Dufferman I am no expert but if my credit card usage runs higher one month then my score seems to drop the next. Example I'm thinking is if my normal credit card bill is $2k a month and I spend $4k one month then back to $2k.

      PSA: Make sure you lock your credit.

      My wife & I haven't been below 800 in over 20 years & today I'm at 801. All of our factors are excellent except that we don't have a mortgage or car payment, all we do is pay every damn bill on-time and pay-off CC balances monthly (treat our cards like American Express cards) unless we have a 4 figure balance then it's paid off in 2 months. 801 is still excellent but it's a matter of pride for me.

      livegolf Maybe, who knows! I know when we have paid for a vacation or something I have never seen a double digit drop the next month just because of that. I only use the credit card for the cash back. I guess the added free money is worth the mysterious credit rating shenanigans.

        I've never cared about my credit score. It used to be fantastic, from what I was told from various institutions who were selling me things or loaning me money, but I never cared to know what it actually was.

        For me, there's enough things that I can control that I have my head filled with. This is one based on what I'm reading here I'm glad I don't have. It would drive me crazy to do the right things and know it was dropping. Since I don't know if it's rising or dropping I'm in the "ignorance is bliss" section on this category of life's concerns.

          Toulon I'm in the "ignorance is bliss" section on this category of life's concerns.

          They keep score?

              I don't worry about the number, I've been close to perfect, and as low as low 700's during a rough stretch when I was carrying a lot of debt when separated. As long as the score is in the upper 700's, you are considered to have great credit. Banks shoot in ranges for rates

              Went to purchase a new dining room table and chairs over the weekend at a local furniture store. The salesperson asked my method of payment, I told them cash money. No lie, he had to consult the manager to make sure they took cash. lol

              If there’s one thing better than having a good credit score, it’s being in a position to not have to be concerned about it.

              Glad that my wife and I learned some hard lessons about wasteful spending early on in life rather than later.

              There are a lot of things overrated in life. Not having mortgage/car/credit card payments ain’t one of 'em.

              I have no idea what my score is now but at one time it was 15 points from perfect. I think 850 or something is perfect and I was 835. Like others here I closed out a card I never use and it went down. I thought that was really weird.
              I'm not planning on ever buying anything on credit again unless we move or buy a second home, and even then might pay cash depending on interest rates and what we get for our current house. I do use my CC to buy pretty much everything for the points and pay it off monthly.

                garyt1957 Perfect now depends on which of the three you look at. FICO uses 900 now--of course, but Experian uses 850. My bank doesn't list a Vantage # for me, not sure what that is but they do list their own score for me when I had a credit card with them but closed that and my score event down.

                I'm more like @bogeypro , a pride thing as I haven't applied for any loan in over 10 years and don't add cards--got to get a life. My FICO is 861, they show how this is measure by percentages but no actual data. My Citi card (use for air miles) states two reasons for change--too many credit accounts and fewer accounts--go figure.

                Once I was 849 when they sued 850 now they bump it up.

                  I would definitely look at all 3 if you haven't already. Several years ago when we bought my wife's car I was surprised when the credit union said our score was just ok and so we would have to pay a slightly higher rate. I checked all 3 and 2 of our scores were great while that one was just ok. There was an incorrect "blemish" on one that we were able to get fixed. Not really a big deal, but it would have increased the loan % a couple of tenths.

                  I hear the score and can drop with too many credit cards, but it can also be lower if you only have 1 card, no loans and everything paid on time. Apparently no activity is almost as bad as too much.

                    KCee I hear the score and can drop with too many credit cards,

                    It does. Drops every time you apply, whether accepted or not.
                    We never had any cc's. Never had any loans. Always paid cash as we went along. 1 day, about 18 mo. ago, I got an 'invite' to apply, through Amazon, and for shits/giggles, I did. Approved, with a really good line of credit. Of course this led to more offers and I started taking them up on them. Most had no interest for the 1st 12-15 months. A lot of them had cash back deals. Some even had bonus deals of 'spend x in xx days/months, get as much as $400 free cash'(they do pay!!). I kept getting approved and got a few just in a couple months. Use them as we should, and got a ton of free bonus cash back. Credit score was nearing 800! Then I stopped and kept close watch through Credit Karma at the fluctuations in score. It's crazy. No matter what you do/when you do it, it's going to change almost weekly, but even after getting even more cards the past few months, it's really never gone down all that much. I let them go, making just min. payments for a couple months, then paid them all off at once, just to see what happened to the score. It never moved. Now that I'm using a couple of them again, scores are slightly raising. FICO score is high. Vantage is fine. Experian and the others, up/down weekly. No sense to be made of any of it.

                      The more active loans, credit cards, etc. that you continue to make all payments on time. The higher your score will be. It's just the opposite from what you would consider to make sense. If you never had credit cards or loans with a record of paying them, they don't know if you are credit worthy or not.

                        meagain

                        meagain The more active loans, credit cards, etc. that you continue to make all payments on time. The higher your score will be

                        This is patently false. If you credit utilization on those cards is too high relative to their limits, your score will go down. Way down.

                              SlevinKelevra You keep the total of all accounts under 10% and everything is good to go.

                              But, to get the highest ratings, you do need to have installment loans, car payments, or something like a mortgage, on record. Either current, or paid off.

                                  Par4QC paid off.

                                  Paid off doesn't help that much. Active loans, payments, utility bills, help the most.

                                      meagain Yeah, my reports keep telling me I need to go in debt, to go higher. I don't like debt, so I can only go around 757 on their scale. Good enough, because I won't need it higher anyway.....no loans/debt coming my way.

                                      The 'fine' print on those car loans for 0%, will tell you you need 800+ for eligibility. You wife would know, most likely.

                                          Par4QC The 'fine' print on those car loans for 0%, will tell you you need 800+ for eligibility

                                          They are probably flexible, or maybe area dependent. My scores always come in on the high 700's when I ask about car loans (the only time I ever see a credit report), but I always qualify for the zero interest when I've asked for it.

                                              My sister in law has excellent credit. 800+. Her score nosedived by like 20+ points bc she paid off and closed her student loans, which was her oldest line of credit. I hate everything about the credit score industry. It's a racket.