Hmm which data point were you going for on the installment tradeline? If it were me I'd step across that aggregate 66% possible boundary and see if I got a boost or not as it's right there. After that I'd go playing, probably by prepaying one down, probably the SDFCU one. Any idea if you make a regular payment above the amount listed whether the due date skips forward in months with either? Looks like you've been doing that some what on both loans.
Current stats:
| Current | Original | Percentage remaining |
| 295 | 500 | 59 |
| 389 | 500 | 77.8 |
| 684 | 1000 | 68.4 |
Revelate~ I have a installment loan through my credit union that allows you to pre-pay and moves the due date (month) ahead. I have a $6K secured loan that I play with each month. I have it paid down about 40-45% and payed ahead til October. Not sure if its done anything score wise yet, but it sure is fun playing with the banks money 
I wish myfico updated the similiator every month when my 24.95 is due 
Sure would be nice. Or does this happen when buying yet another credit report? Would love to see my installment loan advice!
@damnedanddetermined wrote:Revelate~ I have a installment loan through my credit union that allows you to pre-pay and moves the due date (month) ahead. I have a $6K secured loan that I play with each month. I have it paid down about 40-45% and payed ahead til October. Not sure if its done anything score wise yet, but it sure is fun playing with the banks money
Which CU if so? If I can figure out some of this I'll happily temporarily damage my scorecard once my mortgage is sorted .
@damnedanddetermined wrote:I wish myfico updated the similiator every month when my 24.95 is due
Believe it happens when you buy another report, that would be a nice feature I agree but I think it looks at data rather than just score... the monitoring updates are just score and more changes go on beyind the scenes (and the services report differently) so really couldn't back into the new report unfortunately.
@jamie123 wrote:Not that you are long winded or anything Rev...
...Are you theorizing that the installment loan "sweet spot" is reached when the aggregate of installment loan remaining balance to starting balance ratio reaches 66%?
I was just reminded that "DW had an EX 08 of 850 at a time when our mortgage balance was higher than 70%."
@jamie123 wrote:
@Revelate wrote:Hmm which data point were you going for on the installment tradeline? If it were me I'd step across that aggregate 66% possible boundary and see if I got a boost or not as it's right there. After that I'd go playing, probably by prepaying one down, probably the SDFCU one. Any idea if you make a regular payment above the amount listed whether the due date skips forward in months with either? Looks like you've been doing that some what on both loans.
Current stats:
Current Original Percentage remaining 295 500 59 389 500 77.8 684 1000 68.4 No, I haven't made any extra payments on either loan. I just setup auto pay from the beginning of the term and it has taken care of itself.
With my calculations, next month's (July 1st) auto pay will take me to 65.2% total utilization. That's a bit too close to the 66% we are testing for in my opinion. I think that I should make an extra $10 payment on my Alliant 4 year loan. That will take me to 64.2% of overall utilization for these 2 installment loans. Your thoughts? More money? $20?
As far as I know the term will decrease if extra payments are made on these loans.
The following month I want them both paid to 50% UTI to ensure I pick up any extra points that installment UTI might provide for my mortgage app that I hope will happen sometime in late August or September.
Pay them both down to like 10% next month or something if we're talking mortgage. I took a non-trivial FICO 8 drop when my nearly paid off loans closed, and we do see that EX 98 moved on this most recent test which is actually important from a mortgage perspective. FrugalQ made a comment on the mortgage forum today that her DH got slapped hard on his EX 98 which was his mid score when a loan reported paid and dropped them an entire tier below the magic 680 line.
For now, sure kick an extra yuppie foodstamp to it.
There is usually (with most lenders) the ability to either do a payment to principal or a regular payment: in this case we want regular payment. What I have seen on some lenders is if I pay N x Payment, I move N months forward on the payment cycle. Does decrease the term in as much as I wouldn't be paying for it as long (because not as much interest would accrue) but the question is how far in advance (if any) it's allowed to be paid.
WFDS: I paid, my date was pushed out 1.5 years at one point.
DCU: I can pay up to 3 months in advance, and if I overpay that, they send me a nasty gram and set it back to 3 months manually.
Others not sure about, what I'm looking for is some lender that will allow me to make a regular payment and push the date further out. I'm testing with USAA now, I'd be very interested if you kick extra to Alliant / SDFCU pre-mortgage what their due dates are.
WFDS for example I didn't have to make any payment for 18 months, and so I could just let it coast. The goal in this would be to find a lender that we can take the loan out (secured or not really doesn't matter other than origination fee) and then turn right around and pay it right back down to a few percent and then just let it sit there quietly for years without our having to touch it (maybe a $1 payment to refresh the balance from a tradeline activity perspective occasionally) and get all the benefit to installment loan utilization while paying some trivial interest rate. That's the hope anyway.
ETA: I see that my USAA payment did update, $497.30 principal $2.70 interest, but I can't see from my mobile phone what the next due date is, just that my May 22 payment due is zero. Will check when I get home in a few hours.
Ahaha, USAA works! Or appears to, let's see if I get a nasty gram vis a vis DCU in the coming days, but here's a cut and paste of what I mean... now I wish I hadn't done the silly principal payment earlier, live and learn heh. Hopefully can find a 5+ year term on a smaller sized loan that can try these reindeer games on. CU Share Secured loans are definitely more flexible too than the secured CD ones like USAA if you need the underlying cash for whatever reason.
