pdxuser wrote:
I misread about the robbing Peter part.
So as long as I charge something on each card each month, I can PIF immediately and have $0 balances on all my cards and be in good shape? Is it important that I use all my cards each month? Is a small balance on at least one card each month not any more helpful that a $0 balance?
You want to use each card every 3-4 months; more frequently if it's an HSBC bank card. (They'll shut you down in a heartbeat.) This does two things: it keeps the card "alive" from the CCC's point of view, so that they won't cancel you for inactivity, and it keeps the card looking active from the scoring perspective.
I PIF all my cards before statement date, and only the 0% BT card reports a balance. For my particular scoring situation, that keeps TU happy, which is the crankiest score. I can have one or two more report without a problem from EQ or EX, but that would drop TU 7-10 points. Again, this is my particular situation, observed over time. Others have different magic numbers.
Many people rightfully consider this over the top, and a form of self-torture. To me, I don't see a whole lot of difference between paying on the 3rd and paying on the 9th, for instance, and I never have to worry about due dates, and my scores are tuned as precisely as they can be. (At this point in my credit, there's nothing else I can do but let time continue healing, so this gives me the illusion of having some control.
)I'd rather see my current scores showing if someone goes sniffing about my credit than 10-15 points lower.
Another poster mentioned that he can only have 3 with balances. That is his particular credit profile; it's different for others. In general, the more open installment and mortgage accounts you have, the fewer cards can report without dropping your scores, unless you have a mess of cards.
pdxuser, you are correct. Your score can actually go down if a ton of zeros start to report. The best way is to have low utilization between 1-9% to gain the max amount of points.
My2cents
OntheWayUp wrote:
What if you're are rebuilding and only have 1 measly $300 card? Should I pay that in full, or leave a small under 10% util on it?
I'd try it one month one way, and the next month the other.
You're a pretty rare bird here with just the one card, so you might have to be our guinea pig!
You're talking about what I call the "card of the month club," and that's a simple way of keeping cards active without going nuts, trying to keep track of multiple due dates. Just plan on stopping use on the active card about 6 days before the statement date (and sometimes those dates wander around a bit), making your primary payment about 3 days before, letting it post, and then cleaning it off.
It wouldn't hurt a thing to have intermittent use like that. I'd post a screen shot of my TrueCredit reports to show all the $0's, except that it's gotta kinda long.
TU and EX will show those highest-ever balances in a separate box, which would indicate on a soft review that you do use your cards. EQ doesn't show this on "secondary" reports (those from myFICO, TC, etc.), and their server is down now, so I can't check my full report to see if it's there on the full consumer version. And I'll betcha the report version that lenders gets shows a bit more in this department than what we see, but that's speculation on my part.
Once you get comfortable with your system, you might want to see if there are any recurring bills in your life that could be assigned, one per card, so that each card does have monthly activity. I've started doing that because I've gotten a few too many cards for card-of-the-month. You do have to remember to keep track of its date, though.
It wouldn't hurt a thing to have intermittent use like that. I'd post a screen shot of my TrueCredit reports to show all the $0's, except that it's gotta kinda long.
TU and EX will show those highest-ever balances in a separate box, which would indicate on a soft review that you do use your cards. EQ doesn't show this on "secondary" reports (those from myFICO, TC, etc.), and their server is down now, so I can't check my full report to see if it's there on the full consumer version. And I'll betcha the report version that lenders gets shows a bit more in this department than what we see, but that's speculation on my part.
Once you get comfortable with your system, you might want to see if there are any recurring bills in your life that could be assigned, one per card, so that each card does have monthly activity. I've started doing that because I've gotten a few too many cards for card-of-the-month. You do have to remember to keep track of its date, though.