I checked my credit score today using the free site, Credit Sesame. More about what that means in a moment. But first, I was pleased–but not surprised–to see that my score today is 815. Here is how I earned the coveted score of over 800.

Payment History = 35% of the credit score

I have zero late payments on my report. (It wasn’t always that way. More about that later.)

Credit Utilization = 30% of the credit score

If your credit cards are maxed out, you get docked a lot of points, even if all payments are made on time. If your credit cards are over 50 percent of the limit, you get docked points. My credit utilization is only 6%; so because it is under 10 percent, I gain points.

Age of Credit History = 15% of the credit score

My oldest active account is 18 years, 1 month old. If I close that account, I will lose points, so I don’t want to do that.

My newest account is 8 months old, because I opened a credit card within the last year. Once an account is open for six months, it is considered old enough to be included in your credit rating. Also, at 8 months, it has aged enough that it is no longer docking me points for “unknown usage,” meaning they don’t know if I will max it out or pay on time when first opened. This is why you don’t want to open a new account right before applying for an auto loan or mortgage.

Account Mix = 10% of the credit score

The credit bureaus prefer a mix of credit cards, installment loan (such as auto or student loan), and mortgage loan. However, you can still get a score of over 800 without a mix; as is my own case. I have five open credit accounts.

Credit Inquiries = 10% of the credit score

I have zero inquires in the past 12 months, according to Credit Sesame. That seems odd since I opened a credit card just eight months ago. Either Credit Sesame is incorrect or the card didn’t result in a hard credit inquiry. I will have to look into that.

Is Credit Sesame Accurate?

Credit Sesame provides one score obtained from the Experian National Credit Equivalency, which means it is one bureau’s consumer credit score. The consumer score is more lenient than the mortgage score, because it is less risky to give someone a credit card than it is to give them a mortgage. The score from Credit Sesame varies from the actual Experian score by an average of 33 points, according to a study conducted by Doctor of Credit.

Using Credit Sesame is free, gives a good ballpark estimate of your score from one of the three bureaus, and will not hurt your score or show as an inquiry on your credit report.

If You Need to Repair Your Credit (Like I Did)

There was a time when I did not have an 800 score. I unknowingly made some mistakes, including letting a department store credit card payment slide for a month. On top of that, someone else’s late auto payment was showing up on my report. When I purchased my first home as a young, single woman, I had to take an FHA loan, because my score didn’t qualify for a conventional loan.

I took charge of my situation and raced to the top of the chart. You can do the same!

Certified credit repair specialists and experienced attorneys are one way to go. But if you don’t mind taking the time to do the work yourself, you can save $500 to $2,000 in professional fees. Instructions on how the professionals restore your credit and good name are in my book, which is getting great reader reviews on Amazon, and many more emails to me from folks who don’t post reviews. Feel free to check it out here.