How to get the maximum score boost when paying off debt?

[Anonymous]

Hi there!

So, I had some things come up and subsequently had to get some cards close to their credit limits, like 95%. Credit score suffered, obviously. I've got a work bonus coming along with my tax return. I've sat and calculated exactly how much I'd need to pay on each card to get my balances to 29%. I was wondering how I should go about this. Should I just do them all at once? Or should I make the payments over the course of a few months? Or should I just pay off 2 or 3 cards and make large payments on the rest? Just wondering what would help my score the most. Thanks!

[Adkins]

A score boost from lowered utilization depends on two factors (1) utilization on each individual accounts and (2) overall utilization. You need to have both in check in order to get the maximum points. You didn't list your cards but I recommend first getting every card at 87% or under, so your not "maxed" out to FICOs scoring system. At that point you can either concentrate on getting the utilization down on all of them overall or do them one at a time.