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For best results, how much balance should I carry, when should I pay??

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haulingthescoreup
Moderator Emerita

Re: For best results, how much balance should I carry, when should I pay??


@MidnightVoice wrote:
Too Bloody Late!!!!!!!!!!!!

Smiley Very Happy






sorry sorry sorry sorry sorry

by the way, where do the smileys live? I selected them on my dashboard or wherever it was, but I don't know where they lurk. Getting tired of my one and only emoticon...

;-) --that's it, folks, my entire repertoire
* Credit is a wonderful servant, but a terrible master. * Who's the boss --you or your credit?
FICO's: EQ 781 - TU 793 - EX 779 (from PSECU) - Done credit hunting; having fun with credit gardening. - EQ 590 on 5/14/2007
Message 31 of 39
MidnightVoice
Super Contributor

Re: For best results, how much balance should I carry, when should I pay??



haulingthescoreup wrote:

by the way, where do the smileys live? I selected them on my dashboard or wherever it was, but I don't know where they lurk. Getting tired of my one and only emoticon...

;-) --that's it, folks, my entire repertoire

right next to the "reply" balloon!Smiley Tongue
The slide from grace is really more like gliding
And I've found the trick is not to stop the sliding
But to find a graceful way of staying slid
Message 32 of 39
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: For best results, how much balance should I carry, when should I pay??

I appreciate your response. I am only  finding out now how little I know. The biggest problem I am having is the contradicting information from just about everyone who thinks they know the answer that I speak with. (close unused cards/don't ever --- keep a balance/don't have a balance---disputing lowers your score/always dispute...to name a few that have come up a few times)
 
My situation - I signed for a $363,000 condo here in NY, back in March which is new construction - and will not be ready till Approximately January. I had a 641 FICO and was getting decent quotes for a mortgage. I have been paying off all my cards off on time and consistenly hoping the score would go up by the time they pulled it for the mortgage. Three weeks ago I got a call from the mortgage company saying that my score had dropped suddenly and quite a bit --Down to 573. They alerted me to a late payment on a joint account and sent me my credit report. It was a joint with a relative from years ago that I have not even used in probably 6-7 years. She apparently still does and didn't pay this and got a 60 day late on it. She paid this down to 0 almost immediately after I told her.
 
Currently: About 5 cards revolving totalling about $14,500 in balance. Some of them close to max. One student loan $14,500 deferred for at least another year. I've also paid down to 0 3 cards in the last month including the delinquent account that was paid off. - After reading this thread I am reluctant to pay any more of these down to zero until I know what is the best practice.
 
I have just paid about $5,500 and dispersed this across all 5 cards to get them all within 30% of limit, hoping to be able to raise my score quickly.
 
I also have one other joint account card that I am in the process of having transferred fully to the jointmember. - About $3,000 or so and 50-60% to limit.
 
Questions:
 
1 - Will the transfer of the balance to the jointmember hurt my score because I am losing credit history or will it decrease my total balances carried and help?
 
2- Will my payments to those cards to get them within 30% of limit end up increasing my score?
2a) - Do I need to pay more to these cards to help (1-9% seems to be the consensus) - If so, is it better to pay mins on two of the cards and work to get at least two of them to 1-9%.
 
3- Should I be spending a small amount on the cards I paid to zero so that they have a balance or should I be showing activity and then paying in full immediately after.
 
Those are all I can think of, but if you have any other suggestions besides the answers, it would be greatly appreciated.
 
Thanks in advace for help with this.
 
 
 
 
Message 33 of 39
haulingthescoreup
Moderator Emerita

Re: For best results, how much balance should I carry, when should I pay??


@MidnightVoice wrote:

haulingthescoreup wrote: by the way, where do the smileys live? I selected them on my dashboard or wherever it was, but I don't know where they lurk. Getting tired of my one and only emoticon... ;-) --that's it, folks, my entire repertoire
right next to the "reply" balloon!Smiley Tongue

Oh, mighty veteran poster--who has achieved Super Contributor status, by the way, congrats--I have nothing on my humble laptop next to the reply button other than a white arrow and a stray piece of cat fur. I fear my disrespect for the Venerable Ones has resulted in my becoming de-smiley-fied. My goodness, spell check did not like that at all. I will continue to stare in bafflement at my screen
* Credit is a wonderful servant, but a terrible master. * Who's the boss --you or your credit?
FICO's: EQ 781 - TU 793 - EX 779 (from PSECU) - Done credit hunting; having fun with credit gardening. - EQ 590 on 5/14/2007
Message 34 of 39
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: For best results, how much balance should I carry, when should I pay??

I think once many here who posted understand that fico scores to not recalculate automatically so when you do certain things like pay off and you see the next day a different score it is not for your actions yesterday but maybe from actions a month or more ago.
 
Learn how to use a service the credit reporting companies offer called "rapid rescore" so say you payed off many cards or got rid of a bad account, you assume "ok now my score will automatically get better" no thats not how it works do a rapid rescore to get the score to update within 24-72 hours I think the beaures charge 90 bucks for it
Message 35 of 39
MidnightVoice
Super Contributor

Re: For best results, how much balance should I carry, when should I pay??


haulingthescoreup wrote:
 
Oh, mighty veteran poster--who has achieved Super Contributor status, by the way, congrats--I have nothing on my humble laptop next to the reply button other than a white arrow and a stray piece of cat fur. I fear my disrespect for the Venerable Ones has resulted in my becoming de-smiley-fied. My goodness, spell check did not like that at all. I will continue to stare in bafflement at my screen

OK, under the box in which you type the reply, do you see a link entitled "Graphical Editor"?  If so, click on that and see
The slide from grace is really more like gliding
And I've found the trick is not to stop the sliding
But to find a graceful way of staying slid
Message 36 of 39
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: For best results, how much balance should I carry, when should I pay??

My fico was 650 just last month. Since then I paid off ALL my cc's and student loans amounting to a little over $11k. There was a $23 balance between 12 accounts from interest that accrued between the time I received the monthly statement and paid off the balance. I have since taken care of the $23 so my balances are ALL at ZERO). My Fico went up to 708.Smiley Very Happy


Message Edited by mplsmelo50 on 09-23-2007 09:33 PM
Message 37 of 39
haulingthescoreup
Moderator Emerita

Re: For best results, how much balance should I carry, when should I pay??


@MidnightVoice wrote:
OK, under the box in which you type the reply, do you see a link entitled "Graphical Editor"? If so, click on that and see

Thanks, MV, but I finally found out on the FICO Forums Feedback that it's because I have Firefox, not Internet Explorer, and the forums don't yet have the graphical editor on Firefox. Finally, I can stop right-clicking on random spots to bring these up!

Done thread-jacking now--good luck to the other posters!

Message Edited by haulingthescoreup on 09-24-2007 03:35 PM
* Credit is a wonderful servant, but a terrible master. * Who's the boss --you or your credit?
FICO's: EQ 781 - TU 793 - EX 779 (from PSECU) - Done credit hunting; having fun with credit gardening. - EQ 590 on 5/14/2007
Message 38 of 39
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: For best results, how much balance should I carry, when should I pay??

Does it really  help to carry a balance, 1-9%. I just used one of the FICO estimators and when I plug in a balance my score jump up a few points but when I put in 0 balance it dropped.  So if this is correct and the score does improve with a balance over a zero balance best to have a very small balance before applying for a loan. Would this be correct or is the simulator I used full of @#$% if its true why would it matter if you have a 0 balance or  1%?

Message 39 of 39
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