Credit score simulator confusion - Help!

[Anonymous]

I am planning to pay off around 15K of 19K in cc debt.  When I was using the myfico simulator, it showed my scores going up more if I paid it off over 5-7 months rather than all at once.  Can someone help me make sense of this?  Should I leave balances on those cards I was going to pay in full (3)?

[Remedios]

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@Anonymous wrote:

I am planning to pay off around 15K of 19K in cc debt.  When I was using the myfico simulator, it showed my scores going up more if I paid it off over 5-7 months rather than all at once.  Can someone help me make sense of this?  Should I leave balances on those cards I was going to pay in full (3)?

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Hi and welcome 

Dont worry about simulators. The reason you're seeing "score go up more" over time, is because of the aging. 

Pay off balances and leave stimulator alone, it's just a toy. 

If you want to know how the payment might impact your scores, feel free to list your accounts, balances and what/how  much you're planning to pay on them individually. 

[HeavenOhio]

Welcome, @Anonymous!

Simulators are notoriously inaccurate. Don't consider them to be anything more than toys.

You absolutely will not gain by dragging these balances out. I think the simulator may be attempting to give you credit for your accounts aging during that time — and probably doing a lousy job of it.

Go ahead and pay off your 15k. If you'd like advice on how to distribute your payments, feel free to list your cards, their balances, their limits, and their interest rates. You'd also want to list any other cards you have along with their limits.

[Jnbmom]

I agree simulators are not very accurate. If you have the means to pay off a chunk of your debt it's a no brainer.

We all at times tend to focus of those "fico scores ", when your financial well being is so much more important.

[Anonymous]

Simulators = trash and can be very misleading, as you the OP have been mislead into thinking that dragging out the debt could possibly benefit you.  That's definitely not the case.  The quicker you pay it down, the quicker any score gains you'd receive will be realized.