What are the best places to put my effort?

Anonymous · ‎07-04-2014

Hello!

I've been frantically paying down my debts as fast as I can in anticipation of a new move, new car, and much needed new life. I've done the leg work to get status letters and then gone through the headaches with each agency to get things updated (TU still asleep at the wheel) and I just checked my scores to see where I stand.

I based the amounts I paid off on the estimator here on MyFico and the results were a tad less impressive than anticipated, however I have a few things I can work with but I've got some questions on the best way to proceed

EQ - 755 (perfectly fine for now, but I want more)

EX - 727 (I want 740+)

TU - 639 (waiting on updates)

One of my oldest cards charges interest from the day of purchase. It sucks, but it's my oldest line. I paid it off and while waiting for status letters to get verified they reported as about $10 from the finance charges. How much wil taking that car from 10 to $0 actually help? Is it worth the hassle of another letter and another round of phone calls?

I also have two installment loans. One is my student loans from years ago and I've got the balance down to 2k, another is a 2k loan I took out to help boost my rating about six months ago, I've got about 1,700 left to pay on that .

Originally the EX estimator told me that by paying about 1k of my student loans off I could boost that score by about 15, but there was no mention of the other installment account on the simulator. the EQ simulator told me I'd get 5 points for the paying the same amount. Does this seem right? Given the comparatively lackluster boosts I've gotten based on the simulator I'm a bit wary of paying attention to it.

When I looked at my breakdown today one of the few negatives is that the remaining balance on my installment loans is too high.

SO, in dealing with these do I pay off 50% of my remaining balance on the student loan which is mostly paid off in terms of percentage, or do I pay, say, 1000 towards the other loan and hope that works out better?

Or do I split the difference and do 500 ish on each?

Thank you very much for any insight here.

user5387 · ‎07-04-2014

Welcome to the forums!

A rule of thumb is that open installment loans boost your scores.

I'd suggest optimizing revolving utilization (CCs) and any derogatories first.

DraconTesla · ‎07-04-2014

@Anonymous wrote:
Hello!

I've been frantically paying down my debts as fast as I can in anticipation of a new move, new car, and much needed new life. I've done the leg work to get status letters and then gone through the headaches with each agency to get things updated (TU still asleep at the wheel) and I just checked my scores to see where I stand.

I based the amounts I paid off on the estimator here on MyFico and the results were a tad less impressive than anticipated, however I have a few things I can work with but I've got some questions on the best way to proceed

EQ - 755 (perfectly fine for now, but I want more)
EX - 727 (I want 740+)
TU - 639 (waiting on updates)

One of my oldest cards charges interest from the day of purchase. It sucks, but it's my oldest line. I paid it off and while waiting for status letters to get verified they reported as about $10 from the finance charges. How much wil taking that car from 10 to $0 actually help? Is it worth the hassle of another letter and another round of phone calls?

I also have two installment loans. One is my student loans from years ago and I've got the balance down to 2k, another is a 2k loan I took out to help boost my rating about six months ago, I've got about 1,700 left to pay on that .

Originally the EX estimator told me that by paying about 1k of my student loans off I could boost that score by about 15, but there was no mention of the other installment account on the simulator. the EQ simulator told me I'd get 5 points for the paying the same amount. Does this seem right? Given the comparatively lackluster boosts I've gotten based on the simulator I'm a bit wary of paying attention to it.

When I looked at my breakdown today one of the few negatives is that the remaining balance on my installment loans is too high.

SO, in dealing with these do I pay off 50% of my remaining balance on the student loan which is mostly paid off in terms of percentage, or do I pay, say, 1000 towards the other loan and hope that works out better?

Or do I split the difference and do 500 ish on each?

Thank you very much for any insight here.

I recently paid 1500 on my auto loan because I was getting the same message about owing too much of the original loan amount. I think that loan reports on the 9th so I am waiting to see what effect that had on my 598 Fico score. Paying off my credit card from a 979/2300 total credit to 0/2300 only increased my score from 593 to 598 so hoping I can break over 600 with the payment to my installment loan. I will try to remember to update here on the 9th.

physicist82 · ‎07-05-2014

@DraconTesla wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:
Hello!

I've been frantically paying down my debts as fast as I can in anticipation of a new move, new car, and much needed new life. I've done the leg work to get status letters and then gone through the headaches with each agency to get things updated (TU still asleep at the wheel) and I just checked my scores to see where I stand.

I based the amounts I paid off on the estimator here on MyFico and the results were a tad less impressive than anticipated, however I have a few things I can work with but I've got some questions on the best way to proceed

EQ - 755 (perfectly fine for now, but I want more)
EX - 727 (I want 740+)
TU - 639 (waiting on updates)

One of my oldest cards charges interest from the day of purchase. It sucks, but it's my oldest line. I paid it off and while waiting for status letters to get verified they reported as about $10 from the finance charges. How much wil taking that car from 10 to $0 actually help? Is it worth the hassle of another letter and another round of phone calls?

I also have two installment loans. One is my student loans from years ago and I've got the balance down to 2k, another is a 2k loan I took out to help boost my rating about six months ago, I've got about 1,700 left to pay on that .

Originally the EX estimator told me that by paying about 1k of my student loans off I could boost that score by about 15, but there was no mention of the other installment account on the simulator. the EQ simulator told me I'd get 5 points for the paying the same amount. Does this seem right? Given the comparatively lackluster boosts I've gotten based on the simulator I'm a bit wary of paying attention to it.

When I looked at my breakdown today one of the few negatives is that the remaining balance on my installment loans is too high.

SO, in dealing with these do I pay off 50% of my remaining balance on the student loan which is mostly paid off in terms of percentage, or do I pay, say, 1000 towards the other loan and hope that works out better?

Or do I split the difference and do 500 ish on each?

Thank you very much for any insight here.

I recently paid 1500 on my auto loan because I was getting the same message about owing too much of the original loan amount. I think that loan reports on the 9th so I am waiting to see what effect that had on my 598 Fico score. Paying off my credit card from a 979/2300 total credit to 0/2300 only increased my score from 593 to 598 so hoping I can break over 600 with the payment to my installment loan. I will try to remember to update here on the 9th.

From what I have read on here. If you don't have a lot of "negative" items on your report then they have to come up with other reasons for why your score is what it is. I think they have to give a minimum of 3 reasons even if those reasons don't really effect it very much.