Everybody has a credit score theory. Your uncle swears you need to carry a balance. Your coworker refuses to check her score because “it’ll drop.” Somebody on TikTok says closing cards is the secret to an 800.

Most of it is noise. Some of it is actively costing people money.

So we did what we do here. We put the most common credit score myths in front of the class and handed out grades. An F means the myth is flat-out wrong. An A means it’s actually legit advice hiding behind a bad reputation.

I had so much garbage in my mind when I started turning around my credit. But, after some research I was able to take it from a score so low you’d think it lived in the gutter. Now my credit score is higher than Pookie from New Jack City. You had to be there. All jokes aside lets get to it.

First, What Actually Builds Your Score

Before we bust anything, here’s the real scoreboard. FICO, the score most lenders use, weighs five things:

Payment history (about 35%). Do you pay on time? This is the heavyweight champion.

Amounts owed (about 30%). Mostly your credit utilization, meaning how much of your available credit you’re using.

Length of credit history (about 15%). How old your accounts are, on average and overall.

New credit (about 10%). Recent applications and newly opened accounts.

Credit mix (about 10%). Having different types of credit, like cards plus an installment loan.

Keep that list in your back pocket. Every myth below either respects it or ignores it.

Myth 1: Checking Your Own Score Lowers It

Grade: F

This one keeps people in the dark for years. Checking your own score or report is a soft inquiry, and soft inquiries don’t touch your number. Not a point.

What does count is a hard inquiry, which happens when a lender pulls your credit because you applied for something. Even then, the hit is usually small and fades over time.

Check your score as often as you want. You can pull your reports from all three bureaus for free at AnnualCreditReport.com, and plenty of banking apps show your score at no cost.

Myth 2: You Need to Carry a Balance to Build Credit

Grade: F

This might be the most expensive myth on the list. Carrying a balance from month to month does nothing for your score. It just means you pay interest.

What helps is using your card and paying the statement balance in full. Your card company reports your balance to the bureaus, you get credit for responsible use, and you keep your money. Everybody wins except the bank’s interest department.

Myth 3: Closing Old Cards Boosts Your Score

Grade: D

It feels like cleaning house. It often works against you.

Close a card and you lose that card’s credit limit, which can push your utilization higher overnight. If it’s one of your oldest accounts, it can also eventually shorten the age of your credit history.

There are good reasons to close a card, like a high annual fee you can’t justify. But “my score will go up” usually isn’t one of them. If an old no-fee card is collecting dust, consider keeping it open and putting a small recurring charge on it.

Myth 4: Your Income Affects Your Credit Score

Grade: F

Your salary isn’t part of your credit score. Neither is your bank balance. The score measures how you handle borrowed money, not how much you make.

Income does matter when you apply for credit, because lenders ask about it to decide your limit or approval. But the score itself? Doesn’t know and doesn’t care. So if you have a dream job that doesn’t pay a lot there is no need to worry.

Myth 5: You Only Have One Credit Score

Grade: F

You’ve got a whole roster. There are three major bureaus (Equifax, Experian and TransUnion), multiple scoring brands (FICO and VantageScore) and several versions of each. A mortgage lender might use an older FICO version while your banking app shows a VantageScore.

That’s why the number in your app doesn’t always match what a lender sees. Don’t panic over a 20 point gap between sources. Watch the trend instead of obsessing over one number.

Myth 6: Paying Off a Collection Erases It

Grade: C

Half true, which is why it gets a C.

Paying a collection doesn’t automatically remove it from your report. But newer scoring models, including FICO 9 and later plus recent VantageScore versions, ignore paid collections entirely. Older models still count them. And the major bureaus no longer report medical collections once they’re paid, or medical collections under $500.

Bottom line: paying it off is still the move. Just know the payoff in points depends on which score is being used.

Myth 7: Shopping Around for a Loan Wrecks Your Score

Grade: D

Scoring models were built with smart shoppers in mind. When you rate shop for a mortgage, auto loan or student loan, multiple inquiries within a short window (typically 14 to 45 days, depending on the scoring model) get treated as a single inquiry.

So compare rates. Just keep the shopping concentrated. This grace period generally doesn’t apply to credit cards, so don’t go on a five-card application spree in one weekend.

Myth 8: Keep Your Utilization Under 30%

Grade: A minus

Finally, a myth that’s mostly legit. Keeping your credit card balances under 30% of your limits is solid baseline advice.

The minus is because 30% is a ceiling, not a target. People with the highest scores often keep utilization in the single digits. And since utilization is calculated from your reported balance, paying your card down before the statement closes can make your score look better even if you pay in full every month.

The good news: utilization has no memory in most scoring models. Pay it down and your score can bounce back as soon as the new balance reports.

Myth 9: A Late Payment Ruins Your Credit Forever

Grade: D

A late payment hurts, no sugarcoating it. Payments 30 or more days late can stay on your report for up to seven years.

But “forever” is doing too much. The impact fades as the payment ages, especially if you stack up on-time payments after it. One rough month in 2023 does not define you in 2026.

Pro tip: if you’re usually on time and slip once, call your card issuer. Some will grant a goodwill adjustment. No guarantees, but asking costs nothing.

The Final Report Card

If you remember one thing, make it this: pay on time and keep your balances low. Those two habits cover roughly two thirds of your FICO score. Everything else is fine tuning.

Check your reports regularly, dispute errors when you find them and stop letting myths make your financial decisions. Your future self, the one applying for a mortgage or a car loan, will thank you.

This article is for educational purposes and isn’t personalized financial advice. Your situation may differ, so consider talking with a qualified financial professional before making major credit decisions.