You already going the right direction, so I would make it simple:
Pay minimum payment X2 on card 2 and 3 and pay remaining on card #1 Do this till they go under 30% and then payoff highest interest!
@Jbrun wrote:Hey all, 1st time poster here so apologies in advance for any left out information that should be included or if I'm in wrong forum topics.
I am looking for the best strategy *for me* to pay down these cards over the next several months that will give me the most rapid boost short term while getting started. Ideally I’d love to get fico scores to 720 as quickly as possible and if possible by end of December or January. That gives me 3-4 billing cycles.
I currently have 3 credit cards:
1. NFCU Amex more rewards - 25k limit / 22k balance
2. NFCU Flagship rewards - $10.5k limit / 2.9k balance
3. NFCU platinum - $7k limit / $1.8k balance
I am looking to boost credit quickly and paying less interest is not a primary concern at the moment.
Current fico credit scores are:
684 equifax
692 transunion
691 experian
I will be paying down these cards as rapidly as I comfortably can over the next few months and to start I will have about 3k available to pay down per month.
I have read 2 main trains of thought here:
1. Pay all balances down to under 30% and then pay down based on highest interest rate.
2. Pay off or pay down to under 10% on 2 of the 3 cards and then start working on the higher balance.
- Which method or other method not mentioned here would best increase my score?
- Do you think it could produce at least a 20-25 point increase by Dec/Jan?
extra info:- The only big negative credit items reporting are from student loans showing 4 separate loans and 4 separate late payments over 90 days from when they when into default. They have since been brought current and of course covid has halted mandatory payments so I plan to use that money for laying down cards until January and then loan forgiveness if approved will remove a large chunk of student loan debt and I'll carry on with normal payments.
- I also have hard pull inquiries from the last year since last November totaling 3 in all.
Thank you all for any help.
Welcome @Jbrun
Pay off #2 and #3 first. Theres 2 months and apply the rest after that to tackle #1 until its done. You'll have less than 50% reporting. Lower aggregate util %. That will kick start the payoff. Dont use the cards until they're PIF.
@FireMedic1 wrote:
@Jbrun wrote:Hey all, 1st time poster here so apologies in advance for any left out information that should be included or if I'm in wrong forum topics.
I am looking for the best strategy *for me* to pay down these cards over the next several months that will give me the most rapid boost short term while getting started. Ideally I’d love to get fico scores to 720 as quickly as possible and if possible by end of December or January. That gives me 3-4 billing cycles.
I currently have 3 credit cards:
1. NFCU Amex more rewards - 25k limit / 22k balance
2. NFCU Flagship rewards - $10.5k limit / 2.9k balance
3. NFCU platinum - $7k limit / $1.8k balance
I am looking to boost credit quickly and paying less interest is not a primary concern at the moment.
Current fico credit scores are:
684 equifax
692 transunion
691 experian
I will be paying down these cards as rapidly as I comfortably can over the next few months and to start I will have about 3k available to pay down per month.
I have read 2 main trains of thought here:
1. Pay all balances down to under 30% and then pay down based on highest interest rate.
2. Pay off or pay down to under 10% on 2 of the 3 cards and then start working on the higher balance.
- Which method or other method not mentioned here would best increase my score?
- Do you think it could produce at least a 20-25 point increase by Dec/Jan?
extra info:- The only big negative credit items reporting are from student loans showing 4 separate loans and 4 separate late payments over 90 days from when they when into default. They have since been brought current and of course covid has halted mandatory payments so I plan to use that money for laying down cards until January and then loan forgiveness if approved will remove a large chunk of student loan debt and I'll carry on with normal payments.
- I also have hard pull inquiries from the last year since last November totaling 3 in all.
Thank you all for any help.
Welcome @Jbrun
Pay off #2 and #3 first. Theres 2 months and apply the rest after that to tackle #1 until its done. You'll have less than 50% reporting. Lower aggregate util %. That will kick start the payoff. Dont use the cards until they're PIF.
@FireMedic1 You wouldn't be concern about other 2 cards get CLD or closed because of 1st card is going to show very high utilization for next few months?
That is may only issue with leaving high utilization reporting every month! Otherwise sure thing.
Maybe I'm still hunted by past experience!
@Jbrun wrote:Thanks so much, one more question.
im terms of opening new credit card vs getting limit increase do you have any advice there?
sometime next year I have my eye on the Amex blue cash preferred but I am a newbie when it comes to what it takes to get approved for mid and top tier cards.
my onky Amex card is the more rewards. Do I need to wait for it to hit under 10% before applying for that blue cash preferred or would I be better off applying for limit increase on one of my cards? Of limit increase, at what credit utilization ratio % would it be likely enough to get approved assuming my fico scores are all over 700 within 2 months.
Wait! Howmany other cards you have with balance? You may want to list others so we can get a better picture.
They're all with NFCU @CYBERSAM. Thats so rare. I cant remember the last time that AA happened with them. Getting under 50% reporting helps some. "Number of accounts reporting a balance"
@Jbrun wrote:@FireMedic1 What is AA?
Adverse Action or accounts closed or CL reductions.
https://ficoforums.myfico.com/t5/User-Guidelines-General/Common-Abbreviations/td-p/88458