Utilization Advice

[Anonymous]

So I was looking over my cards and I have 6 under 8.9%, and 6 over 8.9%, and none over 29%.

Would it be better to pay down one card that has a higher utilization, or pay down a few cards that are smaller utilizations, as far as fico is concerned I mean. This would be in a one month time frame so I mean yea, over time I can have them all down but Im seeing the short term wanting to know what fico would like better.

[Anonymous]

If your cards are all at < 28.9%, and your sole goal is to improve your credit score, then you should pay off the smallest balance cards first so that you can create as many $0 balances as possible.

[Anonymous]

OP,

Are you planning on apping in relative near future for a loan?  If not, you may want to reconsider your goal of improving score relative to your goal of saving money (interest).  A better FICO score if you aren't going to use it (app) isn't as meaningful as more money in the bank, which can be achieved by paying down your highest interest cards first.  Otherwise, like CGID stated, you'll want to start obtaining $0 balances on as many accounts as possible in order to improve your score the quickest. 

[Anonymous]

No i was going to take a hiatis on apping until about July or Aug. That makes sense since that measurement of FICO is easily changed. interest is a factor on some cards so I was wondering if it would be better to get them down to 8.9 then worry about actual payoff later and if I did that, is it better to have a larger number of cards at that point rather than a few. Im thinking though based on the replies that the more cards payed down to 0 as much as possible, the better the score so unless I need to worry about that, it would be better to pay the higher interest cards.

[Anonymous]

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wrote:

... I was going to take a hiatis on apping until about July or Aug.

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Great advice by BBS.

BTW, while you are on hiatus, I encourage you to think carefully about why you'd want to apply for more credit cards.  You have eleven now, according to your signature.  That's a lot.  You should have a very particular well thought out reason before you apply for even one more card.

[Anonymous]

Oh I was thinking of that blisspay card and maybe amex im not sure on that last one. they arent hard to manage they all have the same due date, the 5th.