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The math behind credit scores must be pure black magic. Login/Join 
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Picture of vthoky
posted
My credit card company offers me "free credit score reporting." Okay, great. I don't put a ton of stock in it, but I take a look at it monthly.

This evening, I see that my credit score (not bad at all) decreased by three points. Why? Well, let's take a look.
Seems my available credit went up somewhat, and my total outstanding debts went down somewhat. (Remarkable coincidence, right?)

So... let me get this straight. I owe less today than a month ago, my balance sheet looks better... and my score goes down.

What in the world...? Confused




God bless America.
 
Posts: 14185 | Location: Frog Level Yacht Club | Registered: July 15, 2007Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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I think scores across the board will slip some with the current financial problems. Lower scores mean higher rates. Obviously 3 points isn't shit, but other peoples' swings will be bigger.
 
Posts: 5254 | Location: Iowa | Registered: February 24, 2011Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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It is witchcraft.
 
Posts: 2169 | Registered: April 14, 2009Reply With QuoteReport This Post
delicately calloused
Picture of darthfuster
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I’ve been anti debt so long I don’t exist.



You’re a lying dog-faced pony soldier
 
Posts: 30003 | Location: Norris Lake, TN | Registered: May 07, 2008Reply With QuoteReport This Post
I am a leaf
on the wind...
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It's because you are not utilizing debt to your fullest potential. Think of it as an "I love debt" score. You have less debt and more debt available to you(not being used). Of course your I love debt score is going to go down, run your debt as high as possible and pay on time. You will have the best score around.


_____________________________________
"We must not allow a mine shaft gap."
 
Posts: 2173 | Location: Elizabeth, CO | Registered: August 16, 2004Reply With QuoteReport This Post
His Royal Hiney
Picture of Rey HRH
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I think it's just a coincidence. Plus I don't know if the credit score you get is an "Official" credit score and of the several official credit scores, which one is it.

I have several credit card companies that give me my credit score and none of them are in the ballpark of the one I used to get from Experian which I had for free for a couple of years because some organization had been hacked. That's when I also learned there are several categories of official credit scores. You have one for buying a house, a car, etc.



"It did not really matter what we expected from life, but rather what life expected from us. We needed to stop asking about the meaning of life, and instead to think of ourselves as those who were being questioned by life – daily and hourly. Our answer must consist not in talk and meditation, but in right action and in right conduct. Life ultimately means taking the responsibility to find the right answer to its problems and to fulfill the tasks which it constantly sets for each individual." Viktor Frankl, Man's Search for Meaning, 1946.
 
Posts: 20263 | Location: The Free State of Arizona - Ditat Deus | Registered: March 24, 2011Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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Picture of vthoky
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I pay on time, for sure, but the goal is to get free of it -- not to incur more of it.

Good point, Jeff. I hadn't thought of it as an "I love debt" score, but as an "I make good decisions with my money" score.




God bless America.
 
Posts: 14185 | Location: Frog Level Yacht Club | Registered: July 15, 2007Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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I can see my credit score with the Discover card I have. At one time my credit score was a perfect 850. I then paid off my mortgage when I sold another property I owned. Although I always pay my credit card in full every month, my credit has never been at 850 again.


_________________________
"Sometimes I wonder whether the world is being run by smart people who are putting us on or by imbeciles who really mean it."
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Posts: 13479 | Registered: January 17, 2011Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Optimistic Cynic
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Perhaps this "credit scpre" you speak of is intended to estimate how potentially lucrative you might be as a credit customer? IOW the calculation is done for the interests of credit issuers rather than debtors. "This guy doesn't need to borrow, so we aren't likely to make money off of him, lower his credit score, and when he comes back, we can charge him a higher rate == BONUS!"
 
Posts: 6945 | Location: NoVA | Registered: July 22, 2009Reply With QuoteReport This Post
My other Sig
is a Steyr.
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No magic is involved with the credit cartel.

It's all pay to play.



 
Posts: 9549 | Location: Somewhere looking for ammo that nobody has at a place I haven't been to for a pistol I couldn't live without... | Registered: December 02, 2014Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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Picture of mcrimm
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quote:
Originally posted by wcb6092:
I can see my credit score with the Discover card I have. At one time my credit score was a perfect 850. I then paid off my mortgage when I sold another property I owned. Although I always pay my credit card in full every month, my credit has never been at 850 again.


In 42 years of banking, I never saw a perfect credit score from one of the 3 bureaus. Darn tuff to get past about 830.



I'm sorry if I hurt you feelings when I called you stupid - I thought you already knew - Unknown
...................................
When you have no future, you live in the past. " Sycamore Row" by John Grisham
 
Posts: 4292 | Location: Saddlebrooke, Arizona | Registered: December 24, 2013Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Looking at life
thru a windshield
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Your score will go up just on the types of credit you have, home, student, car.....etc. the more you have the higher your score.
 
Posts: 3934 | Location: FL, GA,HB, and all points beyond | Registered: February 10, 2010Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Ammoholic
Picture of Skins2881
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quote:
Originally posted by mcrimm:
quote:
Originally posted by wcb6092:
I can see my credit score with the Discover card I have. At one time my credit score was a perfect 850. I then paid off my mortgage when I sold another property I owned. Although I always pay my credit card in full every month, my credit has never been at 850 again.


In 42 years of banking, I never saw a perfect credit score from one of the 3 bureaus. Darn tuff to get past about 830.


Mine was 840s til recently, opened Macy's card for 20% off cost me 24 points.



Helps I have a degree in finance and worked in financial services for 5 years. Fair Isaac's isn't voodoo to me, it's math.



Jesse

Sic Semper Tyrannis
 
Posts: 21342 | Location: Loudoun County, Virginia | Registered: December 27, 2014Reply With QuoteReport This Post
I am a leaf
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I can't explain it better than Dave Ramsey, so here is a 6 minute video outlining it.
https://youtu.be/nzoOCbgO8CI


_____________________________________
"We must not allow a mine shaft gap."
 
Posts: 2173 | Location: Elizabeth, CO | Registered: August 16, 2004Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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You don't put much stock in it but you check it monthly? Don't fall for the scam.

I've had a mid 800's for 20 years and I have more money than I ever have and no longer have a single loan yet my score is barely in the 800's.

All the credit score is how much you have borrowed over the years so when you brag about your credit score you are bragging about how much you have borrowed over the years.
 
Posts: 4062 | Registered: January 25, 2013Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Alienator
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It is not a credit score, its a "debt score". They are only interested in how much debt you possess, how long you have maintained debt, and if you pay on time.


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Psalm 118:24 "This is the day which the Lord hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it"
 
Posts: 7204 | Location: NC | Registered: March 16, 2012Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Drill Here, Drill Now
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My favorite credit score story is when I moved to Canada for 2 years. I sold my US home which paid off my only debt (ie mortgage), reduced my US footprint to a forwarding PO Box, continued to pay my US credit cards on time (BTW, zero international transaction fee credit cards), and cancelled a credit card that was doing a shit job on ID protection. My credit score dropped 60 points.

In the real world - My money market is chalk full of equity from being a homeowner for 16 years, I'm living in company paid housing (aka free), maxing out 401k, maxing out IRA, and getting paid expat premium. SMH.

When my employer transferred me to Texas, my credit score went up 40 points for taking out a modest mortgage. I have less free cash flow and less savings in Texas than I did in Can-eh-duh. However, credit score has nothing to do with either one of those.



Ego is the anesthesia that deadens the pain of stupidity

DISCLAIMER: These are the author's own personal views and do not represent the views of the author's employer.
 
Posts: 23956 | Location: Northern Suburbs of Houston | Registered: November 14, 2005Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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my scores used to never change, now if i run up the credit card, scores drop 20+.

i pay the bill before it's due, score goes backup 20+.
 
Posts: 2245 | Registered: October 17, 2013Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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Picture of bigdeal
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quote:
Originally posted by Skins2881:
Mine was 840s til recently, opened Macy's card for 20% off cost me 24 points.

Helps I have a degree in finance and worked in financial services for 5 years. Fair Isaac's isn't voodoo to me, it's math.
Then you know anything over 800 and anyone making credit decisions will happily hand you whatever you want. People sweat this stuff a bit too much. Years ago I bought a car for something like $25k over 60 months. The following month my credit score went 'up' ~15 points. Its not really voodoo, it more closely resembles what falls out of the southern end of a north bound bovine. Wink


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Guns are awesome because they shoot solid lead freedom. Every man should have several guns. And several dogs, because a man with a cat is a woman. Kurt Schlichter
 
Posts: 33845 | Location: Orlando, FL | Registered: April 30, 2006Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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quote:
Originally posted by SIG4EVA:
It is not a credit score, its a "debt score". They are only interested in how much debt you possess, how long you have maintained debt, and if you pay on time.
The 'type' of debt you have, by category, also plays a significant role in your final score. When I opted to finance the purchase of my current cellphone (interest free installment debt over 24 months) instead of just purchasing it out right, my credit score went up.


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Guns are awesome because they shoot solid lead freedom. Every man should have several guns. And several dogs, because a man with a cat is a woman. Kurt Schlichter
 
Posts: 33845 | Location: Orlando, FL | Registered: April 30, 2006Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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