I achieved the rare FICO perfect score of 850! During college, I was easily persuaded to open a credit card for a free t-shirt which led me to obtain many credit cards and accumulate much debt. It got out of control to the point that I had to go through a credit counseling service.  After having to get a balloon loan for a down payment for my first house and seeing the high interest rate, I became obsessed with changing my credit score. This led me to obtaining the perfect score and enjoying some amazing perks.