My Dual Win: Boosting My Credit Score by 125 Points While Earning $2,000 – Here’s How

A Reddit user with a troubled history with credit cards was able to turn things around. The poster not only raised his credit score substantially, but also was able to earn back the money he had previously spent in interest from the banks he had sent the money to.

Here’s how the poster got into credit card trouble in the first place, along with some insight into how he scored his big wins and was able to both improve his credit and earn a substantial amount of cash. 

Redditor stuck in credit card debt fights his way out and gets even

The original poster (OP) got into credit card debt in a surprising way. The poster said that when he was a college freshman, he discovered that his parents had taken out credit cards in his name without his knowledge. Unfortunately, they maxed out those cards, and he had $3,000 in debt.

Although he was not mad at his parents and said they did what they needed in order to survive, the credit card debt left him struggling while he was in school. The OP made minimum monthly payments when possible, but ended up missing payments, and his credit score fell to just 590. 

However, the good news was, after grad school, he was able to pay off the cards. He also said he was ” on a mission to earn the money back that I had to pay in interest all those years.” Amazingly, he was able to do exactly that, while also raising his credit score from 590 to 715 in half a year. 

Here’s what the Redditor did to earn a fortune in credit card rewards — and a great credit score

The Reddit poster took some smart steps to earn back the interest he’d sent his creditors and to increase his credit score. These steps included:

• Closing down most of his old cards that didn’t offer rewards or perks
• Upgrading one of his cards to a different offering that provided cash back
• Reading up about ways to maximize credit card rewards
• Signing up for several credit cards that offered new cardmember signup bonuses and that offered extra bonus rewards on common categories of spending

The poster always paid his balance in full every single month, and he kept track of his budget carefully in order to make sure he would not find himself charging more than he planned in order to qualify for the new signup offers.

The results speak for themselves. Using credit wisely and responsibly, paying off old debts, and having a good mix of different kinds of credit can go a long way towards improving your credit score, while a substantial amount of credit card rewards are yours for the taking if you find the right credit cards to sign up for and claim all of the new cardmember bonuses available to you. 

If you’ve found yourself in debt and paying interest, this Redditor’s story should be a great inspiration that there is hope for a better relationship with your credit card companies. Get serious about debt paydown and then, if you can count on yourself to spend responsibly, get some great cards that will allow you to make back the past interest you paid over time.

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