I know you are all hard at work with your credit goals. Have you progressed as far as you hoped? Were there any unforeseen expenses that cropped up and may have thrown you off schedule?
As a reminder, participation in these monthly check-ins is optional but encouraged. The goal is to help keep you on track, so feel free to post your progress updates here. This is a no-judge zone; feel free to say what's keeping you up at night or give yourself a Kudo for having it all together.
Did you hit any potholes or speedbumps? Achieve some milestones, either small or mighty? Change your goals or add new ones?
Let us know how you're doing! e
Another page on the calendar, another month in the garden.
I've been tempted on a couple of cards for cash back: the Venmo visa and the BOA Unlimited Cash. Haven't pulled the trigger yet as I am finally down to 0/6, 0/12. May try for another CLI on my Apple card, which is my lowest CL by far but waiting for my installment plan to be paid off in April (0% APR on a mac mini purchase last spring) to improve my odds.
@mgood wrote:They're going to go down more when my new card reports and my utilization on everything shows up.
As expected, extra spending during the holidays, plus this being a slow time of year at work means utilization is up, number of accounts with balances is up. Opening two new cards in two months didn't help. Scores are down 9.625 points averaged over all 40 FICO scores. Not looking terrible, but not as good as I like them to be.
FICO 8:
Feb 2 - 771, 762, 774
Jan 1 - 778, 764, 776
Not a huge drop, but noticeable.
FICO 9 took a bigger hit:
Feb 2 - 779, 777, 775
Jan 1 - 795, 789, 785
Eq Auto 9 dropped 24 points from 793 to 769.
Ex Bankcard 2 dropped 24 from 768 to 744.
They'll be back up soon.
EQ8 809, TU8 790, EX8 797 as of May 10
Scores are all back where they were due to a successful dispute to get the duplicate account reporting by FNBO removed. I'm still trying to get all scores at 850. Amazing how I am hovering right near 850 and can't get the final point or two needed. I think I'll give it another month, then I'm ditching the effort. I have received a business card offer from my bank that I like. It's an Elan card with some 3% cash back opportunities. I'm strongly considering taking that offer. I will also pay off the ~$100 on my car loan that I've been carrying since last May.
I'm focusing on getting debt free. Our mortgage officially has 26+ years left, but we're on pace to pay it off by summer 2025 or sooner.
Starting Score: 469
Hello everyone, havnt checked in for since last year. My current FICO 8 is at its highest at 693, closing in at the 700 club ! My overall utilization fluctuates but i been managing to keep it under 30%. Also just cheked Nav and my Business Experian grade is "A".
HAPPY FEBRUARY 29 EVERYONE! 
My February has been great - after a few years away the MyFICO forum, I have jumped back in just in time for Leap Day (pun fully intended). Also did housekeeping - pulled my up-to-date credit report from all 3 bureaus.
So I'm gonna use this month to record my starting stats in the Fitness Challenge:
- CS: [FICO 8] 753 EX, 766 EQ, 774 TU
- TCL: $50K
- CCs: 5 active, 2 closed due to inactivity
- Payment history: Exceptional (100% accounts always paid as agreed)
- Amount of debt: Exceptional (2% UTIL)
- Length of credit history: Fair (AAoA 3 years, 3 months; AoOA: 6 years, 2 months)
- Amount of new credit: Fair (Age of Most Recent Account 5 months; Number of Recent Inquiries 3)
- Credit mix: Exceptional (7 Revolving Accounts / 7 Bank-Issued CC Accounts)
I would love to hear if anyone has advice on how I can improve my FICO fitness, esp. in the "Fair" categories above. Thank you in advance for any advice!
[Mar. 2024]