Hello! So...I'm feeling a bit despondent about this whole process. I'm trying to recover from some bad choices early in my credit career and from effects of COVID on my income but I'm still doing my best to pay down debt and drive my scores up...Like, I desperately want to raise my credit scores across all bureaus and all types...
Current:
EX - 590
EQ - 597
TU - 608
Current Credit comprised of 40 accounts. Only one account has been past due this year: Capital One Auto (4x 30-late but current for the last 3 mos)
I have only one CC (out of 11) with a balance $349/$500 (70% Util)
Six old accounts are in collections where I'm actively paying one off
No public records
7 inquiries since December 2020
So my question is...where are there points where I can make immediate change to my scores to improve them, aside from the obvious (paying my bills on time)? Thanks in advance for any assistance you can render. Much appreciated!!
My goal is to see my scores be in the 700 range ASAP.
Starting Score: 573
@amfetamyne wrote:Hello! So...I'm feeling a bit despondent about this whole process. I'm trying to recover from some bad choices early in my credit career and from effects of COVID on my income but I'm still doing my best to pay down debt and drive my scores up...Like, I desperately want to raise my credit scores across all bureaus and all types...
Current:
EX - 590
EQ - 597
TU - 608
Current Credit comprised of 40 accounts. Only one account has been past due this year: Capital One Auto (4x 30-late but current for the last 3 mos)
I have only one CC (out of 11) with a balance $349/$500 (70% Util)
Six old accounts are in collections where I'm actively paying one off
No public records
7 inquiries since December 2020
So my question is...where are there points where I can make immediate change to my scores to improve them, aside from the obvious (paying my bills on time)? Thanks in advance for any assistance you can render. Much appreciated!!
My goal is to see my scores be in the 700 range ASAP.
1. You can get an immediate boost by paying the one open credit card with a balance, which has a $500 limit, down from $349 to $140.
2. If you have closed credit card accounts with balances, pay those balances down. The more you pay them down, the better. With those you might want to try the snowball method:
Pay off smallest balance first, then next smallest, and so on.
3. Any open loans, just pay them on time.
Thanks for that quick response @SouthJamaica !
I was thinking about paying tht card off completely but I thought I read somewhere here that having all credit cards with zero balances would actually hurt my credit scores. Looks like you're suggesting getting utilization just below 30%/
Also, as far as the closed accounts, aside from the satisfaction of knowing I've retired the debt, does paying them really help my credit score, especially if they are older accounts?
@amfetamyne wrote:Thanks for that quick response @SouthJamaica !
I was thinking about paying tht card off completely but I thought I read somewhere here that having all credit cards with zero balances would actually hurt my credit scores. Looks like you're suggesting getting utilization just below 30%/
Yes 28% takes you out of the penalty box. That's for individual open revolving accounts. If you were to have it at $20 or $30 that would be fine too. But the main thing is to get it down to 28% or less.
But if you have closed revolving accounts with balances, there's no easy answer there. The limits are no longer counted in your aggregate revolving utilization, but the balances are. So they are a total drain on your aggregate revolving utilization. There are no quick fixes there except to pay them off. It's possible that if you get them each paid down to 28% of the original limit that will help, but I don't know that.
@amfetamyne wrote:Also, as far as the closed accounts, aside from the satisfaction of knowing I've retired the debt, does paying them really help my credit score, especially if they are older accounts?
Absolutely. It doesn't matter how old they are. They are screwing up your scores terribly.