[UPBEAT INTRO MUSIC, FADES UNDER]
JAY: Okay. Okay okay okay. Today we are talking about the three little numbers that have made grown adults cry in parking lots.
RILEY: The credit score.
JAY: The credit score! Riley, when did you first find out your credit score?
RILEY: I was twenty three. I tried to rent an apartment, got declined, and a very nice man told me my score over the phone like he was reading me my horoscope.
JAY: (laughing) And how was the reading?
RILEY: Catastrophic. It was giving 'do not lend this person a stapler.'
[BOTH LAUGH, MUSIC OUT]
JAY: Okay but here's the thing we want everyone to hear. Your credit score is not a measure of you as a human being.
RILEY: It is not a personality test. It does not know you volunteer. It does not care that you're funny at parties.
JAY: It is literally just a number that says how you've handled borrowed money. That's it. That's the whole thing.
RILEY: So let's break down what actually moves it. Jay, hit them with number one.
JAY: Number one, and this is the big one, pay your bills on time. Payment history is the single biggest piece of your score. Miss payments, score drops. Pay on time, score climbs. Set up autopay and let the robots save you.
RILEY: Number two. How much of your available credit you're using. The rule people throw around is keep it under thirty percent. So if your card limit is a thousand dollars, try not to carry more than three hundred on it.
JAY: Wait, say that part again, because that's the one nobody tells you.
RILEY: Using too much of your limit, even if you pay it off, can ding your score. So it's not just about paying. It's about how much you're leaning on the card in the first place.
JAY: See, that's the stuff school should've taught us instead of the area of a triangle.
RILEY: I have never once needed the area of a triangle, Jay.
JAY: Not once.
[MID ROLL, FREE BUDGET TEMPLATE MENTION, 20 SECONDS]
RILEY: So if your score is in a rough spot right now, breathe. It is fixable. It is not a tattoo. It moves every single month based on what you do next.
JAY: Start with one thing. Set up autopay on one bill today. That's it. Future you is gonna be so smug.
RILEY: Future me is always smug.
JAY: (laughing) And on that note. If you want the free budget template that helps you actually see where this stuff is going, it's in the show notes.
RILEY: Go get it. It's free. There's no catch. We checked.
[OUTRO MUSIC IN]
JAY: That's it for today. Make it make sense, people.
RILEY: And go pay one bill. Bye!
[MUSIC UP AND OUT]