That is a huge increase! Nice job!
Once I get my pay raises (US Army) I will be able to pay down my USAA card which should boost my score higher.
Starting Score: EQ 577
FICO and the credit bureaus have no information on the details of your accounts. I took out a card a year ago thinking it was an interest-free installment loan and found out I had applied for a card when it arrived in the mail. As a result, my 12-month interest free loan appeared to FICO as a slowly-declining monthly balance on a revolving credit account. I was also hit with an inquiry (for opening the account) and a "new account," and the average age of my accounts dropped. I don't know how much this cost me on my FICO score, since I first pulled it after opening that new account, but when the year was over and the account paid in full, my score jumped 22 points (EQ191 - EQ813).
I also discovered that one need not worry about credit card high balances if they are paid in full every month. FICO apparently counts only carry-over balances in computing credit usage. I had always assumed they used whatever the balance was on the day the report was pulled. If you can avoid those "12 months no interest" offers from Sears, Home Depot, Penny's, etc., you can save yourself a lot of negative points. I plan on having 0% usage on my cards from here on out.
All I will have left now with balances will be my two mortgages, one of which will be PIF in November. I am curious to see what will happen to my FICO score in December: a jump because I have only one account left, or a drop because of the $150,000 drop in "high credit" once it is closed. Will post when the time comes.
Starting Score: 777
haulingthescoreup wroteFICO computes your revolving credit utilization based on the balances reported to the credit bureaus, which are generally (not always) the balance due listed on your statements. A few banks, notably HSBC, Orchard, and US Bank, report your balances as of the last business day of the month, and there are doubtless others, mostly small, local lenders.
Refreshing to note these specifics. It must be sort of strange having your billing cycle be broken into two reporting pieces. If the bank wouldn't align with me, I would align with them, if possible. I'm accustomed to a simple life. 
Thanks for the clarification. My only cards are with Citi, and I guess I will keep it that way. My reasoning behind my comment was that my last FICO report said that my usage was about half what I had calculated (11% vs my 22%). When I finally removed the Citi balances, which were current and not yet billed, leaving only the balances on accounts that had carried over to the next month, I got 11%. I am making the last payment on that account tomorrow, and in the future I will pass on those "12-month interest free" offers, since they do catch FICO's eye.
Re aligning with the bank, I have moved all my closing dates to the 6th of the month, and then pay them off on payday (the first). That way my statements are quite small, just what I can charge for four or five days.
As a new member of the forums, I wanted to post my experience as it seems to contradict some of the conventional wisdom I have been reading here. As background, I have always made use of my available credit, but found myself in the unenviable position of owing $100,525 in credit card debt spread over eight credit cards with an average interest rate of 16.48% as of July 2007. My utilization was about 50% as I had about $200K in CLs - CRAZY for someone making about $93K! I was incurring $1,177.72/month in INTEREST ALONE. Although I was clearly financing a lifestyle well beyond my means, I was always able to make my monthly payments on time & had what I considered to be decent credit at the time:
EX - 698
EQ - 704
TU - 713
Through my then current 'Dear Girlfriend', I was introduced to Dave Ramsey & decided to change my life and get completely out of debt. I closed all my credit cards accounts with the exception of my American Express (which I use for business expenses only) & a Discover card (which at the time, was offering great BT rates). As a part of the Dave Ramsey program, I created a debt snowball and have been able to pay off my credit cards to the point of having only one remaining balance of $34,000. Per my latest CR, I have two open accounts, only one of which has a balance. I have no mortgage or installment loans. The $34K is considered an 'other' as it is an American Express 'sign & travel' account allowing payment over time even though it is really no different from any other credit card balance. However, because of this fluke, my utilization is reported as 0% on $21,000 of available credit. The various CRAs report 19-23 open or closed accounts (only two actually open), 25.2 years as the oldest account age, 10.1-11.2 as the average account age & 0-3 hard inquiries (0, 1, 3). The inquiries were the result of a move (apartment complex, Direct TV & Dish Network). As of yesterday, my FICO scores are as follows:
EQ - 804
TU - 821
For comparison purposes, my FAKO 'PLUS' scores as of today are:
EQ - 795
TU - 787
EX - 783
I share this information as there seems to be a lot of interest in what it takes to become a 'FICO High Achiever' and this is my two cents. My ultimate goal is to be 100% debt free and I am on track to achieve that goal by November 2011. Ultimately I hope to never borrow $ again and would love to have a credit score of ZERO because of no information. I'll be fascinated to read your feedback! Thanks for your time!
Starting Score: TU: 821/EQ: 800We're glad to hear from you! And congrats on killing off the debt, that's wonderful!
There's a lot of eye-rolling about DR around here, but no one says that all his advice is wrong. Many, many people here have used the debt snowball approach (which he did not invent, btw) to knock down massive amounts of debt. It's one of the most effective tactics around, especially in how it motivates the consumer to keep going. Most of us are human enough to appreciate and need frequent rewards in the form of checking another debt off the list. And I completely agree about not enslaving oneself to the whole gotta-have-it-all-gotta-have-it-now mentality that IMO is destroying our culture.
It's not at all surprising that you have your excellent FICO's, because you have such long credit history. Those with 20+ year histories can score very well indeed with just two open revolving lines, aka credit cards. Many of us here are gradually paring down the number of cards we carry, concentrating on those offering good rewards and great customer service. This fits the natural profile of those with long credit histories --the mortgages get paid off, the cars get paid off, we're not entering into new debt, and we have a handful of favorite cards that do good things for us.
For instance, it sounds like you kept your Discover card because of the 0% BT, which helped your snowball go faster, so that was certainly a benefit that you received from having and using credit. It would have taken you longer and cost you more money in the form of interest if you hadn't made credit work for you.
I generally get back $25 - $40 on my PenFed statement every month, because of the 5% - 2% - 1% rewards that they offer. (And I really don't go out and buy extra gas because I have a CC. I just buy gas when the little orange light comes on. Now that I work at home, I buy a tank of gas a month.) If I really wanted to work it, I could get back more. That's free money.
I have $0 CC debt, none. My car will probably be paid off in 4 months. My mortgage should be paid off in late spring of next year. At that point, I will be debt-free. But you'd better believe that I'm keeping cards open and my scores high, because you just never know what might be around the corner. I don't plan to ever finance another vehicle, but unless I've misplaced a savings account, I don't have a couple hundred thousand dollars in the bank to buy another house.
So anyway, I'm delighted to read that you were able to use Dave Ramsey to inspire you to get control of your debt and (at least for now) your credit. But despite what he says, there are benefits to using credit. I didn't even get into the rental car stuff and hotel room holds!
And it is possible to use credit and not be used by it. It's not for everyone, I completely agree, and we have some unending disaster stories around here of people who simply can't or won't exercise the self-discipline needed for wise credit and financial management. But just because some can't handle doesn't mean that others can't, either. 
Anyway, welcome aboard!
