FICO went from 500 to 590...quick credit card question

[Anonymous]

I have been rebuilding my credit for over 2 years now.  I have 4 master charge credit cards and 2 store cards and 1 exxon mobile card.  I am working on bringing all my balances down but I like your idea.  I have an account with a credit union and I think I am going to deposit more money into the savings account and then apply for a secured credit card, although I do think if I get my balances low my scores will go up considerable.  Not sure quite what to do.  My scores are EQ 652; EXP 640 and TU 778 but I have a lot of utility on all of them except my Target is at 0 and my Sams is at 0 and working on the Exxon gas card but that is hard as use it all month and pay the bill off in its entirety but sometimes not good enough so I am thinking I need to pay this every 2 weeks.  My problem is my 4 credit cards.  There is no more then 100-200 available on any one of them.  They have a 550 CL; 800 cl, 1000 cl and 3500.  MyFico report my utility is always the first thing against me so I am thinking if I can get those paid off in the next 6-9 months then my score should rise considerable.  I am trying very hard but in this economy it is really tough. 

[haulingthescoreup]

I can't brag enough on credit unions!

You might need to build up a track record with them, as did moondog, but really, why not do this? Credit unions are conservative, in that they're not going to throw money at total strangers with iffy pasts, but when you show that you're turning things around, they tend to be very willing to sit down and work with you on an individual basis.

[moondog7324]

GREAT JOB! I see your over the magical 580 mortgage limit- keep up the good work! Time to go home shopping!