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@Anonymous wrote:
I am starting to think I might want to pay off my lowest installment loan as fast as I can. Doing the debt snowball thing. I know it's more prudent to pay off the largest with highest interest rate first, but I lose inspiration to do that as time goes by. I see balances going down, but just not fast enough.
My lowest installment student loan is $3500.00. If I pay it off before the end of the year then I will have just 2 installment loans with balances, and I can afford to report 2 credit cards per month with low balances. That should keep me at a steady 4 accounts with balances. I'm thinking this might be the way to go until the end of the year. It will feel good to have another debt paid in full.
People ask "so what have you been up to?"
"Paying bills" I say
@smallfry wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:other wise you have to use credit to get credit and if your CCs are always reporting $0 it doesn't appear your using credit even you are, your just paying it off before it gets reported to CRAI almost always pay off my cc before next statement cycle. Yes, it does report as $0 balance, however they MUST report to CRA because there has been activity on my account that month. Had there been no activity whatsoever and $0 balance then they are not obligated to report, which is why they show date of last activity. My scores average 780 so apparently it hasn't hurt me
Look at your Experian report. They know you're using the cards. They see more than we see. Believe it.
@fused111 wrote:I wasn't clear to me if you preferred to PIF, now I know. Some feel PIF is the way to go if you're not planning on a big purchase in the near future...house, car, etc.
@Anonymous wrote:Yes, mostly PIF.
fused111 wrote: It's my understanding that two people can have the same change on their CR and have completely different results. It could be a situation where the two people might be swimming in different "scorecards, pools or buckets." Have you always PIF? It does save money, no question about that!
Nah, I disagree! Paying off the installment quickly or according to the term doesn't matter. Nothing to gain there. Yes, FICO likes a credit mix but doesn't require the entire mix be only open accounts. Open and closed accounts are weighed and scored equally. Paying down the revolving accounts, by all means a resounding yes.
VLGaffEsq wrote:
I strongly suggest, Rifleman, that you DO NOT pay off your installment loan early; doing so will not help your FICO score. If fact it may hurt you because lenders and the FICO scorers like to see different types of credit, including installment loans. When I recently sold my car and paid off my auto loan early, I thought I would see a jump in my FICO score. It did nothing. Use your cash to pay down your credit card balances to lower your utilzation rate. That is the most efficient way to raise your FICO score!
I agree. I have no open auto loans, but they are still hanging around from a few years back and look good on the account. All paid up and no lates
fused111 wrote:Nah, I disagree! Paying off the installment quickly or according to the term doesn't matter. Nothing to gain there. Yes, FICO likes a credit mix but doesn't require the entire mix be only open accounts. Open and closed accounts are weighed and scored equally. Paying down the revolving accounts, by all means a resounding yes.
But installments do not count towards utilization
rifleman wrote:
Installment and Revolving are counted for "accounts with balances"
Just click on "credit at a glance" it lists the number of accounts with balances,
and it takes into account ALL of your accounts except mortgages