I just checked my scores...

[kc12286]

My scores aren't great. They're lower than they were a year ago. My lowest is EX at 635 and my highest is EQ at 712. They all said my payment history was great, but I'm in a lot of debt, basically because of my loan (my first payment isn't due until Dec) and I have a balance on all of my major cards. My question is, if I pay off the cards with the lowest balancee (Cap 1 and Commerce card) will that help my score? It's going to take me at least 6 months to a year to completely pay down my two Chase cards. Also once I pay them down, how can I check my score again? I bought the annual package, so I check all three scores once a year.

[Anonymous]

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kc12286 wrote:
My scores aren't great. They're lower than they were a year ago. My lowest is EX at 635 and my highest is EQ at 712. They all said my payment history was great, but I'm in a lot of debt, basically because of my loan (my first payment isn't due until Dec) and I have a balance on all of my major cards. My question is, if I pay off the cards with the lowest balancee (Cap 1 and Commerce card) will that help my score? It's going to take me at least 6 months to a year to completely pay down my two Chase cards. Also once I pay them down, how can I check my score again? I bought the annual package, so I check all three scores once a year.

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It would be helpful if you could list all of your revolving accounts along with their current (last reported) balances and credit limits so that we can help you formulate a plan of attack.  It's really not possible to help without those details since we can't see how each of those cards is affecting your overall and individual utilization calculations.

[llecs]

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kc12286 wrote:
My scores aren't great. They're lower than they were a year ago. My lowest is EX at 635 and my highest is EQ at 712. They all said my payment history was great, but I'm in a lot of debt, basically because of my loan (my first payment isn't due until Dec) and I have a balance on all of my major cards. My question is, if I pay off the cards with the lowest balancee (Cap 1 and Commerce card) will that help my score? It's going to take me at least 6 months to a year to completely pay down my two Chase cards. Also once I pay them down, how can I check my score again? I bought the annual package, so I check all three scores once a year.

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Pay down your CCs to under 10% each and leave a balance on half of them only and that will give you a maximized score with utilization. So as long as your cards aren't maxed out, it doesn't matter what order you pay them. If paying off CapOne and Commerce Bank will quickly lead to a $0 balance, then go for that first.

You have to pull new reports and scores each time. You can always subscribe to a monitoring service to see where your balances are at before you pull your FICO reports again.

[kc12286]

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@Anonymous wrote:

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kc12286 wrote: My scores aren't great. They're lower than they were a year ago. My lowest is EX at 635 and my highest is EQ at 712. They all said my payment history was great, but I'm in a lot of debt, basically because of my loan (my first payment isn't due until Dec) and I have a balance on all of my major cards. My question is, if I pay off the cards with the lowest balancee (Cap 1 and Commerce card) will that help my score? It's going to take me at least 6 months to a year to completely pay down my two Chase cards. Also once I pay them down, how can I check my score again? I bought the annual package, so I check all three scores once a year.

---

It would be helpful if you could list all of your revolving accounts along with their current (last reported) balances and credit limits so that we can help you formulate a plan of attack. It's really not possible to help without those details since we can't see how each of those cards is affecting your overall and individual utilization calculations.

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This is all from the TU report.

Gemb/Old Navy Balance 0 Credit limit $700

Gemb/Gap Balance 0 Credit limit $600

Chase Bank Usa Na Credit limit $2,000 Balance $1,919 (Amazon Visa)

Commerce Bank Credit Limit $500 Balance $478

Chase Bank Na (Chase Freedom) (I went over on this one, but I'm making a payment soon and I've already put it away) Credit limit $5,000 Largest past balance $5,067

American Express (This is under my mother's account, I think this may be an error because she didn't renew my card) Balance $278

American Express Balance (Also under my mom's account) $111

Kohls Department Store (I closed this one a while ago) Balance $0 Limit $1000

Acs - Bank Of America (Student loan) Balance $17,125

Message Edited by kc12286 on 06-10-2008 12:38 AM

Message Edited by kc12286 on 06-10-2008 12:41 AM

[Anonymous]

I can't really tell which balance belongs with which card, and it looks like you haven't listed all of the CLs.

llecs gave you good advice above.  The overall goal is to have one card reporting a balance of less than 10% of its CL, and all other cards reporting $0.  If you can't do that right away, focus first on getting all of your cards under 50%, then bring as many of them as you can to $0, finally leaving a small balance on just one of them.

[kc12286]

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@Anonymous wrote:

I can't really tell which balance belongs with which card, and it looks like you haven't listed all of the CLs.

llecs gave you good advice above. The overall goal is to have one card reporting a balance of less than 10% of its CL, and all other cards reporting $0. If you can't do that right away, focus first on getting all of your cards under 50%, then bring as many of them as you can to $0, finally leaving a small balance on just one of them.

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That's all of them, but that was only one report. I have 2 Chase cards - Chase Freedom (it has a $5000 but I went over) and Amazon Visa which is through Chase ($2000 limit, current balance $1919). Then I have a Commerce Bank Visa and Cap 1, these two are the easiest to pay off first. My Kohl's is closed and I no longer use the Amex cards because they weren't mine to begin with.

[Anonymous]

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@kc12286 wrote:

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@Anonymous wrote:

I can't really tell which balance belongs with which card, and it looks like you haven't listed all of the CLs.

llecs gave you good advice above. The overall goal is to have one card reporting a balance of less than 10% of its CL, and all other cards reporting $0. If you can't do that right away, focus first on getting all of your cards under 50%, then bring as many of them as you can to $0, finally leaving a small balance on just one of them.

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That's all of them, but that was only one report. I have 2 Chase cards - Chase Freedom (it has a $5000 but I went over) and Amazon Visa which is through Chase ($2000 limit, current balance $1919). Then I have a Commerce Bank Visa and Cap 1, these two are the easiest to pay off first. My Kohl's is closed and I no longer use the Amex cards because they weren't mine to begin with.

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The util on those Chase cards is probably hurting your scores substantially.

I don't normally recommend this, but you might want to consider a loan from your local CU to help consolidate some of your CC balances. Installment loans are calculated in util, so going that route seems like it would put you at less of a risk of being UD'd.

[kc12286]

How would I be UD'd if I'm making payments? I'm making a payment on Chase cards regularly. I just don't have enough to pay them off completely. If I get a loan, now I money to another bank.

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@Anonymous wrote:

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@kc12286 wrote:

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@Anonymous wrote:

I can't really tell which balance belongs with which card, and it looks like you haven't listed all of the CLs.

llecs gave you good advice above. The overall goal is to have one card reporting a balance of less than 10% of its CL, and all other cards reporting $0. If you can't do that right away, focus first on getting all of your cards under 50%, then bring as many of them as you can to $0, finally leaving a small balance on just one of them.

---

That's all of them, but that was only one report. I have 2 Chase cards - Chase Freedom (it has a $5000 but I went over) and Amazon Visa which is through Chase ($2000 limit, current balance $1919). Then I have a Commerce Bank Visa and Cap 1, these two are the easiest to pay off first. My Kohl's is closed and I no longer use the Amex cards because they weren't mine to begin with.

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The util on those Chase cards is probably hurting your scores substantially. I don't normally recommend this, but you might want to consider a loan from your local CU to help consolidate some of your CC balances. Installment loans are calculated in util, so going that route seems like it would put you at less of a risk of being UD'd.

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[Anonymous]

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@kc12286 wrote:
How would I be UD'd if I'm making payments? I'm making a payment on Chase cards regularly. I just don't have enough to pay them off completely. If I get a loan, now I money to another bank.

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@Anonymous wrote:

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@kc12286 wrote:

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@Anonymous wrote:

I can't really tell which balance belongs with which card, and it looks like you haven't listed all of the CLs.

llecs gave you good advice above. The overall goal is to have one card reporting a balance of less than 10% of its CL, and all other cards reporting $0. If you can't do that right away, focus first on getting all of your cards under 50%, then bring as many of them as you can to $0, finally leaving a small balance on just one of them.

---

That's all of them, but that was only one report. I have 2 Chase cards - Chase Freedom (it has a $5000 but I went over) and Amazon Visa which is through Chase ($2000 limit, current balance $1919). Then I have a Commerce Bank Visa and Cap 1, these two are the easiest to pay off first. My Kohl's is closed and I no longer use the Amex cards because they weren't mine to begin with.

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The util on those Chase cards is probably hurting your scores substantially. I don't normally recommend this, but you might want to consider a loan from your local CU to help consolidate some of your CC balances. Installment loans are calculated in util, so going that route seems like it would put you at less of a risk of being UD'd.

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Well, you would owe money to a single bank as opposed to many, probably at a lower interest rate.

Different things make different lenders nervous. Amex and BOA are notorious for chasing your balances when they soft and see your util shoot up. I am not sure if the lenders for your other cards are also so likely to UD or not. However, high util is a known AA trigger from several lenders.

Using the installment loan to pay off your CCs would probably give you a nice score boost as well.

I just figured I would throw that option out there. I personally see it as optimal, but I'm not you nor am I familiar with your financial situation. But yes, high util is a trigger for AA. It's not just missing a payment.

[kc12286]

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@Anonymous wrote:

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@kc12286 wrote:
How would I be UD'd if I'm making payments? I'm making a payment on Chase cards regularly. I just don't have enough to pay them off completely. If I get a loan, now I money to another bank.

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@Anonymous wrote:

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@kc12286 wrote:

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@Anonymous wrote:

I can't really tell which balance belongs with which card, and it looks like you haven't listed all of the CLs.

llecs gave you good advice above. The overall goal is to have one card reporting a balance of less than 10% of its CL, and all other cards reporting $0. If you can't do that right away, focus first on getting all of your cards under 50%, then bring as many of them as you can to $0, finally leaving a small balance on just one of them.

---

That's all of them, but that was only one report. I have 2 Chase cards - Chase Freedom (it has a $5000 but I went over) and Amazon Visa which is through Chase ($2000 limit, current balance $1919). Then I have a Commerce Bank Visa and Cap 1, these two are the easiest to pay off first. My Kohl's is closed and I no longer use the Amex cards because they weren't mine to begin with.

---

The util on those Chase cards is probably hurting your scores substantially. I don't normally recommend this, but you might want to consider a loan from your local CU to help consolidate some of your CC balances. Installment loans are calculated in util, so going that route seems like it would put you at less of a risk of being UD'd.

---

---

Well, you would owe money to a single bank as opposed to many, probably at a lower interest rate.

Different things make different lenders nervous. Amex and BOA are notorious for chasing your balances when they soft and see your util shoot up. I am not sure if the lenders for your other cards are also so likely to UD or not. However, high util is a known AA trigger from several lenders.

Using the installment loan to pay off your CCs would probably give you a nice score boost as well.

I just figured I would throw that option out there. I personally see it as optimal, but I'm not you nor am I familiar with your financial situation. But yes, high util is a trigger for AA. It's not just missing a payment.

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I see what you're saying. I'm sure my interest rate on those two Chase cards is really high. If I can get them paid off, that would be great.

I live in a relatively small town, I think we have a few local CUs. I'll definitely consider it. Thanks.

Maybe I should make a quick payment now. At least a couple hundred. That way it's not over the limit anymore.