UTIL

[Anonymous]

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Micaela09 wrote:

Thanks....then you would do the same for overall, right?  Add all balances divided by all credit limits? 

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Yep

[Anonymous]

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Brammy wrote:

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Micaela09 wrote:

Thanks....then you would do the same for overall, right?  Add all balances divided by all credit limits? 

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Yep

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Except that if you have any CCs that are closed with a zero dollar balance, then you don't count them in your overall util. Right? I thought I read that somewhere here.

Here is what I mean:

Card 1    Open     Bal      0   CL 1000

Card 2    Open     Bal  200   CL  800

Card 3    Closed   Bal     0   CL 1500

Overall Util:  (0 + 200 + 0) divided by (1000 + 800). Someone confirm.

Message Edited by berraco58 on 12-09-2007 08:46 PM

[Anonymous]

Also I meant to bring this up in a previous post but I am wondering. Everyone talks about bringing your Util down ASAP. Now a while ago I had $4000 in revolving debt and $7000 in CL.

I ran the myFICO simulators and it showed that if I paid $3800 right away my score would go from a 650 to a 720. But if I kept things as they were (paying off whatever I use in the mean time) but brought the balances down slowly over the course of 18 months. At the end of those 18 months I should have aa 780.

I know the deal with paying interest and all that and that that is the main factor in driving down balances quickly but what if I wanted to take the L for the sake of a higher score longer down the line. Has anyone heard of this approach?

One thing I was thinking is that it was taking into account the longer history I would have in 18 months. So... if I were to pay the 3800 on the spot and then keep good credit would I still get to that 780 in 18 months or is taking my time the best approach scorewise?

[Anonymous]

Yes- Don't count the CL on closed accts with a zero balance.

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@Anonymous wrote:

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@Anonymous wrote:

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@Anonymous wrote:

Thanks....then you would do the same for overall, right? Add all balances divided by all credit limits?

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Yep

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Except that if you have any CCs that are closed with a zero dollar balance, then you don't count them in your overall util. Right? I thought I read that somewhere here.

Here is what I mean:

Card 1 Open Bal 0 CL 1000

Card 2 Open Bal 200 CL 800

Card 3 Closed Bal 0 CL 1500

Overall Util: (0 + 200 + 0) divided by (1000 + 800). Someone confirm.

Message Edited by berraco58 on 12-09-2007 08:46 PM

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[Anonymous]

You will get the UTL points as soon as you get the balances down-

You mentioned interest- this is one of the reasons to pay it down- others are: Getting CLI's on those accounts (because you only get credit when you don't need it) and preventing UD and AA on these accounts.

The Simulator also has 1, 3, 6 and 12 month simulations-
Check these out-

The difference between the 720 and the 780 is TIME- recent payment history is a HUGE factor-

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@Anonymous wrote:

Also I meant to bring this up in a previous post but I am wondering. Everyone talks about bringing your Util down ASAP. Now a while ago I had $4000 in revolving debt and $7000 in CL.

I ran the myFICO simulators and it showed that if I paid $3800 right away my score would go from a 650 to a 720. But if I kept things as they were (paying off whatever I use in the mean time) but brought the balances down slowly over the course of 18 months. At the end of those 18 months I should have aa 780.

I know the deal with paying interest and all that and that that is the main factor in driving down balances quickly but what if I wanted to take the L for the sake of a higher score longer down the line. Has anyone heard of this approach?

One thing I was thinking is that it was taking into account the longer history I would have in 18 months. So... if I were to pay the 3800 on the spot and then keep good credit would I still get to that 780 in 18 months or is taking my time the best approach scorewise?

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[Anonymous]

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berraco58 wrote:

Except that if you have any CCs that are closed with a zero dollar balance, then you don't count them in your overall util. Right? I thought I read that somewhere here.

Here is what I mean:

Card 1    Open     Bal      0   CL 1000

Card 2    Open     Bal  200   CL  800

Card 3    Closed   Bal     0   CL 1500

Overall Util:  (0 + 200 + 0) divided by (1000 + 800). Someone confirm.

Message Edited by berraco58 on 12-09-2007 08:46 PM

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Sorry I forgot, just that that was a given.  However, now that you bering this up, you would count the balances on any closed accounts that show one but not the CL.

[Anonymous]

Thanks, yeah orginally, I was going to post that you don't count the CL on closed accounts but you do count the balances. However, this was not the case for me. I had a closed Citi card and when I first got score watch it said my util was 79 % and here was my breakdown:

Chase    open        $1029 / $1100

Citi         open          $963 / $1060

Citi         closed       $862 / $1500

C1          open         $744 / $750

C1          open         $667 / $750 

C1 (AU)  open         $802 / $1000

DFS        open        $1359 / $2000

Total balance was $6426 and total CL was $8160 which is 78.8% or 79% when rounded. Now the very next month I cut a check for $862 on the closed citi account. Citi gave me an APR drop on my other account and raised my limit on that account back to $1500 from $1060. Now I have a $0 / $1500 closed Citi account there and have calculated that its CL doesn't factor into my util but when it was closed with a balance, its CL did factor into my util. At least according to myFICO ScoreWatch. And I just opened the old report and did a fresh calculation to be sure.

Message Edited by berraco58 on 12-10-2007 06:26 AM

[Anonymous]

They gave me a nice letter of congratulations.  Telling me how good and responsible I was. It would have only been better if it was signed, MOM. Don't you just love it when these companies try to act like Mom and Dad. At least they've tried that (bleep) with me.

Well I had a few lates post to my CRs from both of these Citi accounts. These are the only baddies.  So I typed up a nice GW letter for both accounts and mailed it off. I figured I'd get it out while I was still under their good grace.

Message Edited by berraco58 on 12-10-2007 06:31 AM

[haulingthescoreup]

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berraco58 wrote:

Also I meant to bring this up in a previous post but I am wondering. Everyone talks about bringing your Util down ASAP. Now a while ago I had $4000 in revolving debt and $7000 in CL.

I ran the myFICO simulators and it showed that if I paid $3800 right away my score would go from a 650 to a 720. But if I kept things as they were (paying off whatever I use in the mean time) but brought the balances down slowly over the course of 18 months. At the end of those 18 months I should have aa 780. . .

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The wording in the simulators isn't precise. What they appear to be trying to say is keep your util between 1-9% (i.e., balances paid down 90 - 100%) for 1 month, 3 months, 6 months, etc. I call it the "keep on keepin' on" scenario.

I carp at the poor FICO admins about this every 3 weeks or so. I've also been carping about how the TU sim shows HELOC balances in the amount you need to pay down, which is supposedly wrong. Soon they will send me a bag of Purina Carp Chow, I'm sure.

I'm hoping they will untangle this PDQ. Obviously, there is no way for your credit scores to look into the future to see if you continue to reduce balances, but it does appear that in the util area, they can look into the past and give you higher scores if you remain consistently under 10%.

[Anonymous]

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berraco58 wrote:

Also I meant to bring this up in a previous post but I am wondering. Everyone talks about bringing your Util down ASAP. Now a while ago I had $4000 in revolving debt and $7000 in CL.

I ran the myFICO simulators and it showed that if I paid $3800 right away my score would go from a 650 to a 720. But if I kept things as they were (paying off whatever I use in the mean time) but brought the balances down slowly over the course of 18 months. At the end of those 18 months I should have aa 780.

I know the deal with paying interest and all that and that that is the main factor in driving down balances quickly but what if I wanted to take the L for the sake of a higher score longer down the line. Has anyone heard of this approach?

One thing I was thinking is that it was taking into account the longer history I would have in 18 months. So... if I were to pay the 3800 on the spot and then keep good credit would I still get to that 780 in 18 months or is taking my time the best approach scorewise?

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Whatever floats your wallet.  If you paid those balances down immediately you would get an immediate score boost but if nothing changed besides paying down the balances in the next 18 mos, your score ouwld probably be the 780 you were promised.