@Anonymous wrote:Taking the 7 cards at > 50% utilization all down below 48.9% is the best way to go here. After that, taking them all down below 28.9% is the next step. Spreading any of those balances out across 8+ revolvers would just be rearranging deck chairs on the Titanic.
If any of the cards are carrying interest at over 12% APR, and cards with zero balance potentially have lower cost APR options, looking at where those balances are carried while being paid down makes good financial sense, even if some of those cards end up over 50% but get lower APR options.
To dismiss the APR out of hand, in favor only of the utilization on each card, is an incorrect view of the real financial cost of carrying debt.
No one pays you anything for a better FICO score. On the other hand, paying less in interest each month is a direct financial gain to the debt payer.
@Anonymous wrote:I agree that less debt is > FICO scores, no doubt. The OP however suggested that he was looking toward score-improvement... which of course doesn't always directly follow saving money on interest. Certainly I would never suggest greater debt in order to maximize FICO scores, but my response was one in line with what the OP was looking for.
I take the term "Credit Health" to relate also to how much one is paying for credit. Having been through the challenges of covering several hundred dollars per month of interest cost, it can be a relevant point.