Score impact of going from 89% util to <10%

[fused]

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@kal9988 wrote:

llecs, are you saying the $0 balances helped or hurt you? I have 4 CC's and I'd like to get them all under 3%. Do you think it's better to have 3 with a $0 balance and only use one, or have a small balance on each card, while still being under 3% overall?

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I can't speak for Ilecs, but in my case, the former gives me more points. It has rewarded me with FICO scores well above 800 across the board.

[llecs]

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@fused wrote:

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llecs wrote:

All the numbers are in and the first post is fully updated.

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Congrats! You made out better than I thought you would with EQ. Your EQ is 780, TU is 760, I wonder if your EX is 770? LOL! Did you get harded on TU for your loan? Has the new loan reported?

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Close...780/760 were revised goals. 777/758 are the actual scores so I came close. Who knows with EX...gonna pull the mortgage trigger this fall so I'll find out.

No hard yet for LC. No TL either. Due date is within a couple of weeks. We'll see.

[llecs]

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@kal9988 wrote:

llecs, are you saying the $0 balances helped or hurt you? I have 4 CC's and I'd like to get them all under 3%. Do you think it's better to have 3 with a $0 balance and only use one, or have a small balance on each card, while still being under 3% overall?

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Ditto. You can always play around to see what works best. IMO, as compared to carring balances on all.

[kal9988]

I guess I'll check when I get them down to 3%, then 1%, then all at $0. If it goes down at $0, then I'll know

[haulingthescoreup]

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@kal9988 wrote:

I guess I'll check when I get them down to 3%, then 1%, then all at $0. If it goes down at $0, then I'll know

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You might try experimenting with letting fewer and fewer cards report. I just regained 15+ points that I lost when 4 CC's (out of 9) reporting balances went down to 2.

This is pretty much the universal experience here.

When it sometimes gets odd is when people with higher scores have ALL report $0. Then some of us benefit, and others lose points. But back when I was in the 740's and below, I was definitely hurt when all reported $0.

Anyway, there is no advantage to letting each card report 3% or whatever. Not to mention that trying to keep them at that level will drive you nuts!

[Anonymous]

Congrats Illecs!  Your story is inspirational to me! I have lowered my accts from 13 with a balance to 6 and plan on lowered it to only 4 next month.  My utilizaiton is at 47% now but next month I plan on bring it down to around 15% and then of course to 3%! Thanks again!

[llecs]

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@Anonymous wrote:

Congrats Illecs!  Your story is inspirational to me! I have lowered my accts from 13 with a balance to 6 and plan on lowered it to only 4 next month.  My utilizaiton is at 47% now but next month I plan on bring it down to around 15% and then of course to 3%! Thanks again!

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Keep us posted!

[Anonymous]

Thanks for sharing this.  I'm confused though...doesn't the report also reflect the 14k consolidation loan? 

[fused]

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@Anonymous wrote:

Thanks for sharing this.  I'm confused though...doesn't the report also reflect the 14k consolidation loan? 

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Welcome to the forums!

Check message (post) #42, Ilecs stated the loan isn't on his reports yet. 

He wrote: No TL either. Due date is within a couple of weeks. We'll see.

TL stands for trade line which means the same thing as account.

[llecs]

And nothing to add...still hasn't reported.