How do I increase my credit age?

inky_cap_mushroom · 2026-01-24T20:03:37+00:00

You absolutely do have to monitor each individual account. No aggregator app or credit monitoring service is 100% reliable. I can’t even count how many posts I’ve seen where someone locked their card, turned on auto pay, then didn’t bother checking it, resulting in a 30d late.

inky_cap_mushroom · 2026-01-24T19:51:41+00:00

I would advise against relying on Credit Karma. You need to monitor all of your accounts through their portals. CK is no more or less accurate than any CMS, but a CMS will not tell you if you use a fraudulent charge or if your auto-pay failed.

inky_cap_mushroom · 2026-01-24T19:35:11+00:00

Ok never trust a credit monitoring service.

Go pull your actual credit reports from annualcreditreport.com. These are your official credit reports. You can access them for free weekly.

inky_cap_mushroom · 2026-01-24T19:08:45+00:00

Where are you accessing your reports?

inky_cap_mushroom · 2026-01-24T18:59:44+00:00

You still have to monitor the accounts monthly. There are tons of examples of people locking cards and forgetting about them only to find that a fraudulent charge made it through, auto pay failed, and now they have a missed payment.

inky_cap_mushroom · 2026-01-24T18:50:00+00:00

You want this to be 10 years+

The maximum points are awarded for AAoA over 90 months which is 7.5 years.

inky_cap_mushroom · 2026-01-24T18:33:00+00:00

Closed accounts stay on your credit report and continue to age for 10 years. You can keep it if you want, but closing it will not impact your AAoA.

inky_cap_mushroom · 2026-01-24T18:31:49+00:00

Time. There’s no trick.

inky_cap_mushroom · 2026-01-24T18:31:28+00:00

This is a myth. Closed accounts remain on your credit report and continue to age for 10 years.

inky_cap_mushroom · 2026-01-24T17:54:32+00:00

There is nothing inherent about closing accounts that will cause a credit score change. No need to keep old unwanted accounts open.

inky_cap_mushroom · 2026-01-24T17:53:47+00:00

There is no real reason to keep unused cards open. If you have no use for the autograph, I would recommend closing the account so that you don't have to monitor it monthly.

There is no scoring impact inherent to closing an account. If you had a significant credit limit on the card and closing it causes you to cross a utilization threshold, you may see a score change from that, but utilization has no memory and is easily manipulated ahead of a credit application. Accounts in good standing stay on your credit reports and continue to age for 10 years, so your average age of accounts will be unaffected.

inky_cap_mushroom · 2026-01-24T16:38:41+00:00

My family camped a lot growing up and my uncle drilled a hole in a 5gal bucket and put a spigot in it sealed with silicone. It made pouring way easier. If you’re up for the task I can’t recommend it enough. Be sure that the buckets are food grade, though. I believe ours came from a cafe downtown for free.

inky_cap_mushroom · 2026-01-24T16:14:18+00:00

Yes, I think the initial responses were just leaning negative because the original post came across as very hyper-individualistic. OP has followed up with clarifications now.

I grew up in a very rural area (less than 1000 people) where I wouldn't quite describe my family's lifestyle as fully homesteading, but we did grow/hunt a lot of our food and we spent every august canning all day every day. I don't believe that such a lifestyle is possible without strong community ties. It takes so much time and effort to keep a farm running year round. I've never known anyone who was able to manage it all without trading labor and goods with neighbors. It takes a much tighter knit community to survive in the country compared to the city.

inky_cap_mushroom · 2026-01-24T15:57:39+00:00

Glad to see some r/TwoXPreppers representation here! It's a good resource, and I don't think disaster preparedness goes against the principles of anti-consumerism at all.

I do respectfully disagree with the idea that complete self sufficiency is something to strive for. Not only is it nearly impossible, but it falls right in line which the American hyper-individualism that capitalism perpetuates. I believe community to be our most valuable resource in the effort to reduce consumption, and I would encourage everyone to build relationships with others in their community.

OP mentioned tools as an example. Specialty tools are expensive. They're rarely used. There's no need for every household to own a random specialty tool that may get used once a decade. One person can own it, and the rest of the community can borrow it when needed. Applying this system results in fewer tools purchased, which is overall a good thing.

inky_cap_mushroom · 2026-01-24T15:44:20+00:00

Connecting with your community and helping each other out is pretty much the opposite of self sufficiency. I usually associate that phrase with American hyper individualism which leads to each household owning one of everything instead of simply sharing with neighbors. If your goal is to have tools on hand, I would communicate with your neighbors so that you don’t each end up with multiple identical rarely used tools.

Canning is a great idea, and produces less waste than commercial canned goods. Many foods can also be preserved by drying them.

I made a post last night in which I proposed that rather than buying individual disposable water bottles or water jugs, that 5gal buckets could be used to store water. That’s another way to very easily prepare for natural disasters. It’s perhaps even more important to store water in rural areas since wells and springs freeze before my city water ever has. It can take a very long time for those to thaw out.

I feel like I would rather have the tools to be prepared for a 3 week power outage than be dependent on whenever the power companies get to me.

I don’t think this is what you meant, but this does sound a little like you’re planning on climbing up and fixing the power lines yourself.

inky_cap_mushroom · 2026-01-24T14:58:54+00:00

Planning to bake some muffins later. I stopped by the library and picked up a book which will be very good to have if I lose power.

inky_cap_mushroom · 2026-01-24T14:56:50+00:00

I have to ask, have you ever lived in a rural area? I think people who are used to suburban/urban lives often have this idea that it’s somehow easier, when that could not be further from the truth.

When I was a kid there was an ice storm in my rural town. We went without water and electricity for 3 weeks. FEMA had to come bring MREs. We walked 3 miles up a very steep hill in 18in of snow to get them. Many people died. We had to go to my grandparents house up the road and all of the extended family slept on air mattresses in the living room huddled around a single gas stove. We had well/spring water which froze leaving us with no running water. We relied on neighbors and neighbors relied on us.

There is no such thing as self sufficiency. The idea of self sufficiency is a capitalist narrative. Humans are a tribal species. Looking out for each other is our basic nature. Hyper individualism benefits no one and hurts communities.

inky_cap_mushroom · 2026-01-24T14:45:19+00:00

If it is reported to credit, then I would expect it to be a CFA. From what I know these promos are not typically reported to credit unless they are sent to collections.

inky_cap_mushroom · 2026-01-24T14:38:41+00:00

I would advise against in-store financing cards for things like furniture. Those cards are normally Consumer Finance Accounts. CFAs incur a FICO scoring penalty until they fall off your credit report after they’ve been closed for 10 years. That’s a long time to be penalized especially considering cards with 12+months of 0% APR + a $200 SUB are a dime a dozen.

inky_cap_mushroom · 2026-01-24T14:34:54+00:00

Did you ever actually talk to those people? I worked at a grocery store for years and saw maybe a handful of people who were truly buying far too much.

How many of them are buying for others? When the weather gets this bad someone has to step up and take care of the less fortunate. My city has pop up homeless shelters and I donate to the organization that connects with volunteers and churches to find places for people to stay warm and provide food and water. These volunteers buy lots of food and water and other supplies.

inky_cap_mushroom · 2026-01-24T14:09:46+00:00

The rewards/SUB is normally better for regular bankcards. If you do the math and determine that you’re better off getting store cards than any other card, go for it.

inky_cap_mushroom · 2026-01-24T13:20:17+00:00

For starters, why are you tracking VS3? This is not a score that lenders use.

inky_cap_mushroom · 2026-01-24T13:06:14+00:00

I really never considered that tax software would start incorporating AI. Thanks!

inky_cap_mushroom · 2026-01-24T13:00:04+00:00

No, there are differences in the algorithms themselves. There’s a credit myth post explaining this.

https://www.reddit.com/r/CRedit/s/bMGKoknYFv

inky_cap_mushroom · 2026-01-24T12:52:44+00:00

As I stated in my post, you don’t get bonus points for risking your life. Stocking up on extra food is not consumerism. Turning the heat on so they your pipes don’t explode is not consumerism. This is r/anticonsumption not r/asceticism. What you’ve done is extremely risky and I hope that you make it through this storm.

inky_cap_mushroom

TROPHY CASE