@Anonymous wrote:Not all. I still have balances on four cards. Do you think it could be that I paid off the smallest balances first, leaving only cards with over 30% utilization on? Is that really on a card to card basis, and not aggregate?
Now it makes sense with Vantage @Anonymous . Anyway. That 30% stuff is an internet farse. For best scoring have all cards report 0% and have 1 report <8%. As we say around these parts AZEO. All Zero Except One. FICO bonus. Use your cards all you want. If you can do it follow AZEO. JMO paying interest is throwing $ away. And if you have cash back cards. Paying interest is paying the cash back you earned. Kinda defeats the purpose.
@Anonymous wrote:Well, I DID IT!
I just paid every spare nickel I could manage until I slowly got my FICO 8 up to 766, talked to my current mortgage lender, and set up a refi at 1.99%. 15 year fixed! Good riddance old FHA mortage 4.125% with PMI and 23 years left...and it only raised my payment 40 dollars a month.
And within a week of doing that, I got a surpise from my company that they were giving me a YUGE bonus. So today, I completely paid off my last two cards. I almost can't believe I've actually gotten here. I can't wait to join the ranks of the 800+...although now I don't need it as much lol.
This site is great and has helped me so much.
Congrats @Anonymous. Beware of all zero balances on your credit cards, especially if your mortgage lender pulls another report right before closing (sounds like your closing is pending). You'll notice a score drop once they all report $0 balance. I'd let ONE card report a small balance. The "mortgage" scores really like this. GL
Starting Score: 469