I need some help here. Is there any other way to build credit besides opening a credit card? I've done this and now I have what I think are too many and it does not seem like my credit score has changed that much. Before I opened these credit cards, my credit scores were in the low to mid 500's. I've had these cards going on 2 years and it looks as like my score has not even jumped up 100 points. I can't get approved for anything else that would make my credit score to jump up, so what do I do? I pay my bills on time. It's just so frustrating.
Try becoming an authorized user on someone else's credit cards. Their credit card histories will be reflected on your reports - which will increase your score somewhat but not necessarily dramatically.
What is your utilization ratio? That's a big part of your score. If your cards are over 50% of the limit it's definitely keeping your score down. It seems that FICO likes a mix of credit types. Do you have a store card as well as the major cards? You might want to get a personal loan from your credit union (put the money back in your account to help pay off the loan) so that you have an installment loan. And, as greg mentioned, become an AU on someone's card with a low utilization and long history.
My fiancee just made me an authorized user on his Home depot card, so we'll see what happens with that. I do have a mixture of store credit cards and "major credit cards" The only type of visa or mastercard I was able to get approved for were ones for people with "bad credit" which means high interest rates. I'm really trying to clean up my credit, but it just seems like I can't catch a break. Thanks for the insight on those whose answered my post. I will keep striving to clean up my credit and maybe one day my credit will get up to 680.
On your low limits keep the balances low as with store cards.Also when you do buy something ask your self cash or credit.If you answer credit for under 100 dollars you can wait until you get 100 bucks.I've been there done that and it doe's work.we went from 497 to 629 in about 6 months including a bankruptcy.Good luck and keep working
Creditnet recently posted an article about building credit from scratch, it can be found in our Learning Center How to Build Credit
