Building my Credit Score

[Marc_us82 49]

6 hours ago, Suss&Camm said:

They always have you do a regular application. If you have been in the country for at least few months (no idea how long you've been here) you can definitely get approved for a non-secured. I applied on day 2 and was not approved. But instead put a good limit to work with. It doesn't matter for the case of building credit score if it's secured or not,  it builds the same way. 

But if you for some other reason want a unsecured card (such as the rewards card) definitely they will make sure you get it

Good luck building! It's a marathon for us newcomers.. 

Yeah you are absolutely right, I have opened an account with them since October last year but the account has seen minimal activities with no income going in. Now that they are giving me a $1000 credit limit I am going to use the card to pay for stuff like meals and internet bills and make sure I pay if off every month. I remember you saying not to exceed 20% of the credit limit so I will just cap it at $200 (even tho the banker did say a usage of up to 70% wouldn't hurt the credit score as long as you clear the balance).

 

Cant wait to see my first FICO score!

[Suss&Camm 2,213]

3 hours ago, Marc_us82 said:

Yeah you are absolutely right, I have opened an account with them since October last year but the account has seen minimal activities with no income going in. Now that they are giving me a $1000 credit limit I am going to use the card to pay for stuff like meals and internet bills and make sure I pay if off every month. I remember you saying not to exceed 20% of the credit limit so I will just cap it at $200 (even tho the banker did say a usage of up to 70% wouldn't hurt the credit score as long as you clear the balance).

 

Cant wait to see my first FICO score!

The 20% is what is recommended on most credit building forums as most effective. You can use it more if you clear it before the closing date, but the amount that is utilized at the closing date is the utilization that gets recorded. At that point you don't want it higher than 20%. I'm sure you'd get along with doing more without "getting hurt", but you're trying to build effectively after all

Yea, waiting for the score is like waiting for Christmas!! hahahha

[Marc_us82 49]

3 minutes ago, Suss&Camm said:

The 20% is what is recommended on most credit building forums as most effective. You can use it more if you clear it before the closing date, but the amount that is utilized at the closing date is the utilization that gets recorded. At that point you don't want it higher than 20%. I'm sure you'd get along with doing more without "getting hurt", but you're trying to build effectively after all

Yea, waiting for the score is like waiting for Christmas!! hahahha

Oh thanks for the clarification! I will definitely be clearing the balance every billing cycle, I hate being in debt. Will use the credit card for all purchases from now on! ?

 

 

[Suss&Camm 2,213]

1 hour ago, Marc_us82 said:

Oh thanks for the clarification! I will definitely be clearing the balance every billing cycle, I hate being in debt. Will use the credit card for all purchases from now on! ?

 

 

This might have already been clear to you but since we're doing clarifications

You don't want to clear it before the closing date... some ppl clear it all during the cycle... but then no utilization is recorded (BofA reports at end of month, as do many but not all credit providers) and you want to show you are using credit, just that you are doing it responsibly.

[Marc_us82 49]

27 minutes ago, Suss&Camm said:

This might have already been clear to you but since we're doing clarifications

You don't want to clear it before the closing date... some ppl clear it all during the cycle... but then no utilization is recorded (BofA reports at end of month, as do many but not all credit providers) and you want to show you are using credit, just that you are doing it responsibly.

No it wasn't made clear to me! Care to clarify?

 

so when should I make payment exactly? I don't want to pay after the due date so as to avoid charges, right?

[Suss&Camm 2,213]

30 minutes ago, Marc_us82 said:

No it wasn't made clear to me! Care to clarify?

 

so when should I make payment exactly? I don't want to pay after the due date so as to avoid charges, right?

You should pay after the closing date, once a statement/bill is generated. That's the cut-off and once it is generated you have one month (until the due date) to pay it before any charges (interest, fees) are added. The bill that is generated will state that a minimum of $25 is needed, but this where you still pay the full amount, regardless of what it says on there.

 

As soon as that closing-date has come anything you use will be on the next months statement/bill. You can't be expected to pay a bill in zero amount of time. You always have that month to pay. I always pay directly after closing though just to make sure, you can also go to the bank and sign up for auto-pay. That will automatically pay it a certain number of days before the due date.

Edited March 29, 2017 by Suss&Camm

[Marc_us82 49]

3 hours ago, Suss&Camm said:

You should pay after the closing date, once a statement/bill is generated. That's the cut-off and once it is generated you have one month (until the due date) to pay it before any charges (interest, fees) are added. The bill that is generated will state that a minimum of $25 is needed, but this where you still pay the full amount, regardless of what it says on there.

 

As soon as that closing-date has come anything you use will be on the next months statement/bill. You can't be expected to pay a bill in zero amount of time. You always have that month to pay. I always pay directly after closing though just to make sure, you can also go to the bank and sign up for auto-pay. That will automatically pay it a certain number of days before the due date.

Thanks, crystal clear now!

[DaveNot 55]

With regards to people commenting on different scoring models. Obviously, each scoring model is different and has different criteria for each company. However, looking through the major three companies (Experian, Trans-union and Exquifax) shows very similar scores. Credit Karma uses vantage 3 (whatever that is), and my bank and credit cards use FICO, but between the 3 major agencies there's less than a 10 point difference. Not all creditors report to all agencies and not all at the same time. This is a major cause for fluctuation in numbers. I have found them to be very similar in scoring based on my lifestyle choices. So, I do have defend free based tracking for this reason. Obviously, if you want a mortgage, go to a bank.

[Jonathan Lopes 1]

On 3/27/2017 at 7:58 AM, Michael2017 said:

Go To Bank of America, get your own secured credit card. After 1 year, it will be transformed into a normal credit card. Do not spend more than 10% of your credit line per months and pay the debt when required. This way, your Credit Score will hit 600 after 6-8 months. Once it reached 600, get a high limit credit card, and spend again only 10% or less of your available credit. Within 12-14 months you will have an excellent credit score.

 

Very helpful suggestion. Thanks.