CC--Credit Score Boost?

[Flying_High]

5 Credit Cards with balance.

Would it be a good idea to pay off $4,800 all at once or pay off one-by-one each month? my score is FICO/600 would like to buy a house next year trying to find out how I can boost my credit with out hurting my credit,

I was reading about Best Buy switing to Citi I have a $200 bal but I'm going to only pay off about 180 so it doesnt hurt me in the long run, I plan on cancelling the Best Buy card $300CL isnt doing me any good also notice alot of ppl are having problems with the CS dropping when Citi switched not sure if I should close out best buy card. My Best Buy already switched to Citi.

[azguy13]

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@Flying_High wrote:

5 Credit Cards with balance.

Would it be a good idea to pay off $4,800 all at once or pay off one-by-one each month? my score is FICO/600 would like to buy a house next year trying to find out how I can boost my credit with out hurting my credit,

I was reading about Best Buy switing to Citi I have a $200 bal but I'm going to only pay off about 180 so it doesnt hurt me in the long run, I plan on cancelling the Best Buy card $300CL isnt doing me any good also notice alot of ppl are having problems with the CS dropping when Citi switched not sure if I should close out best buy card. My Best Buy already switched to Citi.

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The only difference in PIF now and paying off slowly is you will be paying more interest with the second option. If it were me, I would pay everything off right now and save myself the interest. Your score will not jump any higher if you wait to pay. 

[Flying_High]

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@azguy13 wrote:

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@Flying_High wrote:

5 Credit Cards with balance.

Would it be a good idea to pay off $4,800 all at once or pay off one-by-one each month? my score is FICO/600 would like to buy a house next year trying to find out how I can boost my credit with out hurting my credit,

I was reading about Best Buy switing to Citi I have a $200 bal but I'm going to only pay off about 180 so it doesnt hurt me in the long run, I plan on cancelling the Best Buy card $300CL isnt doing me any good also notice alot of ppl are having problems with the CS dropping when Citi switched not sure if I should close out best buy card. My Best Buy already switched to Citi.

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The only difference in PIF now and paying off slowly is you will be paying more interest with the second option. If it were me, I would pay everything off right now and save myself the interest. Your score will not jump any higher if you wait to pay. 

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Ok thank you.

[colinstu]

Having a balance also affects your utilization! Which is a very important part of your credit score. I used to hear that 30% was the bare minimum one should not pass (both as a % of each card's balance/CL and all the balances/total CLs)... but to get even better scores this should be even lower... between 1-15%. 

If you have the ability to PIF and still be able to pay future CC bills no problem after it, then go for it. If not, pay them as quick as you can down. 

[Flying_High]

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@colinstu wrote:

Having a balance also affects your utilization! Which is a very important part of your credit score. I used to hear that 30% was the bare minimum one should not pass (both as a % of each card's balance/CL and all the balances/total CLs)... but to get even better scores this should be even lower... between 1-15%. 

If you have the ability to PIF and still be able to pay future CC bills no problem after it, then go for it. If not, pay them as quick as you can down. 

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Ok thanks for your reply, This is my whole plan I have 5 CC with balance I plan on paying two off at the end of Oct and closing 1 after payoff, leaves me with Paypal/Walmart/Discover I can pay off Discover in Nov, Paypal & Walmart paying off Jan.. I'll be paying mothly payment untill paid off will this plan work out this is the only way I can do it since I have car payments and etc.  

[mscsinc]

If you want to see a big jump right now, PiIF everything except for one that should report under 9%(closer to 1% is what had been said to bring the biggest jump)

The only advantage to paying over a longer period of time is the aging of the accounts, which is not related to how much you pay and it will also cost you interest on carrying balances.

When you use the score simulator on this site, you will usually see the best advice being "paying your balances over the next 12-24 months". But this also includes the aging of the accounts in calculating your new scores. Aging will come whether you PIF now or not, so I agree with PIF now to save interest.