Seeking Help Building Credit & Increasing Score

[AlilThisAlilThat]

@Raisondetre I may not be able to avoid the car but I plan to hold out as long as possible.

[AlilThisAlilThat]

@FishingGuy yes I would love to get down to under 10%! It's going to take some time but I'm motivated. I use the apple card daily but plan to use the rest sparingly, if at all. (The Capone card is 13 years old - the bank has made a fortune in interest off my ignorance!)

[AlilThisAlilThat]

Thank you!

[SouthJamaica]

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@AlilThisAlilThat wrote:

I'm new to this credit game. I have a decent file: student loans, personal loan, credit cards, etc. but my utilization is sky high (86%). I recently paid down from about 98%. I have 5 cards: Chase Freedom Unlimited $2k CL, Apple Card $4k (new, hasn't been reported), CapOne Platinum $7300, Macys $3k (recent $1000 CLI, was $2k CL) and Express(ComityBank) $750. CS is low 620s per credit karma, Fico8 673. My hope was to lower utilization via new cards, however I did preapprovals for AMEX & Discover - No offers. What should be my next steps? I need to purchase a vehicle in the next 2-3 months. My goal cards: AMEX BlueCash Everyday, Citi Custom Cash, Chase Bonvoy Bold.

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You have to pay things down. Period.

[Anonymalous]

Agree with @SouthJamaica: Paying it down under 10% isn't enough. You need to pay it all off. Getting reported utilization down under 10% is useful for optimizing your credit score when you're applying for new credit, but if you're carrying a single dollar past the due date, you're paying sky high interest rates, which means you're not managing your money well. Consider talking to a credit union about a debt consolidation loan, if you can't do it fairly quickly.

Also, if you really need a car you really need a car, but get a cheaper and/or older one than you were planning. The goal should be to get your finances in order first. And once that happens, your credit score will take care of itself (your fundamentals sound okay).

[FireMedic1]

@AlilThisAlilThatIf you could list out your accounts and then we can see what to tackle first and see which way to go about it.

List as:

Cards: Creditor/Credit Line/Balance

Loans: Creditor/Loan amount/Balance