Here’s How I Maintain My Near Perfect 790 Credit Score

A Reddit user shared some helpful insight into his habits with credit cards recently. The Redditor said he has a near-perfect 790 credit score, which is a pretty impressive score considering that most credit scoring formulas only go as high as 850. 

Since maintaining good credit is really important as it helps you to qualify for affordable loans, it’s worth taking a look at the Redditor’s habits to see if there are any that you could adopt in your own credit card use so you could also earn the type of awesome score that helps you to get the very best rates when you borrow. 

How a Reddit user maintains a top-notch credit score

The Reddit user explained that he’s not really in an exceptional financial situation, and his finances overall look pretty average. He makes a little bit more than the median salary in his area, and he has a mortgage and some student loan debt. What sets him apart, though, is his great credit score. And there are a few things he has done to earn that score that he wants to share. These include:

• Buying everything that he can on a credit card that he pays off weekly, so he pays no interest but earns points. This is also helpful because, by paying weekly, he maintains a very low credit utilization ratio. That’s the ratio of credit available relative to credit used. The lower your utilization ratio, the better your score will be. 
• Maintaining two credit cards. This includes one that he opened when he was 18, which isn’t a great card and which offers no real perks or rewards. Because he wants to maintain his account history, which is crucial to maintaining his high score, he keeps the card open and just charges his Spotify purchase on there and pays it off each month. This is also a smart move because the average age of account history is important in the scoring formula, and if he closed his old account, he would lose that.  Maintaining this old account that he doesn’t charge much on also helps with his credit utilization ratio. 

While the Reddit user is making smart moves, he does have one issue with his credit — he isn’t really happy with any of the cards that he has. The card he is using only offers 3% on dining, 2% on food, and 1% on everything else, and it has no other perks. The only issue, he does not know what kind of card he actually wants to apply for.

Picking a new credit card when you have great credit

The good news is, with his great credit score, the Reddit poster should have his choice of new cards. And since he pays his card off in full every single month, he is not going to have to worry about looking for a card with a low APR. He can just focus on finding a card that meets his needs. When he does that, he’ll have to decide:

• Does he want a card with bonus rewards or one that just offers a great overall rate? Some people prefer to have a couple of cards that offer bonus rewards on different things, like 5% back on gas or groceries. Those who don’t want to spend time managing that can instead opt for a card that offers the best possible flat rate, like 2% back on everything you buy. 
• What other kinds of perks does he need? There are cards that offer great travel rewards, like airline lounge access or trip interruption insurance. Other cards focus on different kinds of perks, such as extended manufacturer warranties for purchases. 
• What fees is he willing to pay? If he travels often, he should look for a card with no foreign exchange fees. If he gets a card with an annual fee, he’ll need to make sure it has enough statement credits or bonus rewards to be worth it. 

By considering these issues, the poster can find the perfect card. There are tons of great cash-back and rewards options out there, and it’s worth taking the time to find the right one for your needs. 

Flywheel Publishing has partnered with CardRatings for our coverage of credit card products. Flywheel Publishing and CardRatings may receive a commission from card issuers.”

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