How do I play the game?

[hataboutbob]

Hello All,

I am new here. I ordered myfico yesterday and want to improve scores. I am somewhat unclear on whether to carry a small balance or not I assumed if you pif each month that would be best. From what I read this isn't necessarily so. I have two cc's cu-$500 cl and capone- $500 cl, one is showing a balance of $75. I pay both in full each month. cu card is a year old no lates capone is eight mos old no lates. I have a collection on two reports that i will now work on, same oc different acct nos. different balances. different CA. They make no sense. They are from 03 and 04. Do I send ca, oc or cra a debt verification letter, or do I send all three the letter??   So my ultimate question is one everyone here has heard before "what next?"

[haulingthescoreup]

OK, I'll take the balances question. It's good to let a minority of your cards post a balance. With two cards, that sounds like 1 with a balance, lol. Probably, but not certainly, your cards report to the credit bureaus on their statement dates, which is when the statement is posted and available for viewing. (Not the payment due date.) About 4 or 5 days before it's going to post, pay it off (if it's the one you want to show a $0 balance) or pay it down to under 10%, which would be under $45 for either of your cards. Once that new balance has reported, go ahead and pay it off and start all over again.

This gets pretty trying with low-CL cards, which is where you are now, but it does work. And in fact, you can use your cards a whole lot more, as long as they allow you to pay more than once each cycle. With discipline and a sharp eye on the calendar, you can put way more than the CL on a card each month and still have it reporting a low or $0 balance. You should get familiar with your online account first, how quickly a payment is credited to your account and so forth, before you get too adventurous.

Leaving the CA questions for those who know! good luck

[MidnightVoice]

Part of the trick is to have very low balances reporting on a couple of cards every month.  Many people pay off MOST of the balance before the reporting date, allow a very small balance to report then pay that off.

This avoids finance charges while showing responsible and regular use of the cards

[hataboutbob]

Six mos after started, secured was lifted. So when should I ask for a larger cl??

[Anonymous]

since they are at a CA - DV(CMRRR) the CA, wait for receipt (check at usps.com to see when they received it)  and then dispute with CRA.