62 point drop in one month.

[WallyxD]

I just checked my Walmart fico and my scored dropped 62 points! There's one new account reporting this month and my util has gone up maybe a couple percent to 65ish (from 60ish% last month). I'm not sure how this constitutes a drop to 615 from 677. The 2 reasons it states for the score impact was short history and heavy use of credit. I guess it's important to note that it said my score was as of July 2nd. My CLI on my Walmart card happened just a couple of days ago and I'm due for two other CLIs next statement so I suppose that will somewhat improve my util. In the meantime, ill take the time to figure out my AAoA. I, hoping its not much lower than what I'm expecting it to be. I don't plan on applying for another card but I am planning to apply for a 2-4k student loan to cover what I'd have to pay out of pocket for school. Would you guys recommend I put whatever I'm reimbursed towards my cards or should I pay the extra towards my loan? I also have been getting more hours at work and will continue to work about 30/week at least for the remainder of the summer so I'll put all I can towards my cards. In the end I'll be alright but my question is, is there any reason for me to panic? Should I stop worrying so much? Also, I have a couple hundred dollar purchase to make (out of pocket) this weekend (pertaining to a hobby of mine) that I've been looking forward to for a long time. Should I put that on hold to pay my util down?

[chnceit]

I know it not cool when your FICO takes a plung but it will recover.

I say use the money to pay off your CC; since your CC's are revolving accounts you dont want any interested incurred then you dont have to get a larger student loan. 

But using your CC's will keep your score from going up! Dont use your CC's if you dont have the money to pay it back! 

[Dubious]

That's a pretty big drop. I wonder if it's possible you were rebucketed as well. 

[WallyxD]

Yes I know not to use them if I don't have the money to pay them back. I will say though, that I did go a bit overboard when I got my Citi; it was 0% APR for seven months. That card is pretty much maxed out. And another huge portion of util came from helping my mom catch up on bills and stuff. She does plan on paying me back and has said it numerous times. She will be paying for my rent when I'm at school (while im at school, i will be working and I have every intention on using the money I make from working to pay down my CC's) so I don't know if its fair to still harass her about what she "owes" me since she is paying my rent for me. It seems I have a lot to think about and I have gotten better with budgeting so I guess it's time to be even more strict with it.

[RollingStone]

Have you thought about reconsolidated your cards to bring down the utilization on the lower balance cards and this will allow you to make a larger payment to get your credit utilization down.  This may help out your finances and you can focus on 1 payment per month towards your cards instead of 3-5 small payments... Just a thought!

[Dubious]

FICO starts scoring accounts as maxed out at, I believe, 90? percent. Someone please correct me if I'm wrong.

You probably got dinged for high util on individuals cards as well as high overall util.

Best plan is to bring down the balances on the maxed out or near maxed out cards as soon as possible first, then work on bringing down overall util. Hope you can eliminate the smaller balances quickly to lower the number of cards reporting a balance. All these different factors affected your drop, even though it's all technically util. Your score will recover little by little.

[WallyxD]

Rollingstone, though it sounds like a great idea. I'm not necessarily sure how to go about reconsolidating everything. My plan of attack was to obvi keep paying my monthly bills and make several more payments throughout the month since that's what I'm already used to.

And Dubious, do you mean 90% overall or for each card? If for each card is the case, then it seems there are an overwhelming number of ways to handle everything. Ill use your strategy though. Thank you for the help guys.

[Dubious]

If you post the balances that you have right now in relation to the limits, we would be able to help you figure out the best plan of attack. 

The idea that I was proposing is that you first pay down all the nearly maxed out cards in such a way that no individual card has a util of, let's say, 70% (not too sure that is a safe enough number, will let the veterans chime in). Then go from there. 

[WallyxD]

Here are my balances:

AEO Visa: 1855/2300
AE Store CC: 0/700
Citi Forward: 1370/1500 (0% apr)
CapOne: 660/700
Walmart: 40/1050
Chase Amazon: 250/500
Paypal SC: 0/300

I just made a couple payments and will make more next week. Ill feel alot better about myself as I pay off that AEO lol.

[09Lexie]

How long have you had the GE cards?