Long time Lurker first time Poster with Question? Not sure which Forum

[JoeThomp]

Hey guys, I posted this in another catagory not sure which one it went in.  First time poster...

Hi everyone, been reading and lurking here a long time learning what I can.  So I finally signed up as I am gardening and have some questions to ask.  My credit profile is fair  (680's across the board) but its time to do some gardening and get up to (hopefully 780's)

The only bad mark I have on my file is a 4.5 year old BK 13 thats been dismissed.  Everything else has been removed and clean.  Nothing bad, no lates etc on Equifax or Transunion, just the old BK showing on Experian.  (They are impossible to get this removed,, any ideas somebody PLEASE let me know I have tried twice.)

I have 7 credit cards.  Limits from 25k - $500.00 bucks.  The only thing hurting my score I think is the balances which most all will be paid off in 60 days except 1 card.

So I wanted to ask everyone on here what your opinion was of my gardening goal and please any advice.  Then I wanted to list out what I wanted to do if it would help my score that I am making the right decisions.  So here are my questions and thanx for time the time to help as I only want to garden once every 2 years........

In the next 60 days (because of selling a side business i started) I can pay my balances down from 48K - 95% UTI to 20k- Under 50% UTI.  My UTI was 95% before so hopefully this should bring it to a little under 50% with the initial pay down.  So one question is what is the best total UTI to apply for new Credit Cards?  Under 50% or under 30%?  I can not pay down much further than 25% total UTI of avaliable credit this year.

I only have a mortgage and 7 credit cards.  No installment loans.  So I will be taking out an auto loan and putting the cash in the back for 48months to let it withdraw.  Now I will have an installment loan showing.

My question comes in, for FICO scoring model... is it better to put all 20k and max out one credit card   (all others would be 0 balance), Or spilt the 20K up between 2 cards with 20K limits.  So that would be 50% UTI on 2 cards.  Would that score better?

Next big question is I want to apply for 2or 3 more CC cards I have been wanting, and raise the limits on my smaller cards.  I was trying to get into the 760's minimum before applying for anything because of the high limits offered.  

Want to apply for an AMEX card and DCU.  The AMEX I worry about because some on here have said with an old BK (Even if I had never had an AMEX and it was not in the BK) they will not approve.  So thats why I have been trying to get it off my Experian account. DCU - only pulls Equifax so I am safe their as they would not see the BK on Experian only.

I have a Penfed Rewards, and Associated Visa card that I would like to ask for limit increases on.  I have never requested limit increase in 3 years, but always carried 50-90% balance on both cards, never late payments.  Is this looked negativity from the card providers?  Even if I pay them both to 0 balance before I apply.  When I do pay them off how long should I wait to ask for a Credit Limit Increase?

Last question-  I have 2 cards that in 3 years have never raised me over a $500.00 limit, and one of them dropped me from $3500 limit to $500.00 because my scored dropped below their minimum when I was usuing my cards and carrying a 50% balance.  So they are gone in my world.  I cant have card companies dropping my limit for no bad marks.  So Is it a good idea to cancel them before I apply so the other Credit Unions dont see me trying to pyramid?

So that is my goals and plan to garden and get there.  What do you guys think?  Any advice you could give would be appreciated.  I want to get into the 780's and above and live there.

[JoeThomp]

Hi everyone, been reading and lurking here a long time learning what I can.  So I finally signed up as I am gardening and have some questions to ask.  My credit profile is fair  (680's across the board) but its time to do some gardening and get up to (hopefully 780's)

The only bad mark I have on my file is a 4.5 year old BK 13 thats been dismissed.  Everything else has been removed and clean.  Nothing bad, no lates etc on Equifax or Transunion, just the old BK showing on Experian.  (They are impossible to get this removed,, any ideas somebody PLEASE let me know I have tried twice.)

I have 7 credit cards.  Limits from 25k - $500.00 bucks.  The only thing hurting my score I think is the balances which most all will be paid off in 60 days except 1 card.

So I wanted to ask everyone on here what your opinion was of my gardening goal and please any advice.  Then I wanted to list out what I wanted to do if it would help my score that I am making the right decisions.  So here are my questions and thanx for time the time to help as I only want to garden once every 2 years........

In the next 60 days (because of selling a side business i started) I can pay my balances down from 48K - 95% UTI to 20k- Under 50% UTI.  My UTI was 95% before so hopefully this should bring it to a little under 50% with the initial pay down.  So one question is what is the best total UTI to apply for new Credit Cards?  Under 50% or under 30%?  I can not pay down much further than 25% total UTI of avaliable credit this year.

I only have a mortgage and 7 credit cards.  No installment loans.  So I will be taking out an auto loan and putting the cash in the back for 48months to let it withdraw.  Now I will have an installment loan showing.

My question comes in, for FICO scoring model... is it better to put all 20k and max out one credit card   (all others would be 0 balance), Or spilt the 20K up between 2 cards with 20K limits.  So that would be 50% UTI on 2 cards.  Would that score better?

Next big question is I want to apply for 2or 3 more CC cards I have been wanting, and raise the limits on my smaller cards.  I was trying to get into the 760's minimum before applying for anything because of the high limits offered.  

Want to apply for an AMEX card and DCU.  The AMEX I worry about because some on here have said with an old BK (Even if I had never had an AMEX and it was not in the BK) they will not approve.  So thats why I have been trying to get it off my Experian account. DCU - only pulls Equifax so I am safe their as they would not see the BK on Experian only.

I have a Penfed Rewards, and Associated Visa card that I would like to ask for limit increases on.  I have never requested limit increase in 3 years, but always carried 50-90% balance on both cards, never late payments.  Is this looked negativity from the card providers?  Even if I pay them both to 0 balance before I apply.  When I do pay them off how long should I wait to ask for a Credit Limit Increase?

Last question-  I have 2 cards that in 3 years have never raised me over a $500.00 limit, and one of them dropped me from $3500 limit to $500.00 because my scored dropped below their minimum when I was usuing my cards and carrying a 50% balance.  So they are gone in my world.  I cant have card companies dropping my limit for no bad marks.  So Is it a good idea to cancel them before I apply so the other Credit Unions dont see me trying to pyramid?

So that is my goals and plan to garden and get there.  What do you guys think?  Any advice you could give would be appreciated.  I want to get into the 780's and above and live there.

[Creditaddict]

1. Do you need the car?

2. you would do better for your credit paying all your debt off vs. getting an installment loan just for a different type of loan.

3. I would not think you would get amex but some poeple do when bk is very old

4. have 1 card with balance and 6 with $0 will be far better for score then 7 with smaller balances.

[PlasticOrPlastic]

Dont bother with an AMEX until that BK hits more than 7 years old.  Basically AMEX told me I got 4 more years to go before I'd even be considered. 

[JoeThomp]

Thanks for the input guys.  I do need the car as I travel a lot with my job.  35K miles  a year.  Since i have the cash, I was going to put it into an account and just it withdraw the payments to have an installment loan show.  Is that not a good idea to have an installment loan on there?

So would it be ok to have one card with a 90%+ UTI and just pay everything else to zero balance?  Would that hurt when applying for the other cards or asking for limit increases with my 2 exsiting ones?  Didnt know if they would knock me.

That sux about the AMEX-  Really wanted that card badly.  Wish AMEX didnt pull Experian.  Oh well lots of cards out there.

Thanks for the help and advice.

[Creditaddict]

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@JoeThomp wrote:

Thanks for the input guys.  I do need the car as I travel a lot with my job.  35K miles  a year.  Since i have the cash, I was going to put it into an account and just it withdraw the payments to have an installment loan show.  Is that not a good idea to have an installment loan on there?

So would it be ok to have one card with a 90%+ UTI and just pay everything else to zero balance?  Would that hurt when applying for the other cards or asking for limit increases with my 2 exsiting ones?  Didnt know if they would knock me.

That sux about the AMEX-  Really wanted that card badly.  Wish AMEX didnt pull Experian.  Oh well lots of cards out there.

Thanks for the help and advice.

---

if you are working and making money and have the cash to pay for the car in full but want the loan and have the credit card debt why not take the loan and instead of stock piling the cash for the auto loan, pay your credit cards completely off and then pay the auto loan with your income monthly?

[user5387]

Beyond the BK, the high utilization is hurting you.

I'm not sure I'd apply for more CCs until the utilization is lowered significantly.

If you have to carry a balance, I would not max a single card, but split it up between  two high-CL cards.  I would not let low-CL cards report a balance.

I'm not clear on the installment loan part.  If you have the money to put in the bank, couldn't you pay off the CCs with it, or get an installment loan for the purpose of consolidating your CC debt?  This would likely raise your scores, in that installment debt is scored differently than revolving debt.

Getting an installment loan for the "mix of credit types" angle is probably not worth it, unless the installment loan has some more fundamental purpose.

[sunkissed]

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@Creditaddict wrote:

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@JoeThomp wrote:

Thanks for the input guys.  I do need the car as I travel a lot with my job.  35K miles  a year.  Since i have the cash, I was going to put it into an account and just it withdraw the payments to have an installment loan show.  Is that not a good idea to have an installment loan on there?

So would it be ok to have one card with a 90%+ UTI and just pay everything else to zero balance?  Would that hurt when applying for the other cards or asking for limit increases with my 2 exsiting ones?  Didnt know if they would knock me.

That sux about the AMEX-  Really wanted that card badly.  Wish AMEX didnt pull Experian.  Oh well lots of cards out there.

Thanks for the help and advice.

---

if you are working and making money and have the cash to pay for the car in full but want the loan and have the credit card debt why not take the loan and instead of stock piling the cash for the auto loan, pay your credit cards completely off and then pay the auto loan with your income monthly?

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+1

[JoeThomp]

Good point CreditAdd-  That way I could pay more down on the CC debt which would increase the scores.  Do we really need Installment loans showing on the credit files?  I have 7 revolving accounts and when I go to the MYFiCO analysis it says lack of Installment accounts.

I think I will just buy the car so that way I dont have to loan out more. 

Should I wait a while on asking for limit increases or applying for other cards then?  What should the total UTI be before applying?  25% or under?

Thanks,

[Creditaddict]

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@JoeThomp wrote:

Good point CreditAdd-  That way I could pay more down on the CC debt which would increase the scores.  Do we really need Installment loans showing on the credit files?  I have 7 revolving accounts and when I go to the MYFiCO analysis it says lack of Installment accounts.

I think I will just buy the car so that way I dont have to loan out more. 

Should I wait a while on asking for limit increases or applying for other cards then?  What should the total UTI be before applying?  25% or under?

Thanks,

---

no you don't need an installment but I rather take out a low interest auto loan for 1-3% and pay credit cards off then pay 15-20%+ on credit cards and pay cash for auto.

I would wait 1 full statement after paying everything for all balances to update before applying for CLI and new cards.

i would for sure say under 25% would be best if not below 10