Hello All!
I am new to MyFico, but so far I am finding it very useful!
Last year I ran into some medical issues that depleted our savings. The doctor required upfront payments and as a result the lowest balance cards were late and I maxed out the cards. (3 lates in 1 month.) On top of dealing with this we were trying to QUICKLY pay down a store card we opened before retroactive interest hit and we failed making that a total waste.
My total credit limit was 6200 with 98% utilization. As of the end of 2015 I increased my household income by $26,000 a year. As of March I have paid $3550 of my debt off. My score is still in the high 500s but it has not updated showing the payments I made with the savings.
Will this likely boost my credit score to the 600s?
Second question: I am selling my house and using the equity in it as a down payment for a new house(& paying off the rest of my debt) . The house will be ready in September but I need to get pre-approved in April.
. My question is this: If I have an open account with no balance is that included in my debt to income ratio? I am afraid to close some of these cards because they have been around the longest!! I need to lower my debt to income ratio but I am not sure if 0 balances count against it?
(My newest card is 7 months old but I have a very low interest rate, my oldest card has a very high interest rate, but I keep it because it's 8 years old)
