score drop

[jbee]

Hey guys,

I have 4 credit cards and 2 had a $0 balance.  This past month, one of the cards went from $0 to $350 balance ($750 cl) and my score dropped almost 20 points.  Does this sound right?  I expected a drop to happen but definitely not 20 points.

Thanks for any advice.

[Anonymous]

So now you have 4 cards, 3 with balances.

Card 1 - $350/$750 CL (Util =approx 46% )

Card2 - ?

Card3 - ?

Card4 - 0% Util

It depends on the util of the other cards. if they are also around 50%, taking that 750CL card to 46% probably put you over the threshold for high credit card utilization. I've read here to keep them at about 10%

[jbee]

Sorry I didn't give enough information in the earlier post.  The numbers are below.

Card 1: $0/$400CL

Card 2: $383/$750CL (prev bal. was $0)

Card 3: $445/$1500CL

Card 4: $1350/$1500CL

Also, do you know if I pay it back down to 0 if my score will recover?

Thanks

[Anonymous]

It looks like your overall util went from 43% (before the $350 expense) to 52%. IMHO, that certainly did it. I felt it like that when my util went above 50%.

Also, Card4 is almost maxed out. I think this hurts, too. I would pay that one down with the money you would have used to pay Card1 off. The util will be the same either way, but you wont be dinged for being near the max.

Probably wont go down 20 points, though. I've read a lot about the point increases slwer to come from good behavior than loss of points for "bad".

[jbee]

Thanks....do you think I will get a better increase if I put the $400 toward the highest balance or pay one down to $0?

[Anonymous]

I would pay off the 383. giving you 2 cards with

balances and then work on that high balance.

You should try not to go over 9 or 10% use

of available credit.

Card 4 will still be almost maxed out so take care

of it asap.

[jbee]

Thanks Cassie.  Do you know what percentage the other card need to be at so it's not considered maxed out?

Also, do you think I'm being dinged for it being that high in addition to having high utilization?

[Anonymous]

If you are over 9 or 10% utilization  you will get dinged.

If you have too many cards with balances you also get a

ding.

1500--135.00

750 --  67.50.

   You can use more than

this if you pay it before balance reports.