<prompt> Human: Ive been a homeowner for 7 years. I discontinued paying my credit cards 5 years ago...long story short...I finally paid them all off about a month ago. My only debt currently is my home and student loans.When all is said and done I have roughly 2kmonth that is not accounted for bills.My car is 19 years old and has 260,000 miles. Id like to finance a slightly used car. Unfortunately because of my dumb decision to stop paying my credit cards along with some late payments my credit score is near 640, which isnt atrocious, but isnt where I think it should be to finance a car. I have no debt or credit card accounts other than my student loans and mortgage.Can I have some advice on what I should do next to get in a better situation to finance a slightly used car and I suppose improve my credit score?BTW thanks to this sub existing. Without the stern attitude about not fucking around with finances and dragging my feet I was able to pay off my CCs.  <response>: Awesome job paying off those credit cards. It is hard to get out from under debt like that. I would suggest using your credit cards to pay bills and groceries and just pay the bill in full at the end of every month to slowly raise your credit score. Their is no hidden trick to quickly raising your credit score it is a slow event over time. For the car situation I would suggest just saving some of your 2,000 a month and once you have enough to pay for a used car in cash then do that. Financing doesnt seem like a great idea for you since your credit score took a hit and you have large savings every month that you could stash away for a cheap used car. Also, make sure you also have an emergency fund via a savings account. Good Luck! 