So Confused!!!!!!!!!

[cp79]

So I'm checking my report and as I'm going through my list, it showed the bad and good affecting my score. So it tells me that I have a late, using all of my credit and have a deliquent. But then it tells me that I have no good things that's helping my score. This is where I get confused because I have a auto loan and 3 credit cards, grant it I was using all of my credit but paying it off each month before the due date. I just found out that even if you pay it in full it looks like your living on credit so right now I'm paying it down.Why does'nt my auto loan and credit cards help my score? I thought this was what you needed

[Anonymous]

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@cp79 wrote:

" I just found out that even if you pay it in full it looks like your living on credit so right now I'm paying it down.Why does'nt my auto loan and credit cards help my score? I thought this was what you needed..."

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I think what you are referring to here is your utlization (UTL) and you want that at 10% or less - if you were "using all of your credit' as you say - then you UTL would be very high and would be effecting your score negatively.

[cp79]

With that being noted. I will pay down and not use any of my cc's until it's paid off in full and then I'll use only 10% of each card each month. It's hard to believe that I should only be using 10% of my cl when there all at 300 limit. That means I should only be spending 30.00 on each card?

This can be so depressing sometimes, I can kick my self for ruining my credit at an early age.

[Anonymous]

Don't kick too hard! Although I kick myself often too - as I often lament, why don't they teach this stuff in schools??

And yes, that would mean only $30 on a card with a 300 limit. But keep at it and eventually you can ask for a credit line increase! The cool thing here is that getting your UTL under 10% is one of the fastest ways to see a change in your FICO which is sweet.

[ralbusta]

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@cp79 wrote:

With that being noted. I will pay down and not use any of my cc's until it's paid off in full and then I'll use only 10% of each card each month. It's hard to believe that I should only be using 10% of my cl when there all at 300 limit. That means I should only be spending 30.00 on each card?

This can be so depressing sometimes, I can kick my self for ruining my credit at an early age.

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Your not limited to using less than 10%, you should only have less than 10% report to the bureau.

For example I have a card with a 2K limit and last month I charged $1500 on it, but I paid it off in full before the statement date. So my credit report shows a $0 balance for that account, although I used 75% of the limit during the month.

You need to find out the statement dates as well as your due dates in order to get your credit util to report like you want to: 1 or 2 accounts reporting a balance with overall util between 1-9%.

Using this approach you should maximize your score.

[Anonymous]

 
You need to find out the statement dates as well as your due dates in order to get your credit util to report like you want to: 1 or 2 accounts reporting a balance with overall util between 1-9%.
 
Using this approach you should maximize your score.

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 Could you elaborate a bit on this please, just to make sure I'm understanding it correctly.

 For instance, on one of my cards, my statement date is the 26th, and the due date the following 23rd.  I just purchased something today, so should I pay it off before the 26th?

Thank you! 

[ralbusta]

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@Anonymous wrote:

You need to find out the statement dates as well as your due dates in order to get your credit util to report like you want to: 1 or 2 accounts reporting a balance with overall util between 1-9%.
 
Using this approach you should maximize your score.

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 Could you elaborate a bit on this please, just to make sure I'm understanding it correctly.

 For instance, on one of my cards, my statement date is the 26th, and the due date the following 23rd.  I just purchased something today, so should I pay it off before the 26th?

Thank you! 

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You need to pay any min payment due by the due date of the 23rd, and any remaining balance by the 26th. So yes if you want it to have a zero balance you would need to pay of any purchases before the 26th.

For example: You have a balance of $15, and you min payment due is $15. You buy something today for $20. If you only pay the $15 due amount, your CR will reflect a $20 balance when they update.

You'll have a zero balance if you pay the additional $20 and it posts to your account(very important) before the 26th.

Note: If you've been carrying a balance for a few months you may get a interest charge on the statement date, so it may take an extra month to get to a zero balance.

Hope I didn't confuse you more.

[Anonymous]

I think I got it now.  Thank you for explaining in more detail.