HELP! What to do first?

[wakefield622]

We are trying to get a home loan and our LO will be pulling credit on 6/8. We have two credit cards, one is for Citi (which my wife is also on as a authorized user) this balance is $3,800 out of a $5,200 CL. And our Care Credit is $535 out of $1,000 CL. We have $500 to pay down on a card. What would you do to maximize your credit score? I was leaning towards paying off the Care Credit, but not sure. My wife is not on that card, so it would benefit me vs. benefitng both of us. 

EDIT: I found some more money. I paid down Citi to $3,409 out of $5,200 CL (65% utilization) and Care Credit down to $389 out of $1,000 CL (39%). Hoping this will help credit score a bit. 

[MarineVietVet]

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@wakefield622 wrote:

We are trying to get a home loan and our LO will be pulling credit on 6/8. We have two credit cards, one is for Citi (which my wife is also on as a authorized user) this balance is $3,800 out of a $5,200 CL. And our Care Credit is $535 out of $1,000 CL. We have $500 to pay down on a card. What would you do to maximize your credit score? I was leaning towards paying off the Care Credit, but not sure. My wife is not on that card, so it would benefit me vs. benefitng both of us. 

EDIT: I found some more money. I paid down Citi to $3,409 out of $5,200 CL (65% utilization) and Care Credit down to $389 out of $1,000 CL (39%). Hoping this will help credit score a bit. 

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Hi there.

Since your ultimate goal is a mortgage I've moved your questions over here.

[wakefield622]

Thank you. Wasn't sure since it is about both increasing credit score and obtaining a mortgage.

[StartingOver10]

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@wakefield622 wrote:

We are trying to get a home loan and our LO will be pulling credit on 6/8. We have two credit cards, one is for Citi (which my wife is also on as a authorized user) this balance is $3,800 out of a $5,200 CL. And our Care Credit is $535 out of $1,000 CL. We have $500 to pay down on a card. What would you do to maximize your credit score? I was leaning towards paying off the Care Credit, but not sure. My wife is not on that card, so it would benefit me vs. benefitng both of us. 

EDIT: I found some more money. I paid down Citi to $3,409 out of $5,200 CL (65% utilization) and Care Credit down to $389 out of $1,000 CL (39%). Hoping this will help credit score a bit. 

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FICO measures the utilization on each card plus across all revolving accounts. Generally you see a bump up if all balances are less than 50% and another bump when they are less than 30%.  Naturally to optimize you want one at zero and the other at 1% to 9% of the credit limit. Sometimes it isn't possible to optimize before you apply. Let us know what happens to your mortgage scores when they report the new lower balances.

[wakefield622]

Thank you. I was able to pay down Citi to $2,900 out of the $5,200 CL (55% util) and Care Credit to $389 out of $1,000 CL (38%). I am all out of funds now, so hoping this helps a bit. I will keep you updated! 

[wakefield622]

As of last CR Citi was at 82% uti and Care Credit was at 55%. We also had high balances on Target and Walmart CC's. Both have been PIF. So very curious to see what score looks like with paying off 2 cards on my name and one my wife's name (She also is an AU on my Citi). As well as paying down utilization. As well old collections have dropped off both my and my wife's credit report this month. Crossing fingers! 

[frugalQ]

good luck!!!  you may see a nice bump....especially with a collection being removed.

[wakefield622]

Thanks for the response! Can't wait for the update!