Dumb question....what counts as utilization? I am paying my credit cards down to 30%. I have four cards with very low limits, but are maxed. I'm going to pay them down with my taxes...but I owe 11,000 in student loan consolidation and 14,000 on my car. Do these other two loans count towards my utilization? Should I throw extra money on the car payment or the student loan every month? The Student loan plan has me having them paid off by 2025 
and my car should be paid off by 2013. I'm thinking I should pu more money towards paying off the car rather than my SL because my equity in my car depreciates every year...is this the right way way to go?
and my car should be paid off by 2013. I'm thinking I should pu more money towards paying off the car rather than my SL because my equity in my car depreciates every year...is this the right way way to go?
Installment util is counted separately from revolving util (which is the biggie), so don't worry about the SL and auto loan for now. Get all the cards under (not at) 30%, with a goal of getting them down even further. If you have any cards with relatively small credit limits, you might set a goal of paying them off completely and leaving them that way. It's a bunch easier to PIF a $500 CL card with 30% util than a $10K card with 30% util!
Paying off the car loan more quickly makes sense to me. Cars don't always last as long as car loans do.
Paying off the car loan more quickly makes sense to me. Cars don't always last as long as car loans do.