As suggested, I decided to make major payments on mine & my husband's credit card debt. We are looking into buying a house in the next ~4-6 months.
My debt: Overal Utilization from 67% to 11%
First Premier 1: Limit: 250 -- Balance from $349 to $29. Util from 72% to 12%
First Premier 2 (30%APR): Limit: 300 -- Balance from $288 to $38. Util from 96% to 13%
WalMart: Limit: 400 -- Balance from $392 to $92. Util from 98% to 23%
Care Credit: Limit: 500 -- Balance from $112 to $0. Util from 22% to 0% (Joint account)
Husband's debt: Overall Utilization from 50% down to 13%.
Capital One: Limit: 501 -- Balance from $473 to $73. Util from 94% to 15%
Best Buy/Citibank: Limit: 500 -- Balance from $356 to $156. Util from 71% to 31%
Fingerhut: Limit: 500 -- Balance from $64 to $39. Util from 13% to 8%.
Care Credit: Limit: 500 -- Balance from $112 to $0. Util from 22% to 0% (Joint account)
After this we are going to keep paying down the balances further and only use the lowest interest card on each of our reports to make small purchases each month so they report a balance.
I guess right now we are both "gardening" since we aren't looking for any new credit. Is that the right term? I don't know.
Starting Score: 543 (2 years ago)
@Ms_Sooz wrote:As suggested, I decided to make major payments on mine & my husband's credit card debt. We are looking into buying a house in the next ~4-6 months.
My debt: Overal Utilization from 67% to 11%
First Premier 1: Limit: 250 -- Balance from $349 to $29. Util from 72% to 12%
First Premier 2 (30%APR): Limit: 300 -- Balance from $288 to $38. Util from 96% to 13%
WalMart: Limit: 400 -- Balance from $392 to $92. Util from 98% to 23%
Care Credit: Limit: 500 -- Balance from $112 to $0. Util from 22% to 0% (Joint account)
Husband's debt: Overall Utilization from 50% down to 13%.
Capital One: Limit: 501 -- Balance from $473 to $73. Util from 94% to 15%
Best Buy/Citibank: Limit: 500 -- Balance from $356 to $156. Util from 71% to 31%
Fingerhut: Limit: 500 -- Balance from $64 to $39. Util from 13% to 8%.
Care Credit: Limit: 500 -- Balance from $112 to $0. Util from 22% to 0% (Joint account)
After this we are going to keep paying down the balances further and only use the lowest interest card on each of our reports to make small purchases each month so they report a balance.
I guess right now we are both "gardening" since we aren't looking for any new credit. Is that the right term? I don't know.
WTG on bringing your UTIL down! For best results for scoring, try having $0 balances on all cards except for leaving a small balance on one card only each month, try doing this for the next 4-6months and this will help your scores greatly.
You're right on the gardening, hope to see you in the garden soon.
