What card should I set a goal for?

[Anonymous]

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@Horseshoez wrote:

@Anonymous, well said, my thoughts exactly! 

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Thanks! @Horseshoez 

[Ezk37]

Thank you for the advice. This is pretty much exactly what I had in mind to do. You are correct. I hover between 690 and 710 lately. Mostly because I carry balances on the cards I have. I'm at 36% usage overall, which I know is a big no/no. I believe that once paid off (which is the only thing I plan to do going forward.) I will be around 725ish. I plan to transfer all balances ($3200) over to the Discover once I receive it and pay it off completely. Discover is offering 14 months 0% interest. After they are paid off I will only use the Discover. (Maybe put Netflix or something on the others and not carry a blance.) I was just trying to figure out the best plan to push from 725ish to the beautiful 760-820. As always I appreciate all the help. Thanks!

[Anonymous]

Once you move the balances onto Discover, you'll have a pile of zero-balance accounts. That'll help in scoring. Paying off the Disco card will make a big difference too. Utilization is the second-biggest factor in scoring as outlined above. When I did a paydown from ~37% to single-digits, I gained 55-70 points on my scores. 

I agree with the above advice. Dump the Fingerhut and Credit One cards to start, and work on some increases for cards you plan to keep. The rationale behind closing unused and unneeded cards is that you don't have to think about them anymore, and you don't have to worry about fraud or mistakenly using one and forgetting to pay the bill. Peace of mind is what you gain. You are well on your way to bigger and better cards. Let the starters go.

[Ezk37]

CK sim shows a 54 point gain for paying off the $3200 I owe. This will be a lot easier with the 0% interest for 14 months. I'm looking forward to it. I should be pretty close to 740 by the time Disco is paid off. It's also good to know that closing the old bottom feeders won't hurt my AAoA. One or two of them have an AF and I can't wait to get rid of them. I'll definitely start with the AF cards and the ridiculous APR with Fingerhut. I really didn't expect $9000 from Disco. I'm pretty excited to get this ball rolling with some speed behind it!

[SouthJamaica]

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@Ezk37 wrote:

I guess I'm mostly just concerned with increasing my credit scores. I completely agree about having a small handful of decent cards rather than 100 low limit high APR no perk cards. I'm going to be in this for the long haul when it comes to driving my score up, so at this point I guess that's my only real concern. If I'm being honest I had never really considered what I want in a card because I had never had a choice. I started with the Daniels jewelers account 15 years ago and completely ruined my credit with collections and tons of lates. (They have all since been removed or fallen off except 1 late from 2015 and a $220 collection for a utility bill.) I got my first $3000 card (the synchrony) about 7 months ago and was approved for the $9000 Discover last night. I won't have any true need for any of the smaller accounts/cards after receiving the Discover and honestly it wouldn't make sense for me to use ANY of the other cards or accounts at this point. I was just afraid to close the older accounts because it will seriously drop my AAoA. Total credit limit shouldn't be effected as much because the Discover $9000 now makes up over half of my overall limit. I'm aware that I need to have a decent mix of installment/charge/department store accounts as well? So I would need to calculate any closures carefully. Would you suggest taking the hit on the older accounts even if I'm sure I could sock drawer them for eternity? Will having them open spook better lenders? In answer to the question of what type of card I would enjoy.. I do like the cash back type. I couldn't care less about flight miles or hotel points really as I don't travel. Lower APRs are nice as well. Although my main concern is rasing my credit score. Thanks for the response! 

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If your primary concern is to improve your credit scores then your best bet is to:

1. not apply for any new card

2. not apply for any CLI which could trigger a hard pull

3. pay in full all accounts every month

4. pay off all but one of them before the reporting date (usually the statement date)

[Horseshoez]

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@Ezk37 wrote:

CK sim shows a 54 point gain for paying off the $3200 I owe. This will be a lot easier with the 0% interest for 14 months. I'm looking forward to it. I should be pretty close to 740 by the time Disco is paid off. It's also good to know that closing the old bottom feeders won't hurt my AAoA. One or two of them have an AF and I can't wait to get rid of them. I'll definitely start with the AF cards and the ridiculous APR with Fingerhut. I really didn't expect $9000 from Disco. I'm pretty excited to get this ball rolling with some speed behind it!

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The CreditKarma simulat is beyond worthless; don't rely one iota on anything it says.  As for hitting 740, don't bet on it; their simulator calculates Vantage which is irrelevant when it comes to credit scores.