Dan’s Credit Update
In one of my most recent posts, I spoke about my slightly unconventional approach to paying off my car loan. In short: I paid off a very large portion of it very early on in the loan, but not all of it for two reasons – 1. to minimize my total interest paid; and 2. to help my credit score. I detailed extensively why it would help my credit score, and to prove a point, I put my money where my mouth was and showed how mine and my wife’s (who was a co-signer on the loan) credit scores have improved. I mentioned that the latest payments weren’t reflected on my (already improved) credit scores. Well, here they are. I had an additional 9 points added onto my score, which jumped to 813 from a pre-loan score of 774. My wife’s jumped an additional 3 points which was reflected after the last post but before the last payment posted (hers is now 722, up from 704).
These higher scores have already led to a better opportunity for us: today alone, one of our credit card issuers offered my wife a $3,300 credit increase, and myself a $3,000 credit increase. That will only beget more success and higher scores since our debt available credit ratio will fall even farther in our favor. In turn, that will allow us to borrow at cheaper rates for the next loan we may need. It also opens up doors for us to get more premium credit cards that come with more premium perks. Standby for a coming post where we will recommend some premium cards!