Turning 18... credit score

Malkytheheed

Ebe_Scrooge said:

NatalieAGC said:

cocacola02 said:

Thanks for everyone's posts been a great help, i am dedicated to building a great report for the future i always intend to pay any of my accounts on time in full each month.

Good for you! Many will tell you scores mean nothing but to build good credit file then scores matter ,,,

Wrong.  The score provided by the CRA means diddly-squat.  It's not even a reliable indicator to yourself of your credit-worthiness, it will go down in response to any change in your credit circumstances, good or bad.

To the OP - the other advice you've been given so far is spot on.  Any form of credit that you obtain and service correctly will start to build a solid history for you - phone contract, credit card, whatever.  Essentially, any prospective lender is looking for evidence that you can borrow and repay responsibly.  If you are able to get a credit card (your own bank is a good place to start as they already know a bit about your finances), that's an easy way to start to build a history.  Use it for everyday spending, stuff you'd buy anyway, and make sure you always pay it off in full, on time, every month.  The APR is irrelevant as you won't pay any interest if you pay in full every month.  A Direct Debit is the simplest way to make sure you never miss a payment.

well...... while far from accurate, and the fact that lenders dont see your score....

Doesn't mean they mean "diddly squat". 

I have an excellent credit file and as such have 3 excellent scredit score values. Someone I know has a trash credit file, and as such has 3 very low credit scores. It's not rocket science.

But I agree people shouldn't focus on the scores themselves as they fluctuate and lenders dont see them. 

easterbunni

Malkytheheed said:

Ebe_Scrooge said:

NatalieAGC said:

cocacola02 said:

Thanks for everyone's posts been a great help, i am dedicated to building a great report for the future i always intend to pay any of my accounts on time in full each month.

Good for you! Many will tell you scores mean nothing but to build good credit file then scores matter ,,,

Wrong.  The score provided by the CRA means diddly-squat.  It's not even a reliable indicator to yourself of your credit-worthiness, it will go down in response to any change in your credit circumstances, good or bad.

To the OP - the other advice you've been given so far is spot on.  Any form of credit that you obtain and service correctly will start to build a solid history for you - phone contract, credit card, whatever.  Essentially, any prospective lender is looking for evidence that you can borrow and repay responsibly.  If you are able to get a credit card (your own bank is a good place to start as they already know a bit about your finances), that's an easy way to start to build a history.  Use it for everyday spending, stuff you'd buy anyway, and make sure you always pay it off in full, on time, every month.  The APR is irrelevant as you won't pay any interest if you pay in full every month.  A Direct Debit is the simplest way to make sure you never miss a payment.

well...... while far from accurate, and the fact that lenders dont see your score....

Doesn't mean they mean "diddly squat". 

I have an excellent credit file and as such have 3 excellent scredit score values. Someone I know has a trash credit file, and as such has 3 very low credit scores. It's not rocket science.

But I agree people shouldn't focus on the scores themselves as they fluctuate and lenders dont see them. 

I have an excellent credit history.

Experian scores me at the max of 999

Clearscore scores me above average

Credit Karma think I am scum and score me as "fair".

There is exactly the same info on all three reports

D3xt3r5L4b

NatalieAGC said:

cocacola02 said:

Thanks for everyone's posts been a great help, i am dedicated to building a great report for the future i always intend to pay any of my accounts on time in full each month.

Good for you! Many will tell you scores mean nothing but to build good credit file then scores matter to give you indication of how to fair in terms of scoring models. 

Especially good for when mortgage time approaches and your already on the ball monitoring finance and credit agreements you have. 

👍🏼

That's becuase they don't mean anythng and they are NOTHING like a lenders individual scoring models.

D3xt3r5L4b

Malkytheheed said:

Ebe_Scrooge said:

NatalieAGC said:

cocacola02 said:

Thanks for everyone's posts been a great help, i am dedicated to building a great report for the future i always intend to pay any of my accounts on time in full each month.

Good for you! Many will tell you scores mean nothing but to build good credit file then scores matter ,,,

Wrong.  The score provided by the CRA means diddly-squat.  It's not even a reliable indicator to yourself of your credit-worthiness, it will go down in response to any change in your credit circumstances, good or bad.

To the OP - the other advice you've been given so far is spot on.  Any form of credit that you obtain and service correctly will start to build a solid history for you - phone contract, credit card, whatever.  Essentially, any prospective lender is looking for evidence that you can borrow and repay responsibly.  If you are able to get a credit card (your own bank is a good place to start as they already know a bit about your finances), that's an easy way to start to build a history.  Use it for everyday spending, stuff you'd buy anyway, and make sure you always pay it off in full, on time, every month.  The APR is irrelevant as you won't pay any interest if you pay in full every month.  A Direct Debit is the simplest way to make sure you never miss a payment.

well...... while far from accurate, and the fact that lenders dont see your score....

Doesn't mean they mean "diddly squat". 

I have an excellent credit file and as such have 3 excellent scredit score values. Someone I know has a trash credit file, and as such has 3 very low credit scores. It's not rocket science.

But I agree people shouldn't focus on the scores themselves as they fluctuate and lenders dont see them. 

Meanwhile Billy Bankrupt who owes nearly 6 figures in debt also has a 999 score and excellent rating....

Malkytheheed

D3xt3r5L4b said:

Malkytheheed said:

Ebe_Scrooge said:

NatalieAGC said:

cocacola02 said:

Thanks for everyone's posts been a great help, i am dedicated to building a great report for the future i always intend to pay any of my accounts on time in full each month.

Good for you! Many will tell you scores mean nothing but to build good credit file then scores matter ,,,

Wrong.  The score provided by the CRA means diddly-squat.  It's not even a reliable indicator to yourself of your credit-worthiness, it will go down in response to any change in your credit circumstances, good or bad.

To the OP - the other advice you've been given so far is spot on.  Any form of credit that you obtain and service correctly will start to build a solid history for you - phone contract, credit card, whatever.  Essentially, any prospective lender is looking for evidence that you can borrow and repay responsibly.  If you are able to get a credit card (your own bank is a good place to start as they already know a bit about your finances), that's an easy way to start to build a history.  Use it for everyday spending, stuff you'd buy anyway, and make sure you always pay it off in full, on time, every month.  The APR is irrelevant as you won't pay any interest if you pay in full every month.  A Direct Debit is the simplest way to make sure you never miss a payment.

well...... while far from accurate, and the fact that lenders dont see your score....

Doesn't mean they mean "diddly squat". 

I have an excellent credit file and as such have 3 excellent scredit score values. Someone I know has a trash credit file, and as such has 3 very low credit scores. It's not rocket science.

But I agree people shouldn't focus on the scores themselves as they fluctuate and lenders dont see them. 

Meanwhile Billy Bankrupt who owes nearly 6 figures in debt also has a 999 score and excellent rating....

A forum favourite yes. I often see the "bankrupt 999 score" argument. Yet I've never actually seen any evidence of this. It's all anecdotal...

Malkytheheed

easterbunni said:

Malkytheheed said:

Ebe_Scrooge said:

NatalieAGC said:

cocacola02 said:

Thanks for everyone's posts been a great help, i am dedicated to building a great report for the future i always intend to pay any of my accounts on time in full each month.

Good for you! Many will tell you scores mean nothing but to build good credit file then scores matter ,,,

Wrong.  The score provided by the CRA means diddly-squat.  It's not even a reliable indicator to yourself of your credit-worthiness, it will go down in response to any change in your credit circumstances, good or bad.

To the OP - the other advice you've been given so far is spot on.  Any form of credit that you obtain and service correctly will start to build a solid history for you - phone contract, credit card, whatever.  Essentially, any prospective lender is looking for evidence that you can borrow and repay responsibly.  If you are able to get a credit card (your own bank is a good place to start as they already know a bit about your finances), that's an easy way to start to build a history.  Use it for everyday spending, stuff you'd buy anyway, and make sure you always pay it off in full, on time, every month.  The APR is irrelevant as you won't pay any interest if you pay in full every month.  A Direct Debit is the simplest way to make sure you never miss a payment.

well...... while far from accurate, and the fact that lenders dont see your score....

Doesn't mean they mean "diddly squat". 

I have an excellent credit file and as such have 3 excellent scredit score values. Someone I know has a trash credit file, and as such has 3 very low credit scores. It's not rocket science.

But I agree people shouldn't focus on the scores themselves as they fluctuate and lenders dont see them. 

I have an excellent credit history.

Experian scores me at the max of 999

Clearscore scores me above average

Credit Karma think I am scum and score me as "fair".

There is exactly the same info on all three reports

There must be some data on your credit file that credit karma doesn't like. Maybe your credit history isn't as good as you think.... 

D3xt3r5L4b

Malkytheheed said:

easterbunni said:

Malkytheheed said:

Ebe_Scrooge said:

NatalieAGC said:

cocacola02 said:

Thanks for everyone's posts been a great help, i am dedicated to building a great report for the future i always intend to pay any of my accounts on time in full each month.

Good for you! Many will tell you scores mean nothing but to build good credit file then scores matter ,,,

Wrong.  The score provided by the CRA means diddly-squat.  It's not even a reliable indicator to yourself of your credit-worthiness, it will go down in response to any change in your credit circumstances, good or bad.

To the OP - the other advice you've been given so far is spot on.  Any form of credit that you obtain and service correctly will start to build a solid history for you - phone contract, credit card, whatever.  Essentially, any prospective lender is looking for evidence that you can borrow and repay responsibly.  If you are able to get a credit card (your own bank is a good place to start as they already know a bit about your finances), that's an easy way to start to build a history.  Use it for everyday spending, stuff you'd buy anyway, and make sure you always pay it off in full, on time, every month.  The APR is irrelevant as you won't pay any interest if you pay in full every month.  A Direct Debit is the simplest way to make sure you never miss a payment.

well...... while far from accurate, and the fact that lenders dont see your score....

Doesn't mean they mean "diddly squat". 

I have an excellent credit file and as such have 3 excellent scredit score values. Someone I know has a trash credit file, and as such has 3 very low credit scores. It's not rocket science.

But I agree people shouldn't focus on the scores themselves as they fluctuate and lenders dont see them. 

I have an excellent credit history.

Experian scores me at the max of 999

Clearscore scores me above average

Credit Karma think I am scum and score me as "fair".

There is exactly the same info on all three reports

There must be some data on your credit file that credit karma doesn't like. Maybe your credit history isn't as good as you think.... 

Though completely irrelevant in the scheme of things. 

Malkytheheed

D3xt3r5L4b said:

Malkytheheed said:

easterbunni said:

Malkytheheed said:

Ebe_Scrooge said:

NatalieAGC said:

cocacola02 said:

Thanks for everyone's posts been a great help, i am dedicated to building a great report for the future i always intend to pay any of my accounts on time in full each month.

Good for you! Many will tell you scores mean nothing but to build good credit file then scores matter ,,,

Wrong.  The score provided by the CRA means diddly-squat.  It's not even a reliable indicator to yourself of your credit-worthiness, it will go down in response to any change in your credit circumstances, good or bad.

To the OP - the other advice you've been given so far is spot on.  Any form of credit that you obtain and service correctly will start to build a solid history for you - phone contract, credit card, whatever.  Essentially, any prospective lender is looking for evidence that you can borrow and repay responsibly.  If you are able to get a credit card (your own bank is a good place to start as they already know a bit about your finances), that's an easy way to start to build a history.  Use it for everyday spending, stuff you'd buy anyway, and make sure you always pay it off in full, on time, every month.  The APR is irrelevant as you won't pay any interest if you pay in full every month.  A Direct Debit is the simplest way to make sure you never miss a payment.

well...... while far from accurate, and the fact that lenders dont see your score....

Doesn't mean they mean "diddly squat". 

I have an excellent credit file and as such have 3 excellent scredit score values. Someone I know has a trash credit file, and as such has 3 very low credit scores. It's not rocket science.

But I agree people shouldn't focus on the scores themselves as they fluctuate and lenders dont see them. 

I have an excellent credit history.

Experian scores me at the max of 999

Clearscore scores me above average

Credit Karma think I am scum and score me as "fair".

There is exactly the same info on all three reports

There must be some data on your credit file that credit karma doesn't like. Maybe your credit history isn't as good as you think.... 

Though completely irrelevant in the scheme of things. 

Ahh, so your credit history is completely irrelevant now too! I see I see. 

ceremony

I can understand the advice that "credit scores mean nothing" when it's being given to someone who generally conducts themselves incredibly well financially and they're stressing because their Experian moved by a few points when they changed mobile phone provider or something like that.

They're a decent guide to roughly what sort of customer lenders think you're going to be, but they're not perfect.

In my case, I have a low credit score because I have some defaults. I'm paying them off and cleared one a few months ago and when it was reported as paid off my score fell even more! I'm sure when they're all paid off and many years old my score will creep back up again, but for now paying attention to every single move up and down isn't worth it.

phillw

Ebe_Scrooge said:
It's not even a reliable indicator to yourself of your credit-worthiness, it will go down in response to any change in your credit circumstances, good or bad.

Change is always bad, it requires you to do something & that makes you harder to predict. Each lender is willing to accept a different amount of unpredictability.
If you close a credit card that you've had for years the lender could wonder if you're trying to make yourself look like you are less of a risk & wonder what you know that they don't.