and make a partial payment.
Screw the banks. Hold on to your Loot as tightly as you can. 
I do I do! got a bunch invested in silver and gold. If thing goes to #2, I’ll still have enough to live on.
Have you thought about holding on to some platinum?
I mean, why do you think catalytic converters cost so much?
I’m not a fan of catalytic converters. If you don’t drive your car enough, the exhaust will smell like rotten eggs. I know from personal experience.
Nah, Pt is passé.
Pd. For the first time, the cost of Pd exceeded that of even Au. Demand is constant and high, supply is shrinking.
Anyone invest in the stock market? Option trading?
“why isn’t 900”
STOP BUYING FLASHLIGHTS!
I don’t really know nor care about my “score”. I pretty much always lived with zero debt. Zero. Not even unused credit-cards.
When I saw the Car Of My Dreams, I needed 10kbux to get it, and didn’t want to tap into my SHTF fund. Ended up taking out a 24mo loan. Paid it off in 4mos. Would’ve been 3, but the little box that says “You still owe X on your debt”, I sent in the full amount thinking I’d be paid off. Nope. Next month I get a bill for like 13bux. Called ’em and asked “How much do I need to send to make youse go away?”, and the guy laffed and quoted like 15¢ more or so.
So, 4mos-wouldda-been-3mos to pay off a 24mo loan. Back to zero debt.
So my problem wasn’t a low score, but essentially no score.
When I did have a CC æons ago, I also always paid it off in full within the grace period. Never gave the leeches a nickel. When the grace period went away, so did the card. Never looked back.
So I agree with many of the above comments, live debt-free (ie, live well below your means), don’t give the leeches anything you don’t have to, and hang onto your loot as much as possible. Only only only if it’d cost you more to do so (transaction fees, etc.), would I take out debt. And even then, I’d have to have a plan to get out of it asap.
+1 again to Lightbringer
Debt is something horrible to have. Imagine always having something to take care of behind your head. It’s not a good feeling.
Czech out highya for lots of info on this kind of thing, eg,
https://www.highya.com/articles-guides/a-guide-on-how-to-raise-your-credit-score-fast
I recall one of their articles saying that not all scores are created equal, that different institutions use different formulæ to get the “score”.
Anyway, they’re a good source of info about, well, almost everything. Poke around…
’Sokay, I return the favor. :laughing:
I might get back into it, but I hate the reporting requirements at the end of the year, or paperwork in general.
Most people have a fundamental misunderstanding of what a credit score is.
A credit score is a rating of credit-worthiness — it doesn’t take into account income, assets, or things like that — its sole purpose is to rate how much of a risk a person will be if they borrow money. And don’t bother aiming for a “perfect” score; you won’t be able to reach it. The formulas can find fault in everyone’s credit history.
Having little or no debt in and of itself doesn’t make one highly rated, or raise one’s score. A borrower has to demonstrate a responsible use of credit to get a good score, by borrowing money and paying it back. Actually using credit. And part of that is responsibly using the credit lines you’ve been given, within certain ratios, aka the utilization factor (meaning, don’t max out your credit cards).
One of the biggest factors in the formulas the credit bureaus use is on-time payments. Paying your bills on time is simply the easiest and best thing to do to get a good score.
A lot of people obsess over their credit scores, and there’s no need to. Do the right thing and you’ll be fine.
That doesn’t mean that credit scores aren’t being used for purposes they aren’t intended to cover, by landlords and employers and such, but for the sole purpose of borrowing money, obsessions with having the ultimate score, or seeing the number fluctuate (which is natural) aren’t necessary.
If one needs to borrow larges sums of money, such as with a mortgage, the lender will be looking at a whole lot more than one’s FICO score. It’s one factor, but not the only one.
What, Pd? You can get 1oz ingots or rounds.
Ag is actually quite cheap now, relatively speaking, so it’s a bargain. You can get 1oz rounds (Silver Eagles, Silver Maple Leafs, etc), or ingots. Hell, I’ve gotten “junk silver” (pre-1964 coins), and bars in 2oz, 5oz, 50oz, up to 100oz bricks, just as curios. Don’t really expect to go to a gas-station after the Zombie Apocalypse and trade Ag bars for a tankful, but they’re there. Like, why not?
Addendum: if Ag prices go up, I might liquidate some of those “curios” as they’re not quite value-dense. Other than someone who makes jewelry, who actually trades Ag bars, y’know?
Au is the standard (Eagles, Maples, Krugerrands, Pandas, Philharmonics, you name it), and even get, say, 1oz ingots from Credit Suisse with their authenticity papers! If bullion ain’t your thing, go for numismatics, like Walking/Seated Liberty coins that are MS-rated, etc.
Pt coins look very very close to Ag coins, so be sure to never ever mix ’em up!
I’ve known people who’ve stocked up on even base metals like Cu bricks. Dunno what they’d do with ’em, other’n build a thermally conductive pizza-oven or something.
Start small, save save save, go on to bigger things.