Thanks for the reply, Wanderer, and for shedding more light on the FICO chase. It sounds much more exciting than my tortoise "slow and steady wins the race" idea about how we're scored.

There is a method to all this credit score madness ... seems FICO Scores like utilization that is less than 30% (this really can vary by credit profile and may well come in at percentages as low as 1%). Then we have the mix where you have a mortgage, installment loan, bank credit card and store card. The mix is suppose to show you performing with different types of credit. As to payment frequency, once a month or what ever it takes to keep current is all that is required. In the past, creditors generally reported once a month if there is activity and whatever balance that exists on the account the day they report is what shows in the credit bureaus (note there are many exceptions to this). Now there are new FICO and other types of credit scores being tested that look at your payment pattern over 24 months (this is so new not much has been said as yet). If you report all accounts paid to the credit bureau you likely will see a score decrease so the game is leave a little balance on one card a month to ensure you show current activity. Yes, score chasing is a game.

AKCREDIT wrote: Some months I charge $1500 on a $500 card. Sometimes I pay 3-5 times a month. Sometimes I put a high balance on a card and pay it off next month with no interested charged on me. As always try to mix your report up, Like a regular card and a store card. Try to keep your utilization at 10%, some months I did go up to 75%. Say with a $500 card you put a balance of 490 and pay it off next month. That helps you gain confidence from creditors as it tells them you can handle $500 which leads to a higher CL.

I know the thread is old, but I'd like to know if mixing things up like this really changes your credit score. I'm aware that different types of credit make a difference, but I didn't realize that charging different amounts and paying it off in different ways made a difference. So, paying it off all at once, then then next month, making 3-5 payments matters?

How the poster did this is nothing new. The results of what he did may be different though. Your CL and FICO may not raise as high as his did 4 years ago.

The post you are responding to was from four years ago.

AKCREDIT, did you need or use the $15K in CL? I am just interested in why you are benchmarking this.

Thanks for sharing that, it is an interesting story. Did you manage to get your secured cards converted to unsecured, and did you ever get the preferred card you were aiming for? I'm not sure whether it is still possible to do that in a year nowadays with the tightening on credit, so I'd like to hear any more up to date articles like this.

Hi FG,

Well I don't know where to start but here is my story on how I got my wife a 740 FICO and $15,000 CL in a years time with no credit. To be fair I cant take all the credit for this, as when I started there was a post on how a member of this site got about the same results as me. https://www.financeglobe.com/FN/Card-Reviews/Review-6075.php . Even though this post was in 2008, my results are as of 2013. I have to give credit to members of this site who write articles about credit and read there advise, also their credit card reviews.

I hope this will help people who are new to credit.

Lets begin...

My whole goal with this was to get a Amex SPG and a Chase Sapphire Preferred In a 2 years time. So to get these prime cards I needed to start credit... we got the social on Aug-25-11.

Basically I charged every thing on all my credit cards and pay them before the statement date. Some months I charge $1500 on a $500 card. Sometimes I pay 3-5 times a month. Sometimes I put a high balance on a card and pay it off next month with no interested charged on me. As always try to mix your report up, Like a regular card and a store card. Try to keep your utilization at 10%, some months I did go up to 75%. Say with a $500 card you put a balance of 490 and pay it off next month. That helps you gain confidence from creditors as it tells them you can handle $500 which leads to a higher CL.

First PREMIER BankTotal: CL:0 INQ: 0 EXP, 0 TU, 1 EQ

Capital One: Sept-11 I applied for them and was denied for no credit, but the card I applied for was Newcomers master card. Another dumb mistake of me one INQ gone and stays for 2 years.
Total: CL:0 Inq: 1 EXP, 1 TU, 2 EQ

I applied for me CAP ONE newcomers was approved for 300 and 200 increase after 7 months. Put my wife as an authorized user.
Total: CL:500(after credit steps) INQ: 1 EXP, 1 TU, 2 EQ

BOA Secured card: Dec-11 put 500 deposit got 500 CL 39 AF 20.24%. It Will upgraded to unsecured in one year of good payment history and usage.
Total: CL:1000 Inq: 2 EXP, 1 TU, 2 EQ

Capital one: Jan-12 After many many pre approvals sent to me. I applied and got approved for $500 CL ($750 after Credit Steps) 0 AF and 24.99% APR.
Total: CL:1750 Inq: 3 EXP, 2 TU, 3 EQ

March-April 2012: My dad got approved for good prime cards Chase, Amex, BOA (from 2009), and Discover (total CL Amex NPSL, Chase 5000, BOA 2500, Discover 3000 Total 10,500 CL). We decided to put her on all cards to help with credit. Later in the year after 5 months I took her off because my dad had high balances. I am not going to count this as a total CL for her, I am just counting her own Credit Lines.

Chase: May-12 We decided to apply for a checking and saving with chase and a Credit if it was preapproval. we applied and she was preapproved for Chase Freedom $500 CL, 0 APR ( 18.99 after intro), 0 APR. I was so happy I wanted the card so bad.
Total: CL:2250 Inq: 4 EXP, 3 TU, 3 EQ

Macy's: June-12: went to the store and applied from there, decision pending. Had to wait for letter and was denied wrong social security number. I called to see whats up and gave them the right ss# and approved for $300 Cl, 0 AF, 24.50% APR. Another dumb move by me because I went the same month to see if I can be approved for the AMEX card and was denied because did not reach Macy's annual spending limit of $1000. They took 2 INQ 1 for EX and 1 for EQ. Nov-11 Auto CL increase to $1000.
Total: CL:3250 Inq: 5 EXP, 3 TU, 4 EQ

Discover More: July-12: Received a Preapproval in the mail and applied online and was approved for 2500 CL, 0 APR (17.99), 0 AF. FICO TU 676.
Total: CL:5750 Inq: 5 EXP, 4 TU, 4 EQ

Citi Foward: Dec-12: I applied online and was denied because of short credit history. After sending letter to Citi for reconsideration they approved me for $1500 CL, 0 AF, 21.99% APR. Citi took the longest read my review for the whole story.
Total CL:7250 Inq: 6 EXP, 4 TU, 4 EQ

AMEX SPG: Jan-13: I applied online and was approved for $2500 CL, 65 AF, 17.24 APR. 744 FICO TU.
Total CL:9750 Inq: 7 EXP, 5 TU, 5 EQ

Chase: Jan-13: I applied online and was approved for $5000 CL 15.24 APR, 95 AF.
Total CL:14,750 Inq: 8 EXP, 6 TU, 5 EQ

Chase Freedom CL increase Jan-13 : I called and told them I wanted an increase of $2000 and said it was pending. Logged on next day it was approved for 2500 CL.
Total CL:16,750 Inq: 8 EXP, 7 TU, 5 EQ

BOA: Jan-13: I wanted a Cash rewards card and they wouldn't waive the AF and simply canceled the card. It was not worth it for me Discover and chase were better options.
CL:16,250 Inq: 8 EXP, 7 TU, 5 EQ

You can actually take out my Cap One card and say the total was $15,750 Credit Line, Inq: 8 EXP, 7 TU, 5 EQ.
Not bad for about a little of a years history. Also I reached my goal in a year before my actual goal time. Like I always say One card at a time. I hope this helps out any body new to credit.

AK Credit.