Hi all,
Over the past few months I've had to put quite a few charges on my CC (vacation expenses which would have been paid immediately were coupled with unexpected car trouble--twice in two months) which has caused my overall util to climb from just under 3% to just over 71%. I'm thankful for having the credit available, but not excited about seeing my util climb as I have focused on my scores for this year.
Thankfully, I've been able to PIF all of my CC this month. I can't wait to see the affect this has on my score, but I find myself a little confused. I know there are other factors that come into play with my credit score which is leading to my confusion but any insight any of you have would be much appreciated.
In the initial bump in util (from 3% to 32%) my score plummeted 20 points. A sad fact, since the day before my score had moved up 2 points due to accounts aging and old negatives not affecting my score as much as before. Then the next jump from (from 32% to 49%) my score dropped 1 more point. Then, over the course of 2 months my util raised to its max of 71% and my score increased 13 points, mainly from a 9 point jump when I got a ScoreWatch notice that my recent lates weren't affecting my score as much, followed by another 7 point jump for the same reason at the beginning of the next month--only a 3 point dip when my util went from 51 to 66% in this time period is noted.
So imagine my surprise when the first of my four CC reports a $0 balance to the CB's and my score jumped 13 points! My util is still reporting as 39% which certainly is not stellar. In fact, this util is higher than the initial bump in util which caused my score to drop 20 points.
Is it really possible that once my balances all report that I'll see another 20(ish) point increase in my credit score (based on the drop I saw when my util went from 3% to 32%)? I'm cautiously optimistic and kind of holding my breath. I only lost an obvious 24 points during this time directly due to util, presumably because account/baddie aging has mitigated some of the damage. Of course, if I "only" get back another 11 points to make up for the obvious 24 points I lost due to util in this time I certainly won't complain. The remaining accounts will report at the end of August which is around the corner but I can't stop thinking about the possible change I'll see, so any thoughts are appreciated. 
Thanks all.
Was just reviewing the last SW alert I got when my account posted on 8/22. It lists the reason why my score increased, but repeats it four times. My other score increases due to better utilization only list the reason once. See below:
 | Your FICO® score has gone up to 636 on August 22, 2012. |
 | Target score alert: | Your FICO® score has exceeded your target score of 630. |
Your FICO score may have gone up because the following 4 factors are not hurting your FICO score as much as before:
|
Surely this can't mean that all 4 negative factors on my EQ credit report are related to utilization? I know these can change based on updates to the report, but last I checked there should be some references to my negative unpaid accounts as two of the factors. My overall util pre-update was about 39% and is now about 29%. Perhaps there were four "steps" between 39% and 29% that would've caused the utilization factor listed above to not affect my score?
Thoughts?