I agree totally, IME the score simulators are practically worthless. 
July 2013 score: EQ FICO 819, TU08 778, EX "806 lender pull 07/26/2013
Goal Score: All Scores 760+, Newest goal 800+
Take the myFICO Fitness Challenge
Current scores after adding $81K in CLs and 2 new cars since July 2013
EQ:809 TU 777 EX 790 Now it's just garden time!
June 2017 update: All scores over 820, just pure gardening now.
Another year down, no real progress. 
Hi Josh,
I think what Scupra was saying is: if you can tell us what the limits on your cards are vs. the current balance, some suggestions could be made on which cards to pay down first in order to boost your score more quickly. It looks like the balances are coming down slowly so I'm assuming you're only paying the minimum balance. Do you have any extra $$ you can apply to a certain card?
When paying down CC's, there's sort of 2 options...pay down the highest interest rate first, or pay off the lowest balance first. The former will save you money in the long run while the latter will boost your score more quickly. Sort of up to you on how to handle.
In general, there are situtations where the biggest hurdle is time. It takes time to get past the errors you've made in the past and rebuild your score. In my case, I had a foreclosure and while my score is *ever so slowly* rebounding, it simply takes time for the past to age off your report. After 6.11 years of waiting, my FC is set to fall off in February. I can't tell you how liberating it makes me feel to know that I've put in my time and will soon be rewarded for hard work, dedication, and perserverance. My message to you is DON'T DESPAIR!! It will get better!! Your job is to do everything you can to correct the things that are wrong on your report and GW the heck out of any baddies. Also - be creative in your approach and think outside the box! Maybe you belong to a CU that would give you a loan with low interest rate, pay off the multiple TL's (keep them open!). Or BT to a new credit card? Just keep at it my friend.
I know this was long, so sorry about that, but wanted to encourage you to keep on keepin' on.
Starting Score: 592
@Taylor4236 wrote:Hi Josh,
I think what Scupra was saying is: if you can tell us what the limits on your cards are vs. the current balance, some suggestions could be made on which cards to pay down first in order to boost your score more quickly. It looks like the balances are coming down slowly so I'm assuming you're only paying the minimum balance. Do you have any extra $$ you can apply to a certain card?
When paying down CC's, there's sort of 2 options...pay down the highest interest rate first, or pay off the lowest balance first. The former will save you money in the long run while the latter will boost your score more quickly. Sort of up to you on how to handle.
In general, there are situtations where the biggest hurdle is time. It takes time to get past the errors you've made in the past and rebuild your score. In my case, I had a foreclosure and while my score is *ever so slowly* rebounding, it simply takes time for the past to age off your report. After 6.11 years of waiting, my FC is set to fall off in February. I can't tell you how liberating it makes me feel to know that I've put in my time and will soon be rewarded for hard work, dedication, and perserverance. My message to you is DON'T DESPAIR!! It will get better!! Your job is to do everything you can to correct the things that are wrong on your report and GW the heck out of any baddies. Also - be creative in your approach and think outside the box! Maybe you belong to a CU that would give you a loan with low interest rate, pay off the multiple TL's (keep them open!). Or BT to a new credit card? Just keep at it my friend.
I know this was long, so sorry about that, but wanted to encourage you to keep on keepin' on.
Exactly! If we can see your util % per card it would help us give you better advice on how to raise your score the quickest. Hang in there, the high util is most likely what's your scores down. It's probably not what you want to hear BUT, you probably don't want a new shiny mortgage payment while your util is that high anyway. Get the cards paid down and you will be in a much better spot financially which should relieve some of the stress!