I need help with my score

[Anonymous]

Hi - My husband and I are in debt up to our eyeballs with credit card debt. I am cashing out my 401K to help, but it is not enough so we are going for a second on our home. Somebody told me to close my cc and that would help, but I found from reading here it doesn't. I closed some cards that were paid off as well as 2 cards that were maxed out high CL. So when I start to pay off I am going to pay on those closed accounts - will my credit score change? Any advice. Our FICO scores are around 665 and I want it above 700.

[fused]

Hi and welcome! Please, before you do anything give us as much information as possible. List your CCs (both open and closed ones) with the credit limits, balances and APRs. List your mortgage and other installment debts. I must say 665 isn't bad with the scenario you're describing.

[Anonymous]

Yes- balances on closed CC's count towards UTL-

I agree in getting Debt paid off/down

Be careful in what you are doing- the tax on pulling the 401K is going to hurt and moving unsecured debt to a secured debt - can be a bad thing-

[haulingthescoreup]

I got slaughtered when I cashed in a 401K to buy a car for our youngest daughter, and I thought that I had prepaid all the penalties.

Please post your info as the others suggested, and also read Credit Scoring 101 (linked on both fused's and Timothy's signatures, with different names. You're getting some bad advice, and you need to take a time out and do some quick homework before you go any farther.

[Anonymous]

I am a little worried about cashing out my 401K, but we can't get enough out of our home to pay the debt off and my husband still has his 401k. I am a stay at home mom and don't contribute to the 401k anymore - granted it is earning a little money sitting there. This advice helps - thanks. I am going to try that link for the closed accounts - I think I may have made a bad mistake. Those cards were high limit and almost maxed out, but they still had a little bit left that may help.

[annah]

Make sure you call them soon. Some ccs have a limit of 30 or 90 days to reopen.

You're not alone. I recently dropped my score by about 80 points by closing 2 ccs w/ balances. Even if they are maxed, at least the extra CL counts towards your total available cl.

[Anonymous]

OK - I got some scores from a loan we applied for - mine are 677xpn 677 efx 678tuc and my husbands are 674xpn 658efx 663tuc. So far does this help any. I am going to work on the other calculations.

[haulingthescoreup]

You're in very decent shape with those scores, so don't run around and do anything in a hurry until you know what you're dealing with. Go ahead and do your research first, and then please get back with us.

[Anonymous]

To figure the percentage? some of my cards have lower limits now than what shows on my credit report - which one do I use the one on the report or the limit I currently have??

[haulingthescoreup]

Well, I always play the pessimist in situations like this, so I would go with the lower limits. Once they update, they will determine the next batch of scores, I'm afraid.

BTW, are either of you in a position to pick up a part-time job, on the weekends, maybe? I know that you've got kids at home, and what's most important is having their lives stay stable, but it's amazing how far an extra 8-12 hours of $6.25/ hour will go. Lord knows, my local Mickey D's could definitely use a morning manager on weekends!