Im paying down balances on all my my credit cards with an installment loan.
Im getting an auto loan from DCU or Boa/Cap1 when the balances report.. I have consistent on time payments to every single card since ive opened them..
Should i pay balances down to 0% or 1% for maximum fico? (Looking for best auto rate)
since i have months of payments i dont see why the lender would have a problem with seeing payment history... But also someone suggested i keep a small balance on ONLY 1 card since the number of cards reporting balances is low as well.
Suggestions? Thanks in advance.
Im getting an auto loan from DCU or Boa/Cap1 when the balances report.. I have consistent on time payments to every single card since ive opened them..
Should i pay balances down to 0% or 1% for maximum fico? (Looking for best auto rate)
since i have months of payments i dont see why the lender would have a problem with seeing payment history... But also someone suggested i keep a small balance on ONLY 1 card since the number of cards reporting balances is low as well.
Suggestions? Thanks in advance.
Im paying them all off today. My first due date is on the 11th. I hope when i oay them off i dont see an interest charge balance posted to report. Im not sure when they charge interest.
I have some cards with special financing promotions so no interest for months to come, so i'll leave a small balance about 1% for one of those cards.
@user5387 Yea thats a good idea. Or i could calculate myself and may a payment that would essentially pay off the balance + interest that would be charged. So theyd credit me for that extra part of the payment which would later go toward my interest charged.
example: $100 balance. 12% APR (1%/Month)
Balance: $100
Payment $101
New balance: -$1
Interest charges then balance becomes $0.
Sounds about right?
@user5387 Yea thats a good idea. Or i could calculate myself and may a payment that would essentially pay off the balance + interest that would be charged. So theyd credit me for that extra part of the payment which would later go toward my interest charged.
example: $100 balance. 12% APR (1%/Month)
Balance: $100
Payment $101
New balance: -$1
Interest charges then balance becomes $0.
Sounds about right?
@gh17 wrote:From what I understand, to maximize your credit score in a given month, you want to pay off all cards to $0 before the bill comes for all cards except for one. On that one, leave a balance reporting from 0%-9% of its limit (greater than $0, but 0.4% is fine). I don't think anyone knows the exactly difference between having 1% or 6%, etc.
It's individual per consumer, and likely changes for that matter where they fall along the credit strata at various points in their lives.
If you're putting lipstick on the pig pre-mortgage then it's possibly wise to try to figure it out if you have access to one of the common mortgage scores as the tiers are bloody hard set unfortunately and sometimes even a few points can make a massive difference. For everything else, it doesn't matter that much other than some dealer-specific financing deals.
End of the day, if you can manage your report to what you state, the difference between 1% and 6% is 99% trivial for most people at most times: the hard part is done, being debt free on one's credit cards which is non-trivially important, almost assuredly moreso than a few points either way FICO wise.
as others have said, best way to maximize your score is to pay off all CC's once the bill comes in (and before it reports to the credit bureau's) except one card, which you leave at 1-10%. The difference between 1-10% is probably neglible. then once it reports you pay the balance off before it starts to charge interest.
in addition, depending on your score, if your score is 750-760+ and you've been PIF, just stick to that. you won't get a better rate past 750-760 FICO.
@milkshakes wrote:as others have said, best way to maximize your score is to pay off all CC's once the bill comes in (and before it reports to the credit bureau's) except one card, which you leave at 1-10%. The difference between 1-10% is probably neglible. then once it reports you pay the balance off before it starts to charge interest.
in addition, depending on your score, if your score is 750-760+ and you've been PIF, just stick to that. you won't get a better rate past 750-760 FICO.
Incorrect........pay off all ur credit cards B4 the statement cuts (except one card) and NOT after the bill comes in. And pay off ur 1 card in full with less than 9% b4 the due date.
