topic Re: Shaking things up! in Understanding FICO® Scoring

Shaking things up!

Anonymous — Fri, 26 Jun 2015 05:29:30 GMT

My score has been stagnant for a while now. Went up 1 point. So I decided to try an experiment. I was ready to start decorating my house & needed at least 6 rooms of new furniture. Put my bedroom and living deposit on about 4 cc's. I have a 20k limit on my 2 Ventures but only put about 4k on each, 4k on BofA, and the rest on Amex. Let them report (all but Amex) with the 5k still owing on my RH card also. Total was over 14k. I've been letting just RH report before with all others at zero. So far, things are looking promising! Score hasn't changed much (gone up 6 points) but all simulators are showing that I will have at least a 30 point increase 8 months sooner than it showed before. Now showing that an over 800 score can be achieved much sooner when I pay those back down! I will report back when I have them down to 1%.

Re: Shaking things up!

NRB525 — Sat, 27 Jun 2015 05:33:40 GMT

Interesting, going from zeros on several cards to thousands with no drop in score. Yes, it will be interesting to see if paying those down accelerates your growth to 800.

I also have all cards reporting various balances, and after ceasing apping, I am seeing some pretty big jumps as my utilization comes down at a reasonable pace.

FICO is measuring payment history, so there should be something to a cardholder showing they can handle multiple cards wtih balances and paying them down responsibly.

Good luck! Keep us updated!

Re: Shaking things up!

SouthJamaica — Sat, 27 Jun 2015 14:59:48 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
My score has been stagnant for a while now. Went up 1 point. So I decided to try an experiment. I was ready to start decorating my house & needed at least 6 rooms of new furniture. Put my bedroom and living deposit on about 4 cc's. I have a 20k limit on my 2 Ventures but only put about 4k on each, 4k on BofA, and the rest on Amex. Let them report (all but Amex) with the 5k still owing on my RH card also. Total was over 14k. I've been letting just RH report before with all others at zero. So far, things are looking promising! Score hasn't changed much (gone up 6 points) but all simulators are showing that I will have at least a 30 point increase 8 months sooner than it showed before. Now showing that an over 800 score can be achieved much sooner when I pay those back down! I will report back when I have them down to 1%.

I wouldn't put too much stock in the simulators

Re: Shaking things up!

Thomas_Thumb — Sat, 27 Jun 2015 19:00:58 GMT

Sandibeach22

Valued Contributor wrote:

[My score has been stagnant for a while now. Went up 1 point. So I decided to try an experiment. I have a 20k limit on my 2 Ventures but only put about 4k on each, 4k on BofA, and the rest on Amex. Let them report (all but Amex) with the 5k still owing on my RH card also. Total was over 14k. I've been letting just RH report before with all others at zero. So far, things are looking promising! Score hasn't changed much (gone up 6 points) but all simulators are showing that I will have at least a 30 point increase 8 months sooner than it showed before.]

Thanks for sharing the info. Your results are in-line with what Liz Weston illustrates in her "Your Credit Score" book 4th edition for Fico 8 modeling. You may want to check it out. The one card only approach for "optimizing" score is a nice quick hit but just does not provide the potential for a sustainable upward increase in score.

The simulators, while not perfect, can provide valueable insight on developing a strategy for building credit.

Re: Shaking things up!

NRB525 — Sun, 28 Jun 2015 05:54:03 GMT

@SouthJamaica wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:
My score has been stagnant for a while now. Went up 1 point. So I decided to try an experiment. I was ready to start decorating my house & needed at least 6 rooms of new furniture. Put my bedroom and living deposit on about 4 cc's. I have a 20k limit on my 2 Ventures but only put about 4k on each, 4k on BofA, and the rest on Amex. Let them report (all but Amex) with the 5k still owing on my RH card also. Total was over 14k. I've been letting just RH report before with all others at zero. So far, things are looking promising! Score hasn't changed much (gone up 6 points) but all simulators are showing that I will have at least a 30 point increase 8 months sooner than it showed before. Now showing that an over 800 score can be achieved much sooner when I pay those back down! I will report back when I have them down to 1%.
I wouldn't put too much stock in the simulators

As a predictor of specific point values, sure, a simulator has limitations. As a directionally helpful indicator of how various strategy components might or might not make a difference, and some ideas for the range of possibilities, they probably have some value.

Re: Shaking things up!

Anonymous — Sun, 28 Jun 2015 06:00:59 GMT

@NRB525 wrote:
Interesting, going from zeros on several cards to thousands with no drop in score. Yes, it will be interesting to see if paying those down accelerates your growth to 800.
I also have all cards reporting various balances, and after ceasing apping, I am seeing some pretty big jumps as my utilization comes down at a reasonable pace.
FICO is measuring payment history, so there should be something to a cardholder showing they can handle multiple cards wtih balances and paying them down responsibly.

Good luck! Keep us updated!

Thank you and good luck to you too! It must be working if yours are doing the same! I will have to wait until next month to see what really happens when those balances aren't much or pif. Or carry them over for another month? I think it will be a good way to get over that 800 mark a bit quicker.

Re: Shaking things up!

Anonymous — Sun, 28 Jun 2015 06:01:52 GMT

@SouthJamaica wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:
My score has been stagnant for a while now. Went up 1 point. So I decided to try an experiment. I was ready to start decorating my house & needed at least 6 rooms of new furniture. Put my bedroom and living deposit on about 4 cc's. I have a 20k limit on my 2 Ventures but only put about 4k on each, 4k on BofA, and the rest on Amex. Let them report (all but Amex) with the 5k still owing on my RH card also. Total was over 14k. I've been letting just RH report before with all others at zero. So far, things are looking promising! Score hasn't changed much (gone up 6 points) but all simulators are showing that I will have at least a 30 point increase 8 months sooner than it showed before. Now showing that an over 800 score can be achieved much sooner when I pay those back down! I will report back when I have them down to 1%.
I wouldn't put too much stock in the simulators

Not really all simulators. My actual scores are rising from this!

Re: Shaking things up!

Anonymous — Sun, 28 Jun 2015 06:03:18 GMT

@Thomas_Thumb wrote:
@Anonymous
@Valued Contributor wrote:

[My score has been stagnant for a while now. Went up 1 point. So I decided to try an experiment. I have a 20k limit on my 2 Ventures but only put about 4k on each, 4k on BofA, and the rest on Amex. Let them report (all but Amex) with the 5k still owing on my RH card also. Total was over 14k. I've been letting just RH report before with all others at zero. So far, things are looking promising! Score hasn't changed much (gone up 6 points) but all simulators are showing that I will have at least a 30 point increase 8 months sooner than it showed before.]

Thanks for sharing the info. Your results are in-line with what Liz Weston illustrates in her "Your Credit Score" book 4th edition for Fico 8 modeling. You may want to check it out. The one card only approach for "optimizing" score is a nice quick hit but just does not provide the potential for a sustainable upward increase in score.

The simulators, while not perfect, can provide valueable insight on developing a strategy for building credit.

Thanks! Will definitely check it out!

Re: Shaking things up!

jamie123 — Mon, 29 Jun 2015 04:21:01 GMT

I agree that using cards normally and allowing them to report balances builds a better relationship with lenders in the long run. IMHO you really should only groom your scores with the 1 card reporting less than 10% method when you are planning to apply for new credit.