Hit 700 for the first time after 3 years of work

Checked my FICO score through my bank app yesterday. Saw 703. Almost dropped my phone. I had been stuck at 648 for like 18 months, paying minimums on everything. Then I read on the myFICO forums that utilization under 10% gives a big boost. Tried it for 2 months straight. Worked way better than I expected. Anyone else see a jump like that from just lowering utilization?

2 comments

2 Comments

nora5355d ago

I almost dropped my phone" - haha I literally did drop mine when I saw my score jump from 620 to 690 after doing the same thing! I thought I broke my phone screen but it was worth it honestly. For like two years I was convinced paying off debt slowly was the only way, but that 10% utilization trick is like magic. I kept my credit card balance under $500 on a $6k limit for two months and boom, 70 points. Now I'm scared to use my card at all because I don't want to mess up the score again. Kinda feels like I'm walking on eggshells with my own money.

phoenixh745d ago

lol @nora535 I totally get the walking on eggshells thing. I was the exact same way after my score jumped up 65 points in one month. I almost stopped using my card completely too but then I found out that if you just pay it off before the statement cuts it counts as zero balance. Now I just pay my card off every week like a madman lol. It feels so weird finally having good credit after years of thinking I was stuck. But hey at least now we know the secret sauce.