What is the secret to getting a 800 credit score?

For years, my credit rating has been around 760. I have a mortgage, 2 auto loans and a credit card that I'm never late on. Earlier this year, I received a loan to replace my carpets with laminate. My credit went up to the 790s within a month. Today, I made my last payment for this recent loan and my credit dropped over 30 points. I haven't been late on any of my open credits, haven't had my credit checked, haven't opened any new lines of credits so I'm not sure why it dropped so much. So how the hell do I get to that golden 800? Is incurring more debt the only way to reach it? If so, this credit system is fucked up.

Creditors want to see that you can manage debt. As far as I can tell, that means somewhere between 15-25% of your income. Higher than 30% and they think you have too much. Lower than 10 and they wonder if you can't get credit (because you don't have credit - yeah, it's messed up). In the long term, applying for more credit cards can help, because it will show that institutions will give you credit even if you aren't using those cards. But in the short term doing that will lower your score because credit agencies will wonder if you have a cash flow problem.

In the end, near as I can tell you can't really game the system. You just gotta keep good habits over time. Years of time. Decades even.

[QUOTE=green_garnish;5659924]Creditors want to see that you can manage debt. As far as I can tell, that means somewhere between 15-25% of your income. Higher than 30% and they think you have too much. Lower than 10 and they wonder if you can't get credit (because you don't have credit - yeah, it's messed up). In the long term, applying for more credit cards can help, because it will show that institutions will give you credit even if you aren't using those cards. But in the short term doing that will lower your score because credit agencies will wonder if you have a cash flow problem.

In the end, near as I can tell you can't really game the system. You just gotta keep good habits over time. Years of time. Decades even.[/QUOTE]

This...but also yes the system is just dumb.

Essentially to be the person that will most likely pay a lender back in the eyes of lenders.

No secret.

It's all in how they see it.

Ill never know. My credit is so bad I have to show 2 forms of id for a cash payment.

Not to brag but I do have a credit rating in the 800s but then it might be my age and record credit record of a rather long period of time. Nothing special really.

The secret is, you gotta press up, up, down, down, left, right, left, right, B, A, start.

When I moved into my current apartment, my credit was ran for the first time (to my knowledge) in years. I was pleasantly surprised to learn that I had an 800+ credit score! :D I have had zero debt beyond a student loan that I've been paying on time since 2015. However, about 4 months ago I busted out the old credit card to make a few furniture purchases and immediately dropped 40 pts. I've paid that card on time (more than the minimum) in addition to my student loan, and just this month went up a whopping 1 point!

Long story short, you put it best:

[QUOTE=shooshoomanjoe;5659677] ...this credit system is fucked up.[/QUOTE]

We have had an 840 for years.

1 mortgage, 1 credit card, 1 student loan, just paid off the car.

790 was our worst when I got a pay cut and my wife was laid off.

Pay your debt on time....always. Pay the car note/mortgage on time or eat PB&J or Ramen until next payday? Well then, bon appetit buddy.

Stick to 1 credit card for extreme emergencies. Don't have multiple cards taking up space in your wallet.

[QUOTE=GOLGO 13;5667815]Stick to 1 credit card for extreme emergencies. Don't have multiple cards taking up space in your wallet.[/QUOTE]

Having only one credit card will prevent your credit score from rising. Not using credit cards will prevent your score from rising. Use the cards, but for normal expenses like gas, groceries and utilities that you know you can afford. Don't use them for things you can't afford right now, like central air.

^ ^ ^

Yeah, it's a weird balancing act between available credit / used credit. No one truly understands but the banks, and of course they can change the rules whenever they want to! :p

Take out a loan from the bank. Don't do anything with the money - just put it straight into a savings account. Every month, when your next loan payment is due, pay it from that bank account. This will boost your credit rating, although of course it will cost you however much the interest was on that loan. (You actually will have reduced that expense a little bit, through the small amount of interest you will have earned in the savings account.) But do you really [I]need[/I] a perfect credit score? You were able to get a mortgage, the car loans, and the loan for the carpet replacement with the credit score you had at the time.