Dear fellow bloggers,
What would be the quickest way to raise FICO scores from 660 to 740?
8 months ago, we closed on a house and took on a car loan. We spent a tremendous amount of credit to purchase new furniture too.
My FICO scores plummeted to low 600's but it has steadily increased with the consistent minimum monthly payment (10 points per month). We don't have negative remarks, no late payments. Our constraint is very high utilization.
Here are our credit card utilization. We know they are quite high, so please don't judge. 
RH: 85%
WE: 40%
LS: 80%
CC1: 90%
CC2: 90%
AE1: 85%
AE2: 85%
CA1: 90%
CA2: 80%
MA1: 0%
Any advice is greatly appreciated!
Thank you so much in advance.
@joshall wrote:Dear fellow bloggers,
What would be the quickest way to raise FICO scores from 660 to 740?
8 months ago, we closed on a house and took on a car loan. We spent a tremendous amount of credit to purchase new furniture too.
My FICO scores plummeted to low 600's but it has steadily increased with the consistent minimum monthly payment (10 points per month). We don't have negative remarks, no late payments. Our constraint is very high utilization.
Here are our credit card utilization. We know they are quite high, so please don't judge.
RH: 85%
WE: 40%
LS: 80%
CC1: 90%
CC2: 90%
AE1: 85%
AE2: 85%
CA1: 90%
CA2: 80%
MA1: 0%
Any advice is greatly appreciated!
Thank you so much in advance.
Pay down cc debt.The higher the credit limits means more debt.I would pay the least highest first.The ones at 90% first.But if it's easier to pay off others d do that.Goal is to pay down total debt.Honestly until those cc"s are atleast 30% total Util scores won't get back up those 80 points.So if total CC debt is say 20,000 until it gets to about $6,000 or lower.Remember Time and paying those cards down will bring those scores back up.You have new house,car,furniture no more big ticket items needed for awhile so don't rush paying if it puts a strain on finances
@joshall wrote:Dear fellow bloggers,
What would be the quickest way to raise FICO scores from 660 to 740?
8 months ago, we closed on a house and took on a car loan. We spent a tremendous amount of credit to purchase new furniture too.
My FICO scores plummeted to low 600's but it has steadily increased with the consistent minimum monthly payment (10 points per month). We don't have negative remarks, no late payments. Our constraint is very high utilization.
Here are our credit card utilization. We know they are quite high, so please don't judge.
RH: 85%
WE: 40%
LS: 80%
CC1: 90%
CC2: 90%
AE1: 85%
AE2: 85%
CA1: 90%
CA2: 80%
MA1: 0%
Any advice is greatly appreciated!
Thank you so much in advance.
Could you expand on the details? I don't recognize the abbreviations. Bank name, card name, your credit limit, the APR you are paying, and the current balance would all be very helpful for specific suggestions. There's a big difference between a store card and a regular credit card, and sorting those two groups out is one of the first steps. Determining APR is also an important step.
Listing out all the gory details, including actual balances, can be helpful also because it puts in stark reality how much debt we are talking about. 90% utilization on a $250 limit store card is a different conversation from 60% utilization on a $10,000 regular credit card.
The 0% APR helps on most of these cards.
One more question to consider: Do any of the Store cards, either Restoration Hardware, West Elm, or Living Spaces have the "gotcha" in their terms where, if you do not pay every last dime of the 0% amount, then ALL the prior deferred interest comes back to bite you? IF any of those three cards has terms that goes back to catch up all that deferred interest, that card is your #1 top priority to pay down to zero. That catch up interest can be a nasty surprise, again, even if you leave $0.10 on the account at the day the interest rate expires.
Regarding improving scores, my experience last June 2015 had all my accounts finally going below 50% utilization on any one card. As a result I saw a dramatic improvement in scores, from late May EQ 714 TU 727 EX 724 to early July EQ 756 TU 775 EX 765, so my suggestion is to get all cards, every card, so it is below 50% utilization as your #2 goal, after ensuring that #1 above (pay a Gotcha store card) is taken care of.
Thus the goal level is as outlined here. Once you get your scores improving, you should look into getting something like a Discover card, or Bank of America, which have regular BT offers. With a Discover card you can at least get a decent BT offer once all these 0% APR cards go to regular rates. Capital One has no-fee BT, but I have yet to see a BT offer for low APR.
Once you pay down the Capital One cards, one trick I have found is this:
BT $400 onto a Capital One card (regardless of APR). Make sure it starts at zero balance, no purchases, nothing else is going on in the card.
Set up autopayment of $225 per month.
In the first month, Capital One does not charge interest. Sweet! Auto pay picks up and pays $225 after this first statement.
Second statement, you are charged interest on the remainder after the $225. Autopayment gets the rest with that payment after the second statement.
With the final, third statement, Capital One does not charge any interest.
BT another $400 after this third statement prints, and start all over again, letting the autopay take over.
I've knocked off two sets of $400 amounts this way through my QS. When looking for a way to carve off high APR items, it's a viable option. You have two Capital One cards, so I'd look at driving those balances to zero first, so you have two avenues to carve out bits like this to reduce interest cost when the time comes.
@NRB525 wrote:The 0% APR helps on most of these cards.
One more question to consider: Do any of the Store cards, either Restoration Hardware, West Elm, or Living Spaces have the "gotcha" in their terms where, if you do not pay every last dime of the 0% amount, then ALL the prior deferred interest comes back to bite you? IF any of those three cards has terms that goes back to catch up all that deferred interest, that card is your #1 top priority to pay down to zero. That catch up interest can be a nasty surprise, again, even if you leave $0.10 on the account at the day the interest rate expires.
Regarding improving scores, my experience last June 2015 had all my accounts finally going below 50% utilization on any one card. As a result I saw a dramatic improvement in scores, from late May EQ 714 TU 727 EX 724 to early July EQ 756 TU 775 EX 765, so my suggestion is to get all cards, every card, so it is below 50% utilization as your #2 goal, after ensuring that #1 above (pay a Gotcha store card) is taken care of.
Thus the goal level is as outlined here. Once you get your scores improving, you should look into getting something like a Discover card, or Bank of America, which have regular BT offers. With a Discover card you can at least get a decent BT offer once all these 0% APR cards go to regular rates. Capital One has no-fee BT, but I have yet to see a BT offer for low APR.
Once you pay down the Capital One cards, one trick I have found is this:
BT $400 onto a Capital One card (regardless of APR). Make sure it starts at zero balance, no purchases, nothing else is going on in the card.
Set up autopayment of $225 per month.
In the first month, Capital One does not charge interest. Sweet! Auto pay picks up and pays $225 after this first statement.
Second statement, you are charged interest on the remainder after the $225. Autopayment gets the rest with that payment after the second statement.
With the final, third statement, Capital One does not charge any interest.
BT another $400 after this third statement prints, and start all over again, letting the autopay take over.
I've knocked off two sets of $400 amounts this way through my QS. When looking for a way to carve off high APR items, it's a viable option. You have two Capital One cards, so I'd look at driving those balances to zero first, so you have two avenues to carve out bits like this to reduce interest cost when the time comes.
Sound advice. +100.