@Jane1972 wrote:I wanted to add this: my total credit card limits combined is $2,000 (I have 4 cards in good standing with a $500 limit on each). My current balances total $1,700 which is why I want to pay them down! I was under the assumption that paying them down and decreasing my utilization would help my score. I also have 4 collections that I'm trying to do a PFD on, I don't know if that's relevant. Anyway, when I use the simulator tool, no matter what amount I simulate paying off on my cards, my score simulates a drastic drop. The more I simulate paying, the lower my score is simulated to be. I've tried 3 or 4 different simulators to see if it was a glitch on one, but they all say the same thing. It's simulating a 50 point drop if I pay my balances down to a total of 20% utilization. I don't want to carry this debt, but I don't want a 50 point drop. I have no idea what's going on!
What score are you looking at? If it's Vantage 3.0 don't even worry about it. You need to get your Fico scores. I would bet they would increase by lowering your Utl
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
/
Welcome @Jane1972
FICO Credit card util looks at 2 util %'s. Individual and Aggreagate (Overall). Yes you dropped your balance on 1 yard. But with a combined balance on all cards your util % of $1700. Your still at 85% aggregate util. With 3 other cards basically maxed out. You'll need to get all the balances down. Stop paying interest. You'll never see that $ again.
If you can list out who the CA's are. Then we can see who PFD's or maybe not.
@Jane1972 wrote:This is my first time posting, hi everyone!
I have a Capital One Card with perfect payment history. My credit limit is $500 and my utilization on my last report was $508. I knew I needed to put a dent in it and get my utilization down, so I made a $225 payment on it. I'll hopefully pay it down to a really small amount next month.
With NO other changes on my TU report other than my utilization going down on this card with that payment, I lost 9 points.
I thought it would help me, not hurt me!Does anyone have any insight?
Welcome to the forum.
1. Simulators are meaningless.
2. Only FICO scores count.
3. If you reduce your present aggregate utilization of 85% down to 20% you will see a good point gain.
4. When the Capital One reduction from 102% to 57% gets reported you will see a good point gain.
5. In the future, keep your individual account utilization to 28% or less, and try to keep your aggregate utilization to 6% or less, and try to let some accounts report zero balances.
@Jane1972 wrote:One more interesting thing! My husband and I are co-account holders on all but one card (Nordstrom, which is just mine, never late). Whenever I do pay down our cards and our utilization goes down, my husband's scores shoot up, and mine nosedive. At the same time. The only other difference is that he bought our house before we got married, so he has a real estate loan on his report and I don't (my name isn't on the house). Isn't that interesting?
I'd recommend that you read through the "Frequently Requested Threads" at the top of this forum. You will learn a great deal.
In order to maximize your scoring potential, you need an installment loan for credit mix. The fact that he has a mortgage in his name helps him greatly.
As far as the other behaviors of your VS scores, keep in mind that Vantage is recreational only. When you're applying for credit, they are using your FICO scores. The "alerts" are not the only thing that could change on your credit file from month to month and understand that AU accounts behave a little differently from accounts that you are the primary. Collections and lates are extremely penal on scores, so focus on what you can change (getting the collections paid/deleted) and keeping paying on time. Once the collections are gone and any lates you have age, you will begin to see your scores behave more in line with your utilization going up and down.
Swing on by the Rebuilding forum for help with the CAs and general guidance. Good luck!
