Wednesday, May 20, 2009

My FICO Score Improved...

...from 712 to 723. Dagnabbit! It's still a couple of points short of my goal of 725.

I purchased my score from myFICO. You can purchase a standard FICO score for $12.76 (usual price $15.95) before May 31st by using the promotion code: FICOMAY20.




Nothing new here. I already know about my past late payments on my student loans. Only time will resolve this issue.

But another issue that's dragging my score down is the fact that I'm currently using 18% of my credit limits right now. This too will be resolved in October when I plan to pay off my $11,000+ credit card debt. The credit card balance currently has a 0% APR until October so I'm in no hurry to pay it down before then.

The myFICO site has a pretty cool simulator that will estimate how certain actions taken can affect your score. I simulated a scenario where I paid off my credit card debt in 6 months. According to myFICO, my score should improve to about 723 - 763. If I can get beyond 760, that should get me into the top 2% of all credit scores. Cha-ching!

Additionally, in a couple of years, assuming I keep paying my bills on time, my delinquent record should fall off and my score should improve to 813 - 850 range. Awesome!

In another 6 months, I'm planning to purchase my FICO score from TransUnion. I've heard that TransUnion scores are a bit more lenient. If my CreditKarma score is any indication, I suspect that may be true. We'll see.

I'm not sure why I bother to check my FICO scores since I don't intend to make any new purchases. But I guess I do so because my FICO score is a report card on my financial progress. And my report card tells me I'm on my way.

6 comments:

444 said...

Good for you, Shtinky. I dream of the day I will be in your place, FICO-wise. I just cancelled a subscription to MyFico ($4.95 per month, I got a deal on it) because my score was not changing and I didn't want to keep paying to see how mediocre my score is (670 or so.) One day I'll be in your high-FICO club, though.

moneyfunk said...

FANTASTIC! :p

I haven't checked mine for a while. Perhpas I should.

Keep up the great work!

Anonymous said...

Dang it...I always miss the promotions for FICO. Good job on your progress.

Ms. MoneyChat said...

like moneyfunk, i haven't checked mine in a long time. you're doing awesome, fantastic job.

***off the subject: how's mr. cat? the last thing i remember is the situation when he wasn't eating his food.

Sunflowers said...

Yay! :D

Coles Myer said...

Congratulations! You really did a good job. Not all people can increase there credit score. And I am one of them. I misused my credit card and have not control my spending urge so I incur debt. Yeah, my FICO score plummeted.
No worries because only a thousand bucks and I will be debt free!