I wouldn't do it unless I understood exactly how much it would improve things and exactly what I wanted to do and could achieve through the improvement. I believe that making a partial payment on a debt may void your discharge with respect to that debt. If you plan to make a full payment, you are proposing to exchange a sum of money, which has a specific, known value, for an "improvement" whose value is much less certain. The question you should be able to answer is not, will my credit score go up, and how much? The questions you need to be able to answer are: 1. Will paying X sum to my discharged creditors enable me to get the credit I WANT, which I NEED to do this thing that I WANT to do? 2. Is it impossible to do this thing in alternative ways that are less costly than the combined cost of paying my discharged creditors and assuming the burdens associated with the debt? 3. Are there alternative, lest costly ways of achieving my general goals than doing this thing? Address those questions first, because those, I think, are the key questions. Raising your credit score is not a goal that has value in and of itself. It is a means to get loans. Being able to get a particular loan is not a goal that has value in and of itself. It is a means to buy things now rather than in the future. Even buying a particular item at a particular time is not the ultimate goal. The ultimate goal is maximizing your satisfaction with your life. Will paying your discharged creditors lead to a chain of circumstances that will result in an improved satisfaction with your life, compared to other actions you can take?
