need help

[HeavenOhio]

You're going to get dinged if all your cards report zero balances. But if you were paying interest, paying them to zero was probably a necessary step to get the banks to stop charging interest. Speaking of interest, be sure to check your next statements. There'll probably be small "trailing" interest charges that you'll need to pay.

In the future, make sure that you leave a small balance on one card. For optimized scoring, that balance should be between $5 and 8.9% of that card's limit. The balance should come from new charges; that way you're not paying interest. You can use your other cards, but pay them to zero before the statement cuts.

Keep in mind that while 8.9% optimizes one's score, up to 28.9% is still considered responsible. Your score won't be quite as good as with the lower balance, but your lenders will still be happy with you. In your case, I'd shoot for 8.9% just to see where your score "tops out." After that, you may want to experiment with slightly higher balances in order to see how your score might be affected. Since utilization has no memory, your score can always be optimized again the next month.

[Anonymous]

Ok got it.. got to make sure I leave some amount of a balance to report. So the question now is, should I still go ahead and cancel the two first Premier, credit One? And possibly the WF secured card?

[HeavenOhio]

Definitely close First Premier and Credit One. Wells Fargo could go either way. If there's a chance it could be useful or that it could graduate, it might be worth keeping around. If it's not going to graduate or has an annual fee that can't be eliminated, it can go. Take your time and do you homework on the WF card. First Premier and Credit One should be cancelled as soon as you can.

[jdxprs1]

If I were the op and my score was 571, I wouldn't close any accounts just yet.

First I would pay off all the cards but one. Leave 40 bucks on one card.

Second I would call Walmart/synchrony credit solutions and request $5,000 limit increase.

Third, I would wait a month or so for everything to update to the reports and see where scores are.

Fourth, if op doesn't have an installment loan open on reports, get a self lender loan.

I'd expect that 571 score to jump up to 650 or higher within 2 months as long as there are no open charge offs reporting a balance.

[SouthJamaica]

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@Anonymous wrote:

@Anonymous my credit score is at 620 ish now.. after paying off all collections. i will be paying off all my credit card debts within the next week.. all utilization are roughly 95% plus... planning on calling to cancel my two first premier card and one credit one, leaving me with two capital one cards $300 and $500, citi dc $1000, and walmart store card $800. how should i start managing my profile to larger limits/cards? annual income is $60k @ 40 hours a week..but usually do about 50-60 hours a week so annual income varies

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1. Congratulations!

2. With the 4 credit cards you have left, let 1 report a small balance (29% or less) while the other 3 report a zero balance. Always pay in full, either before or after the statement cuts.

3. Try for soft pull CLI's.

4. See if you're eligible to combine the 2 Capital One accounts; if so, do that.

Let everything report like this for a month or two and let's see where your scores are then.

[SouthJamaica]

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@Anonymous wrote:

Ok got it.. got to make sure I leave some amount of a balance to report. So the question now is, should I still go ahead and cancel the two first Premier, credit One? And possibly the WF secured card?

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Yes you should certainly cancel First Premier and Credit One. I'm not familiar with the WF secured card, but if it has an annual fee, ditch that one too.

[SouthJamaica]

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@Anonymous wrote:

Update.. my Fido score is 571!.. not good at all.. 620 was thru credit karma.. I have a long way to go..

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If your score is 571 you probably have some negatives, so you should also be writing verification letters to the bureaus, which might accelerate the process of removing the negatives.

[Anonymous]

i have 2 current car loans and a personal loan

[Anonymous]

thanks for the advice.. ive been reading the let one card report stuff alot.. but my question is..

if i let the other 3 cards report 0, i wouldnt have any payments due for those cards and wouldnt that look bad? (inactivity)

[Anonymous]

about 3 collections and1 judgement. all paid off and doesnt show on credit karma. but i will be doing the annual credit report now