814, pulled last week before I went to buy a car. Then they tried to hit me with a 7.99 APR and I laughed.

25, 0 credit card debt (1 credit card), no loans, no mortgage, and I now owe 3800 on a new car. If I hadn't been hit by a truck and totalled my car, I wouldn't have that car debt either.

Wait! Don't kick me out! That was sarcasm, honest!!!!!!

The way I got mine started was getting my grandparents, who have excellent credit, to add me as an authorized user on a card that they have had for years. This history got applied to my history, and so I have had perfect credit since I age 17.

As for actual risk, your probably correct in that someone like myself is more risky, you just have to have sense in knowing that while you could get the loan for that Audi, but realistically its not possible yet.

it comes with a "score simulator" that lets you play around with different factors in your report to "tweak" your score.

also, a new trend in credit unions is something called a "credit rebuilder" loan (or something like that). it combines a small dollar loan (~$1000) with payback over a year to build payment history & sometimes is coupled with financial counseling to help you understand what goes into your score. you may consider finding a credit union near you that offers a product like this. easiest way to find a credit union near you is to do a search for "credit union + [your zip code]" in [maps.google.com] .

the only reason i bring it up is b/c i know more than one young person who has a great score (700+), but lives in mom & dad's basement & makes $800/mo. at taco bell. they decide they can afford a $600/mo. payment on a new audi & POOF! next thing you know, they're getting repo'ed & their score's in the pooper.

in all but a few rare cases, someone under 25 is a risky investment & should be scored properly, right? or am i way off base here?

@wcnghj: good advice, but PFDs are hard to get these days. creditors can get in big trouble for deleting tradelines they know to be accurate in exchange for payment.

@Ω ß®ªғғ: Thanks

That isn't a FICO score. My TU fico is 759, my FAKO is only 712.

Paying a collection will not help your score! Only if you agree for a PFD(pay for delete) will it help.

Actually, I'm not really sure as I don't see the point in "checking" my score. I know how we're paid on our bills, and no one is ripping us off. I never get turned down for a loan, so who cares what the number is? What is it really going to do?

697, 677 and 718 as of last week when I was looking to refi.

29 years old. 26k in cc, 7k in car, 1k in school, 4 years of good mortgage history. Only one cc 30 day late over 2 years ago. Have paid off ~15k in cc/loans in the past 15 months. Using the snowball method and I figure 2 more years till cc/loan freedom.

I was really stupid until about 3 years ago... I always figured someday I'd be making the big money to make up for my spending. My children will be taught better.

is it?

@failurate: 785. 23 no CC debt, no student loan debt from undergrad, just added $3000 in post grad student loan debt, $7700 car loan debt. Not too shabby. I get free fico monitoring and score updates with my Providian, I means Washington Mutual, I mean J.P. Morgan/Chase Democratic Party Visa Card.

@blackmage439: I have 2 credit cards personally as well as utilities in my name. I also have cards on about 5 of my parents' accounts. My personal credit lines are 16,000 and my parents' are 50k+. All cards are paid off in full each month.

'Cause mine is eleventy billion million skillion and one.

That said, I seem to recall mine being in the high 600s or low 700s.

Am I the only person who doesn't know their FICO score and doesn't care? Unless you're applying for a loan, is there really a need to know your score?

Ok... so...

Experian - 633
Equifax - 676
TranUnion - 693

How do I get them all up to the top one?

Also, scores gotten elsewhere are NOT ficos, use different algorithms, and correlate in NO way to FICO scores. So someone with a Credit Karma score of 700 may just have a real FICO of 600. Thus skewing your results.

Over 800, no debt except mortgages (plural we've got investments too).

Mine is 768 according to creditkarma.

35 years old, lots of debt (mortgage, lots of CC debt, huge student loans)

I guess payment history is everything--mine is stellar.

Wow. Not only is the poll missing the most likely FICO range, but there are 2 Monster Cable ads on the page. Boo!

The current voting results are what I was expecting. Seems most of the people vieing consumerist are somewhat financially responsible. Perhaps not some of the people being posted about, but those viewing at least. People with poor credit probably aren't savy enough to look for or even think of using a site like this.

Last month, I paid off my student loan (yay! only took 9.5 years!) and my score actually dropped 30 points. I don't get it. I was expecting a jump.

790, and my wife is 795. Our first home is in escrow right now, and we just locked in a 30-yr fixed rate of 4.875%. No credit card debt right now (we pay off every month somehow, and are making sure we don't touch credit while in escrow), no car payments the last three or four years and, of course, a little help from the consumerist!

786

I have easily $10,000+ in credit lines, haven't applied for a card in almost a year, always pay on-time, and normally utilize less than 25% of my card limits per month, and my FICO is only ~750ish. I have no loans, though.

436 :( I was really dumb when I was younger, and now i'm paying for it now.

826, but I don't owe anyone a dime.

772 as of July 12, 2008. Almost 21...

724 according to creditkarma, with a $20,000 car loan, $10,000 college debt, and $15,000 in credit cards.

So I think I'm doing pretty good.

745-755. last pulled about a month ago.

Also, Voting seems broken in my Safari.

i must vote, i cant vote, i must vote aaarrgghhh.