My FICO Score…The Climb from 680 to 750

I’ve been signed up for a credit monitoring program since August of 2004. What’s nice about it is that I now have a history of my FICO score through TransUnion. I can see the ups and the downs.

Here’s a screenshot…

Back in August of 2004, my FICO score was 726. I do not have the screenshot here, but just a year earlier it was around 680. The biggest change that occurred is that a medical account that went to collections fell off my credit history because enough time had passed. That gave my credit score an instant boost because I didn’t have any other lates on my report.

Then, something happened in early 2005 and it reduced to 704. I know exactly what caused that. That was when my credit card was used heavily for my husband’s business. Therefore, my credit utlization ratio raised and my credit score lowered. My cards were soon almost maxed out.

After that, my credit score has teeter-tottered back and forth a little bit. Some of that has to do with the credit card companies raising my credit limit (therefore raising my score) and then I would charge more on the cards (therefore lowering my score).

This year, as soon as I started paying off the credit card debt, my credit score started going up. Looking to the future, as more debt is paid off I expect my credit score to keep raising. I would love to get to 800 at least once in my life, just to say I did it. Time will tell ;)

Posted by Tricia on December 17, 2006 at 9:30 AM in Credit Reports/FICO | 15 Comments »
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  1. Mike responded:
    Posted: December 17th, 2006 at 11:24 pm

    I had a FICO score over 800 several years ago, but now it’s down to 768.

    Why did this happen? It’s because I paid off my mortgate and have no installment debt. No change in other history — no late pays, collections etc. I have always paid off my credit card balances every month.

    Funny how that works. Buying a car on time would make my score go up.

  2. Maria responded:
    Posted: December 18th, 2006 at 4:30 pm

    That’s fantastic Trisha! I’m happy for you. You’re doing a great job.

  3. SCapitalist responded:
    Posted: December 19th, 2006 at 12:01 am

    That’s a terrific score! You are well above the national average. That score is a symbol of you hard work and dedication towards reducing you debt. Good for you!

  4. Personal Finance Blogger responded:
    Posted: December 26th, 2006 at 5:56 pm

    Bear in mind that the scores you see on the Transunion site are not actual FICO scores. They are an approximation sometimes called FAKO’s.

    If you want to see your actual FICO score you should check out the Fair Isaac website. URL is: http://www.myfico.com/

  5. Tricia responded:
    Posted: December 26th, 2006 at 8:55 pm

    I should have noted that the score is from myfico.com. That’s the company that I have my identity protector plan from and I receive my quarterly FICO score through them and it happens to be TransUnion.

    Is there a difference between the TransUnion on myfico’s site versus the TransUnion site itself?

  6. Donna responded:
    Posted: December 30th, 2006 at 8:49 am

    That is awesome. I was reading how it is nearly impossible to get up above that level because of some of the oddities of the system: I keep working on the scores: I never seem to get much of a break because I do stupid stuff like pay a bill late — knocking down my score or applying for unnecessary credit. Mostly though, scores are a result of your outstanding balances — that is what we work on all the time. Getting the debt down further and further. Great job.

  7. 1mil responded:
    Posted: January 29th, 2007 at 10:01 pm

    Very nice score! hehe. You know just 8 months ago I had a 650 something score, and I’ve added almost 100 more points to my score! Yay! I have the monitoring too, but I dunno if its worth $65/yr. What do you think?

    Your friend in finance, 1mil from millionster.com

  8. Chris responded:
    Posted: March 13th, 2007 at 12:46 pm

    Read this article on credit monitoring from MSN.

    http://moneycentral.msn.com/content/Banking/FinancialPrivacy/P135864.asp

    There are many other articles out there on the subject. The consensus from the experts seems to be that unless you believe your personal information has been compromised, it is not worth the effort. You can get a free report from all 3 agencies every year.

  9. Ask 1mil: How Can I Increase My Credit Score? - Millionster.com - Personal Finance, Business, Investing and Life responded:
    Posted: April 23rd, 2007 at 5:23 pm

    [...] coming Fall, and so I have been obsessed with my credit score. Recently, a reader ran across one of my credit score comments and decided to share the story of her identity theft and credit issues with me. In her email she [...]

  10. ordinary credit card enthusiast responded:
    Posted: May 1st, 2007 at 4:45 am

    Your credit score is still good and that’s great. Your aim is 800. Excellent! I think, we should always aspire to higher credit score, because we understand the fact that the higher credit score we have, the more benefits we can get and more money we can save.

  11. Evan responded:
    Posted: December 4th, 2007 at 12:11 am

    I think that it’s great when people strive for higher credit score. There is no doubt that many things depend on credit score . And the higher credit score, the more opportunities people have.

  12. Oblio a responded:
    Posted: August 14th, 2008 at 9:10 pm

    I think that it’s dumb when people strive for higher credit score. There is no doubt that many things depend on income and not buying things you cannot afford. And the higher credit score, the more it shows you love DEBT. Pay with cash…aim for a zero FICO!

  13. Hazeleyez responded:
    Posted: October 16th, 2008 at 8:41 am

    Oblio, paying with cash is great if you are able to do so; however having a high FICO score does not only help you get loans, it also ensures that you get the best insurance rates and avoid paying deposits for utilities. These days, it can even determine whether or not you get a job! So everyone should be striving to improve their scores.

  14. ultramanjones responded:
    Posted: October 21st, 2011 at 2:50 am

    Oblio, perhaps you should change your name to “Oblivio” because you are obviously oblivious. Say that 10 times fast. I have known people to actually LOSE a job because their credit score went down. Yup, that’s right, not only did it determine whether or not they were GIVEN the job, it later took that job away. One job was management and another was simply a cashiers job (handling cash). Seriously, if you have enough cash to buy a house than you should buy ten properties instead, earn rent from them and retire. Sounds like you’re retired already. From thinking, that is. This ain’t the 1800′s; everyone has to play the credit game now. Like it or not.

  15. Fascinated responded:
    Posted: December 13th, 2011 at 12:58 am

    No, everyone does not “have to play the credit game”. If you have plenty of cash to buy what you need/want, you don’t really need a lot of credit.

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