topic Re: Paying down Credit Card balances... in Credit Cards

Paying down Credit Card balances...

Anonymous — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 20:25:19 GMT

Hello,

My current credit score is 541. I got into some trouble because of medical bills and here I am. I was almost maxing out on all my credit cards and had about 95% utilization. I paid as much as I could in the last few weeks and haven't seen an increase in my score. Shouldn't I see some changes or do I have to get it all down to 10% before I see any increase.

Capital One was 95% and now down to 35%

Wamu MC was at 95% and now down to 0% (wohooooooo... paid off)

Wamu Visa was at 95% and now down to 49%

Amex was at 95% and now down to 66%

Total for all four cards was: Credit Limit = $19K, Balance now = $9,700. So only using about 51%.

I am planning to pay off about 10% every month for the next 9 months. Should I expect some increase and how much? Any ideas. Or I should try to get everything down to 10% and less to see any difference.

I ran the FICO simulator and it said that if I am at 50% or 10%, my score will be about the same so I was confused.

Thanks advice or input would be grealty appreciated and thanks in advance.

Re: Paying down Credit Card balances...

Anonymous — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 20:30:54 GMT

It takes a minute to update the balances to the CR's. Do you know when your cards report?

Re: Paying down Credit Card balances...

Anonymous — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 20:34:08 GMT

No, I don't know when they report. How do I find that out? I called Capital One and the rep said that they report once a month. Not sure how true that is.

I got a different answer from Amex. Does anyone know how these companies report? Is it always on the statement end date?

Re: Paying down Credit Card balances...

Anonymous — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 20:41:58 GMT

I personally found out by looking at the dates on my TC report. Most report the statement dates. I have heard that AmEx reports the statement date, but a month behind.

Re: Paying down Credit Card balances...

Jesedmotherof5 — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 23:51:46 GMT

I got mine off of the CRA reports too. Then I put them in a spread sheet. I will be checking agian after the 7th. I would try to get that 66% down a little more. i read that it really affects your score when you go 50-40-30-20-10% so you wouldnt want to be 1% away from seeing a drastic score change.

Re: Paying down Credit Card balances...

Anonymous — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 00:05:09 GMT

Remember, recovering your credit is a marathon, not a sprint.

You'll see progress most every month you pay balances down. You also get points for just showing up for your financial life and paying bills on time.