Maxing 70% to 90% of credit line?

[Anonymous]

Hi masdeocho,

No, no plans to buy anything....not even a dollhouse! 

SandyK

[Anonymous]

Have 6 cards with a total limit of 185 G -In Jan 07 transfered all outstanding balances to a new PNC Platnium to take advantage of 0% balance transfer offer until 6/08--new card has a cl of 10 G and balances transfered total approx.6 g---resulting in a 60 % utl on this card.Fico score has actually increased from 780 to 788 (all other credit factors have remainded the same).So I guess one high utl wont always result in a ding.

[fused]

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metsno1fan wrote:

Have 6 cards with a total limit of 185 G -In Jan 07 transfered all outstanding balances to a new PNC Platnium to take advantage of 0% balance transfer offer until 6/08--new card has a cl of 10 G and balances transfered total approx.6 g---resulting in a 60 % utl on this card.Fico score has actually increased from 780 to 788 (all other credit factors have remainded the same).So I guess one high utl wont always result in a ding.

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Are you sure there weren't other positive changes that occured?

[Anonymous]

metsno1fan,

I've heard instances where people's FICO scores have risen after utilizing a good portion of their CL.  Evidently everything else is being paid down at a faster rate or the amount of money you are paying towards your 60% utilization card   is high enough to make a significant difference in your overall FICO score(s). 

Before I knew FICO scores existed, which was about 2 years ago, I was paying my bills and using CLs to pay off debt.  I just sailed along paying my bills on time, paying more than the minimum and paying off the smallest bills first.  (My scores were in the low 600's when I learned  about  FICO scores.)  Soon I started receiving offers for 0% and 2.99%  life of the balance offers.   So in essence, I do believe using your credit lines to benefit you and paying off those credit lines rapidly, does raise your credit scores and right away too! 

SandyK

[Anonymous]

I've also learned that inquiries are my worst enemy right now when it comes to FICO, so  I'm cooling my jets for awhile and not applying for credit until 2008. 

SandyK

[MidnightVoice]

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sankofa wrote:

I've also learned that inquiries are my worst enemy right now when it comes to FICO, so  I'm cooling my jets for awhile and not applying for credit until 2008. 

SandyK

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For me, it is only on EQ

I have had more EQ pulls in two years than EX plus TU

[Bruiser]

same here, for EQ, i have more pulls than EX & TU combined

but EQ is my highest score @ 653

TU has my least pulls, and my lowest score @ 557

also, my EQ & EX reports are the same except for INQ, go figure

[MidnightVoice]

Tu has my lowest # pulls and is by far my highest score.  Tu loves me.

[Anonymous]

TU has always been the lowest for me.  Must be a New Yorker  thing! 

[Anonymous]

No, I am in MD by way of NY. It is a credit thing.

Anyway, as far as the util goes, if you don't intend to make a major purchase in the immediate future and you are disciplined bt can be useful to get down a high util on let's say your low credit limit cards with  high util and/or interest rates, and put them on one card. Again, this when used correctly can offer benefits to someone who has learned the rules and are paying down debts and not adding to them. By no means should you get unnecessary credit, apply for what you need. But, no fee, BT with zero if you know you can pay off within the alloted time can be a smart move when handled correctly. If you plan on using the card to make purchases and not just to pay down your debt in a 6 month time frame ou are defeating the benefit of the transfer. Like the poster stated earlier your util is in real time not a historical thing so if you do a bt today and max card to 90-100 for example and you don't need to be granted credit in the near future, you can pay it all down to as close to the 10% util and then pull your score and though the score did fluctuate, the creditor who pulls 6-12 months later doesn't know about the high util but only sees the final result.

Be careful to be disciplined in using this because you don't want to get further into debt.