dropping utilization

[Anonymous]

how much of an increase as anyone experienced when they started cutting back on the utilization of their credit cards?

[Anonymous]

nfg, I experienced a 150 point increase in my scores after I brought my utils down.

In March, 2007 my TU score was 521. In July it was 671. So the system, she really does work. And these were PFICO scores. Not FAKO.

I PIF'd 4 out of my 6 cc's every month for 5 months, while still paying down the utils on the other 2.

[Anonymous]

Thank you, that is great news!

[Anonymous]

I have 3 cc's that I actively use and a 4th one that is on it's way in the mail.  The three I have are pretty much maxed out and the 4th is a rebuilder card, probably a 300 dollar limit with 150 dollars in fees already on it, what do you think is my best course of action to bring my scores up the fastest?

Message Edited by nfg on 11-09-2007 01:03 PM

[fused]

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nfg wrote:

I have 2 cc's that I actively use and a 3rd one that is on it's way in the mail.  The two I have are pretty much maxed out and the 3rd is a rebuilder card, probably a 300 dollar limit with 150 dollars in fees already on it, what do you think is my best course of action to bring my scores up the fastest?

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What are your current scores? What are the CLs and balances on these cards (include the CL on the new one)? What other bad stuff is on your reports and how old are they? Maybe we can ballpark your scores.

[Anonymous]

This is what I did. I took all my cc's out of my wallet, put them in an envelope and put them in my "sock" drawer.

I did not use any of them for 2 months, while paying off or down all the balances. I had to go to the bank much more often, but I felt good knowing I wasn't putting any more debt on the card, while getting down my balances, lowering my utilizations, and raising my scores.

I also took out money out of savings to pif the 4 of 6 cards.

When ever I buy anything with a cc now, I stop and think which card has the lowest balance and the highest limit. On every, single purchase. Including a cup of coffee and a donut. I also make an "interim" payment on every card, between statements, AND make a final payment 7 days before due date.

Hope that helps

[Anonymous]

Getting ready for that first mortgage.  After years of waiting for my credit to get better, I finally pulled my reports last week.  Surprisingly they weren't too bad (TU687, EQ663, EX648).  The only change I'll have is lowering utilization (was 41%) down to 3-5%, and a tiny bit of ageing.  Paid off all of the cards on Monday (then put $20-$60 back on each), and now I'm just waiting for my EQ score to be updated.

I also subscribed to myFICO Scorewatch and Equifax Scorewatch to see if one updates sooner/more complete than the other.

I'll update as soon as I see some change! 

[haulingthescoreup]

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@Anonymous wrote:

I also subscribed to myFICO Scorewatch and Equifax Scorewatch to see if one updates sooner/more complete than the other.

I'll update as soon as I see some change!

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Hi, WAFICOwatcher--I appreciate your willingness to be a guinea pig for the rest of us!

When you get your Scorewatch reports from both sites, is the report (not score) from EQ more complete than the one from myFICO? Does it have soft inquiries at the end (the ones that don't count against you), and the actual date of the month, not just month/ year, that a creditor updates its info? Thanks for any "compare and contrast" that you can share!

edit: oops, meant to say, good luck on that first mortgage! We look forward to welcoming you to the ranks of happy homeowners, heh heh heh...

Message Edited by haulingthescoreup on 11-09-2007 05:25 PM

[smallfry]

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@haulingthescoreup wrote:

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@Anonymous wrote:

I also subscribed to myFICO Scorewatch and Equifax Scorewatch to see if one updates sooner/more complete than the other.

I'll update as soon as I see some change!

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Hi, WAFICOwatcher--I appreciate your willingness to be a guinea pig for the rest of us!

When you get your Scorewatch reports from both sites, is the report (not score) from EQ more complete than the one from myFICO? Does it have soft inquiries at the end (the ones that don't count against you), and the actual date of the month, not just month/ year, that a creditor updates its info? Thanks for any "compare and contrast" that you can share!

edit: oops, meant to say, good luck on that first mortgage! We look forward to welcoming you to the ranks of happy homeowners, heh heh heh...

Message Edited by haulingthescoreup on 11-09-2007 05:25 PM

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The EQ generated report shows your soft pulls and has more detail as far as payment history. You can take a one month flyer for 7 bucks if you use the discount from the Coastal Credit Union website. This will allow you to view an updated EQ report every 24 hours and 1 minute. Equifax calls this product Credit Watch Gold.

[haulingthescoreup]

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@smallfry wrote:
The EQ generated report shows your soft pulls and has more detail as far as payment history. You can take a one month flyer for 7 bucks if you use the discount from the Coastal Credit Union website. This will allow you to view an updated EQ report every 24 hours and 1 minute. Equifax calls this product Credit Watch Gold.

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Whoa, no sh*t?? daily EQ pulls?? OK, I need to find my teeth and put them back in!

Any minuses to the EQ version?