@Anonymous wrote:I have cap 1 qs, overstock and VS (all in November). I am an AU on his Cap 1 QS and walmart card. The walmart card carries a balance every month to make sure he has something reporting. We normally PIF everything but one card. I pay all the bills and the only one carrying the walmart card. I paid the VS card the 4th of January - it just reported My Cap 1 was paid first of this month. Within 2 days, both of them reported. Alerts went off. Balance decreased. Balance percentage decreased etc. It shows my utilization at 0% I am looking at his and there is clearly a balance with the walmart card. My account doesn't reflect that. *insert confused face here*
As far as why there is such a jump in my scores. I had some old medical collections that I was unaware of come off in January. I have never pulled a credit report on myself until November. I got married almost 2 years ago and we want to buy a house. We both pulled everything to see what it looks like and what we need to do to qualify for a mortgage. I am normally a cash only person. He had a lot of credit but also had to file bk 4 years ago after a divorce. He has bounced back and his scores are about the same range as mine. He just gets prime cards because of his AAoA. Althought I have one closed account that is 11 years old. I haven't gotten credit in years so I am building that.
Your score is still trying to figure out how to recalculate from the medical collections removal, that is one thing.
The other factor is, you are rebuilding credit, so you want balances and activity to keep adding positive months to your file. It takes months and years of consistent payments to build a solid base so these big swings are less likely.
I would suggest using the QS lightly each month, so it reports a consistent balance on the statement, and then you PIF by the statement due date, continuing to use it lightly so that you have a balance reporting. You don't want to pay off all your cards to zero, and I would not trust an AU account to show "open amounts". It adds to your history, but likely not to your own borrowing.
You will also want to look into getting one more real CC. Not immediately, but in the next few months. The VS is an Ok starter card, useless outside VS. The Overstock may work as a regular MC/Visa; it is good to have a few cards to keep building your credit file.
