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Credit Experts - Please Take a Look at My Situation (re: Utilization)

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twoaklawn
Valued Member

Credit Experts - Please Take a Look at My Situation (re: Utilization)

2/12/2012, Equifax report, FICO 685, AAoA 8 yrs, oldest account 19yrs, no lates or derogs, $22,349 total revolving, $924 total installment.  Utilization shows 75%.  Want to work on score as efficiently as possible. Not sure how they calculated the 75% utilization figure.  Here are the accounts in limit  / balance / acct status:

 

GE/Care Credit2300 / 0 / open

HSBC2090 / 1928 / open

Chase3400 / 786 / closed (by me, old Providian, should have left open, my bad)

Chase4500 / 4405 / open

Chase7000 / 6985 / open

Chase750 / 688 / open

GE/Rooms2Go3000 / 0 / closed (by GE 2yrs ago for unknown reasons, $0 bal at the time of closure)

Cap One2300 / 1530 / closed (by me 3yrs ago for 10% rate hike, not sure what reason, never late)

Amex Gold? / 3916 / open (the $3916 is pay over time balance)

Cbna / Home Depot1250 / 1071

Target1000 / 979

 

Are the closed accounts counting in my percentage of utilization?  How does that American Express pay over time balance affect utilization percentage?  With utilization this high and this much debt, does it really matter which accounts I start really working on first?  I'm in a good position now to start retiring this debt.  I can put around $1500 per month toward debt reduction starting this month, and would like to do so in the most efficient manner to raise the score.  All the cards have been stored in the closet except the American Express card, as I want to get serious about my credit future.

 

Thanks in advance for your advice and comments! 

Message 1 of 8
7 REPLIES 7
Guava
Established Contributor

Re: Credit Experts - Please Take a Look at My Situation (re: Utilization)

Hai! I'm no expert but here's my shot Smiley Very Happy

 

- Closed accounts with balance still factored in your utilization calculation. 75% is from adding all your balances (except the AMEX) and divide that over your total credit limit + 924 installment.

 

- I think the TU FICO score you buy from this site include the AMEX charge card balance into util calculation, but with newer FICO scoring model, charge card balance aren't included in calculation.

 

- I also think it is better to pay off/down the account with highest APR first as this will save you a little money over time. 


Starting Score (08/11/11): TU08: 643
Current Score: TU08: 741
Goal Score: Stay in the 700s; keep reports clean


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Message 2 of 8
MarineVietVet
Moderator Emeritus

Re: Credit Experts - Please Take a Look at My Situation (re: Utilization)


@twoaklawn wrote:

2/12/2012, Equifax report, FICO 685, AAoA 8 yrs, oldest account 19yrs, no lates or derogs, $22,349 total revolving, $924 total installment.  Utilization shows 75%.  Want to work on score as efficiently as possible. Not sure how they calculated the 75% utilization figure.  Here are the accounts in limit  / balance / acct status:

 

GE/Care Credit2300 / 0 / open

HSBC2090 / 1928 / open

Chase3400 / 786 / closed (by me, old Providian, should have left open, my bad)

Chase4500 / 4405 / open

Chase7000 / 6985 / open

Chase750 / 688 / open

GE/Rooms2Go3000 / 0 / closed (by GE 2yrs ago for unknown reasons, $0 bal at the time of closure)

Cap One2300 / 1530 / closed (by me 3yrs ago for 10% rate hike, not sure what reason, never late)

Amex Gold? / 3916 / open (the $3916 is pay over time balance)

Cbna / Home Depot1250 / 1071

Target1000 / 979

 

Are the closed accounts counting in my percentage of utilization?  How does that American Express pay over time balance affect utilization percentage?  With utilization this high and this much debt, does it really matter which accounts I start really working on first?  I'm in a good position now to start retiring this debt.  I can put around $1500 per month toward debt reduction starting this month, and would like to do so in the most efficient manner to raise the score.  All the cards have been stored in the closet except the American Express card, as I want to get serious about my credit future.

 

Thanks in advance for your advice and comments! 



Here is how I came up with the same 75% utilization.

 

Closed accounts are counted into utilization only if both the CL and balance are reported. So the Chase (old Providian) card is calculated but the GE/Rooms2Go is not included. Plus the Amex card is not included. I get these totals:

 

Total balances of $18,372 divided by total available credit of $24,428 = 75%.

 

 

 


"Some people spend an entire lifetime wondering if they've made a difference. The Marines don't have that problem".

 

 

 

Message 3 of 8
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: Credit Experts - Please Take a Look at My Situation (re: Utilization)


@twoaklawn wrote:

2/12/2012, Equifax report, FICO 685, AAoA 8 yrs, oldest account 19yrs, no lates or derogs, $22,349 total revolving, $924 total installment.  Utilization shows 75%.  Want to work on score as efficiently as possible. Not sure how they calculated the 75% utilization figure.  Here are the accounts in limit  / balance / acct status:

 

GE/Care Credit2300 / 0 / open

HSBC2090 / 1928 / open

Chase3400 / 786 / closed (by me, old Providian, should have left open, my bad)

Chase4500 / 4405 / open

Chase7000 / 6985 / open

Chase750 / 688 / open

GE/Rooms2Go3000 / 0 / closed (by GE 2yrs ago for unknown reasons, $0 bal at the time of closure)

Cap One2300 / 1530 / closed (by me 3yrs ago for 10% rate hike, not sure what reason, never late)

Amex Gold? / 3916 / open (the $3916 is pay over time balance)

Cbna / Home Depot1250 / 1071

Target1000 / 979

 

Are the closed accounts counting in my percentage of utilization?  How does that American Express pay over time balance affect utilization percentage?  With utilization this high and this much debt, does it really matter which accounts I start really working on first?  I'm in a good position now to start retiring this debt.  I can put around $1500 per month toward debt reduction starting this month, and would like to do so in the most efficient manner to raise the score.  All the cards have been stored in the closet except the American Express card, as I want to get serious about my credit future.

 

Thanks in advance for your advice and comments! 


Try to pay up any of the highlighted ones in the order that is convenient for you (either ascending or descending) and it will help your score.

Message 4 of 8
RobertEG
Legendary Contributor

Re: Credit Experts - Please Take a Look at My Situation (re: Utilization)

There are, in my opinion, two basic strategies for paying down revolving debt, one based on financial benefit, and the other based on FICO scoring impact.

They are often at odds.

Financial benefit would come from paying down the highest APR balances first.  Those reflect $$ out of pocket.

FICO benefit would come from paying down the highest % utils cards first, as higher % utils are generally considered to have a more negative impact than reducing a lower % util card by the same amount.

Message 5 of 8
twoaklawn
Valued Member

Re: Credit Experts - Please Take a Look at My Situation (re: Utilization)

Robert - I was thinking the same thing.  Luckily for me, the two Chase cards with the highest balances have the lowest APR's of all my other cards.  So the order of payoff for me is fairly clear.  The FICO simulator says that if I pay off 90-100% of my revolving balances in the next 24 months, my estimated score range would be 775-815.  I'm not sure which will be more satisfying, the fact of having a great credit score, or the freedom of being debt free.  I will celebrate that day for sure!

Message 6 of 8
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: Credit Experts - Please Take a Look at My Situation (re: Utilization)

I take the simple approach. Debt ratio is definitely damaging this high. Apply all bulk payments to highest interest rates to lower debt. Sure there are ways to work it, but with debt ratio so high I think the only thing that matters is debt right now. Maybe when you're down around 30% it's time to try and limit number of revolving accounts but I would still chase highest interest rate till the very end, just me personally. Looking at it from another angle, if you did something different to gain a few points it wouldn't be enough to make it worth the hit your taking on over all debt ratio to me. Higher interest on the other hand slows down the debt repayment, holding your score lower, longer. Another thing to consider is with a high ratio its less likely to get approvals today, with this ratio. With all this, my opinion goes for paying down highest interest which by it self reduces debt faster, and rebounds scores faster. We can get super technical about how points are applied and lost, but that's a later question when overall debt ratio isn't the largest factor harming your score.

Message 7 of 8
jdogi
Contributor

Re: Credit Experts - Please Take a Look at My Situation (re: Utilization)

If you are serious about your financial future then you probably shouldn't be serious about watching your day-to-day FICO scores.  (DISCLAIMER: I like to do it, as do many others here (I think it's often just sport/hobby)), but it really isn't a proper long-term strategy.

 

Unless you are trying to tactically raise your score for a specific upcoming loan app, there's no reason (IMHO) to do anything but attack the highest rate balances first.

 

If you're about to buy a car or house, without having payed all that other stuff off, then ignore that advice and just keep in mind your overall, and per-tradeline utilization %s, as well as the number of accounts with balances.  Nobody here really knows how to balance those three factors.  I recommend using 'the force'.  Given the mysteries of the FICO algorithm, that's about the best weapon I could find.

 

Whenever I'm shooting for a score, I look for any low balance cards that I can quickly knock down to zero.  At the same time, (and maybe even with a bit more importance) I try to get all revolving tradelines below 75% utilization.  Then I try to focus on getting down to ~3 tradelines with balances (maybe 4 given the number of accounts that you have).  Finally, I try to keep the per-tradeline utilization percentages of these remaining balances all the same.  That way, they will all hit any hypothetical per-tradeline milestones at the same time.  In other words, they will all hit 49% per-tradeline utilization around the same time, etc.

 

DISCLAIMER #2: This is just my formula and I have no scientific reason to believe that it is any better than randomly allocating your payments across your current balances.  I used the force to come up with it along with the old "what would I do" method.  That 's just me saying to myself..."if I was a FICO algorithm, what would I like to see?"

 

And yea, there is one last factor... for some reason, this formula gives me the greatest sense of 'perceived' progress.  This should not be underestimated as a motivating force.  So whatever you decide, just convince yourself that you'e doing it the right way and just get it done.

 

Having an incredibly manageable amount of debt (and a decent score to boot) is greaty satisfying.  I can only imagine what it is like to be fully debt free.  With a little work, we will hopefully all find out.

 

Warning...^^^^^^...this is the kind of cheesy inspirational crap that starts coming out of my fingers when I make long posts.  But I mean every word of it, just no quite that cheesy. Smiley Wink

 

Good luck

 

DISCLAIMER #3:  I am no credit expert, but I do play one here on the forums from time to time. Smiley Wink

Message 8 of 8
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