@waqaszm1 wrote:I have 23 active credit cards. 9 of them have been paid to a zero balance. total minimum payments add up to $685 a month spread out on the 14 revolving credit card accounts on which i currently have a balance. if i do the snowball thing where i start with the lowest balance and work my way up, i should be able to pay off 8 accounts before my $4k runs out leaving me with 6 accounts with a balance and min. payments of 491 a month.
plus, i have three installment "finance company accounts." the minimum payments on these three add up to $387. with the $4k, i can pay them all off.
my goal is maximum score increase !! so ... what should i do ....
I think that a reasonable answer to your question still hinges upon a few 'still unknowns'. So, you need a maximum score increase, but for what end, and how soon? What's your credit score now? I know you're probably going to grit your teeth at this request, but...uh... can you list our all 23 revolving accounts by issuer, credit lines, balance, and APRs? 
Here's an example (and why it matters, follows that):
| Credit Card | Limit | Balance | APR | |
| 1 | First Mutual of Idaho | 5000 | 395 | 10.99% |
| 2 | Montana Mutual | 3500 | 1025 | 23.99% |
| 3 | Silly Bands Store | 100 | 0 | 14.99% |
Very generally speaking, paying down revolving debt would give you more bang for your score increasing buck than paying down installment debt. BUT, giving you opinions without knowing what it is that you need "maximum score increase" for, or what your timeline is may steer you in the wrong direction. Knowing more about who you're paying, and how much your individual and overall utilization will be reduced by, and how much $$$ might be freed up by paying what will help members give you more focused and realistic advice that might help you reach whatever goal you're pursuing. Moreso than very generic opinions based upon the general idea that, in FICO scoring, revolving debt weighs more heavily than installment debt. For example, someone might recommend that you pay two cards, and balance transfer two. Or, warn you that (in their experience) an issuer CLD'd or closed after a certain action (which might impact your utilization as well). There are too many variables, unknown, that could influence what people would recommend, so a little more info, could procure the advice that you're seeking.