I have one single credit card that I use and pay back regularly. I have no other debt - school loans are paid off, cars are paid off, never late on bills, rent paid on time (they report it to credit bureaus)… I don’t even have medical debt.
One card at $5k limit (making this number up, only you know what you’re approved for on your card) doesn’t necessarily show worthiness for holding more debt. I have 4 active cards… aggregating about $40k of revolving limits. Of course rarely ever use them and pay them down.
Holding no non-revolving debts can actually hurt you. If you haven’t had a car note or mortgage in a long time, they don’t know if you’re capable of holding such debt effectively anymore. Before we bought a house, I specifically held onto the car notes and only paid the second car off after we secured the mortgage. Of course with a mortgage, I’ll be sitting on “debt” (really building equity in the house) for a while. but meeting the terms of that debt monthly only strengthens evidence that I can manage debt correctly, increasing score.
Edit: For you, try to increase your limits on your card. If not take out another card and make a purchase every few months on it to keep it active. As you increase the “allowances” you have, and keep that in check… you’ll find your number goes up quite quickly. As far as non-revolving debt, don’t take out a loan if you don’t need it, but think about sitting on a loan for your next purchase even if you have the cash on hand to build the credit up.
I paid off my last car in 2021. I have no plans for another car payment. 10 years over 2 cars was long enough. I’m nearly 40, married with kids, neither of us have any debt, and we pay our bills on time. And yet my fucking RENTAL still required me to have a fucking COSIGNER. That’s an absolute embarrassment.
Holding no non-revolving debts can actually hurt you.
IDK about you, but I’m sick of this game. This is bullshit, the system is clearly stacked against “the poors”. There is no light at the end of the tunnel. My only source for any sort of actual savings is bonuses and bi-annual “3 paycheck” months.
I’m lucky enough to be able to put 3% of my gross pay into a 401k.
I mean fair enough on the sentiment. I’m not particularly rich. But I do well off for myself and we live comfortably within our means.
But if you don’t “play the game” don’t be mad when you don’t score well? I know it sounds harsh, but it sounds to me like you don’t actually need credit access… so why do you care then?
I have one single credit card that I use and pay back regularly. I have no other debt - school loans are paid off, cars are paid off, never late on bills, rent paid on time (they report it to credit bureaus)… I don’t even have medical debt.
And yet my credit is mid 600s.
Make it make sense.
One card at $5k limit (making this number up, only you know what you’re approved for on your card) doesn’t necessarily show worthiness for holding more debt. I have 4 active cards… aggregating about $40k of revolving limits. Of course rarely ever use them and pay them down.
Holding no non-revolving debts can actually hurt you. If you haven’t had a car note or mortgage in a long time, they don’t know if you’re capable of holding such debt effectively anymore. Before we bought a house, I specifically held onto the car notes and only paid the second car off after we secured the mortgage. Of course with a mortgage, I’ll be sitting on “debt” (really building equity in the house) for a while. but meeting the terms of that debt monthly only strengthens evidence that I can manage debt correctly, increasing score.
Edit: For you, try to increase your limits on your card. If not take out another card and make a purchase every few months on it to keep it active. As you increase the “allowances” you have, and keep that in check… you’ll find your number goes up quite quickly. As far as non-revolving debt, don’t take out a loan if you don’t need it, but think about sitting on a loan for your next purchase even if you have the cash on hand to build the credit up.
I paid off my last car in 2021. I have no plans for another car payment. 10 years over 2 cars was long enough. I’m nearly 40, married with kids, neither of us have any debt, and we pay our bills on time. And yet my fucking RENTAL still required me to have a fucking COSIGNER. That’s an absolute embarrassment.
IDK about you, but I’m sick of this game. This is bullshit, the system is clearly stacked against “the poors”. There is no light at the end of the tunnel. My only source for any sort of actual savings is bonuses and bi-annual “3 paycheck” months.
I’m lucky enough to be able to put 3% of my gross pay into a 401k.
I mean fair enough on the sentiment. I’m not particularly rich. But I do well off for myself and we live comfortably within our means.
But if you don’t “play the game” don’t be mad when you don’t score well? I know it sounds harsh, but it sounds to me like you don’t actually need credit access… so why do you care then?