3 other cards under 30%, 12 cards at zero balance:
Lost
21pts on EX
31pts on EQ
29pts on TU
Ouch. I will not be rapidly paying down the card, but probably will be below 90% on the next billing cycle. What are the thresholds for score bumps?
Thanks. That's an interesting number. I will shoot for that within the next billing cycle instead of under 90%.
I saw a good score rise last June, as my cards got to the point that each individual card was under 50%. Overall utilization was under 20%. You may see an improvement at 90% or 80% also.
We are always looking for datapoints to compare. Let us know how it goes as you pay down.
@NRB525 wrote:I saw a good score rise last June, as my cards got to the point that each individual card was under 50%. Overall utilization was under 20%. You may see an improvement at 90% or 80% also.
We are always looking for datapoints to compare. Let us know how it goes as you pay down.
Will do. I've been using a spreadsheet for tracking my scores and utilization. I won't be able to isolate the one card as much as I would want since I have a couple of other cards with balances. May just pay those off, so I can follow the large one.
I was going to knock it under 82% as someone suggested, but I think I will know it to 89% for the next billing period and then work toward 82%, and then 80% after that at a more natural pace. I will check in with data points.
@Kidcat wrote:
@NRB525 wrote:I saw a good score rise last June, as my cards got to the point that each individual card was under 50%. Overall utilization was under 20%. You may see an improvement at 90% or 80% also.
We are always looking for datapoints to compare. Let us know how it goes as you pay down.
Will do. I've been using a spreadsheet for tracking my scores and utilization. I won't be able to isolate the one card as much as I would want since I have a couple of other cards with balances. May just pay those off, so I can follow the large one.
I was going to knock it under 82% as someone suggested, but I think I will know it to 89% for the next billing period and then work toward 82%, and then 80% after that at a more natural pace. I will check in with data points.
Yes, a good first step for testing would be to drop the card's utilization to just below the "max out" threshold. An actual maxout condition is said to tag on a score penalty over and above high high utilization deducts. Based on my data, max out is somewhere above 80% (I was ok at 80.1% on a card). Other results I have seen here suggest max out is above 85%. Experian defines maxout at 90% as indicated by their plus score graphic.(see below).
Consider something between 85% and 89% as a 1st step.
Some commonly held beliefs on card utilization thresholds relating to potential (profile dependent) score drops are: 70%, 50% and 30%. A couple other reporting tests that I think might shed some light are: 65% to 69% and 45% to 49%.
See excerpt below from the article:
How 5 Financial Blunders Will Affect Your Credit Score
Credit Mistake | If your FICO score is 680 | If your FICO score is 780 |
Maxed Out Credit Card | Down 10-30 points | Down 25-45 points |
Maxed Out Credit Card – It may surprise some to learn that maxing out a credit card could lower your score. The reason is that historical data indicates that a maxed out card is an indication of financial stress. While not everybody who reaches their credit card limit is in financial trouble, many are. This is another reason to take advantage of balance transfer credit cards even while you are working to get out of credit card debt. A balance transfer can help you spread your credit card debt over more cards and allow you to benefit from a 0% introductory rate at the same time.
@Thomas_Thumb wrote:
@Kidcat wrote:
@NRB525 wrote:I saw a good score rise last June, as my cards got to the point that each individual card was under 50%. Overall utilization was under 20%. You may see an improvement at 90% or 80% also.
We are always looking for datapoints to compare. Let us know how it goes as you pay down.
Will do. I've been using a spreadsheet for tracking my scores and utilization. I won't be able to isolate the one card as much as I would want since I have a couple of other cards with balances. May just pay those off, so I can follow the large one.
I was going to knock it under 82% as someone suggested, but I think I will know it to 89% for the next billing period and then work toward 82%, and then 80% after that at a more natural pace. I will check in with data points.
Yes, a good first step for testing would be to drop the card's utilization to just below the "max out" threshold. An actual maxout condition is said to tag on a score penalty over and above high high utilization deducts. Based on my data, max out is somewhere above 80% (I was ok at 80.1% on a card). Other results I have seen here suggest max out is above 85%. Experian defines maxout at 90% as indicated by their plus score graphic.(see below).
Consider something between 85% and 89% as a 1st step.
Some commonly held beliefs on card utilization thresholds relating to potential (profile dependent) score drops are: 70%, 50% and 30%. A couple other reporting tests that I think might shed some light are: 65% to 69% and 45% to 49%.
See excerpt below from the article:
How 5 Financial Blunders Will Affect Your Credit Score
Credit Mistake
If your FICO score is 680
If your FICO score is 780
Maxed Out Credit Card
Down 10-30 points
Down 25-45 points
Maxed Out Credit Card – It may surprise some to learn that maxing out a credit card could lower your score. The reason is that historical data indicates that a maxed out card is an indication of financial stress. While not everybody who reaches their credit card limit is in financial trouble, many are. This is another reason to take advantage of balance transfer credit cards even while you are working to get out of credit card debt. A balance transfer can help you spread your credit card debt over more cards and allow you to benefit from a 0% introductory rate at the same time.
It makes since that EX considers maxed out at 90% and the other 2 somewhere lower. EX's drop was not has steep as the other 2. Though I've noticed in general that EX's score does not change as frequently as TU even with regular monthly fluctuations with balances.
Since I have no plans to appy for anything within the next couple of years, it really will allow me to get the different data points on one card with high utilization. Thanks for your advise.
It's definitely a part time job. I'm hoping that when my kitchen reno starts (1 week away) I will be sufficiently distracted from all things fico for a couple of months...lol