Best way to bring scores up

[devineer1]

I have a lengthy history if baddies... Most when I was young and dumb and very irresponsible.. Paying fir that now... While I work on removing those things .. My question is whats the best way to boost score.. I have a secured card with cap one $200, a secure card with WF $500 and revolving account with Finger Hut $600 and an AU with Kohls (newbie).

I would also like to know about usage... If I use MORE than 10-25% and still manage to pay balance down to Zero by the time its do will that hurt me?

[Anonymous]

It will not hurt you in the least. The only balance that matters as far as reporting purposes, is the balance on the day the billing starts - that is your 'carried' balance and its what gets reported. You can max it out and pay it back down 20 times during the cycle and it won't affect scoring. In fact, this is the preferred usage that the credit card companies like to see. Charging it up and paying it off immediately gets them lots of vendor fees, with no risk at all. You carrying a balance gets them interest, but at a risk of you defaulting.

Using the card a lot actually tends to encourage CLI's - as long as the carried balance is low.