Which would be better to boost my score

[live-n-learn]

Hi Everyone,

New member here, but loooooong time reader. This community has helped me improve my credit so much.  I'm actually excited about 

credit!...

So thank you all...

My question is,  I am in the process of trying to reduce my CC utilization to under 10% over all.   I'm doing well

but I am wondering how I should apply payments to the last few cards I have balances on in order to boost my score.

currently:

My Barclay NFL card is at 48% utilization,   (0% until Dec 2016)

My Best Buy store card is at 50% utilization,  (0% until Dec 2016)

My Capital One QS is at 18% utilization,

All my other cards have 0 balances (which I have about 11 total)

I know Best Buy & Barclay are high (but have 0% interest)

I don't have enough money to get them all under 10% at once.  so would it be best pay Best Buy & Barclay to lower utilization or just 

pay off Cap One, then tackel the other two???

What would be best to boost my score?

Sometimes it's confusing because I've seen where I pay down a large balance and get a BIG score boost, and other times I may only 

jump 1 or 2 points.

What should I do? or better yet What would you all do in my case???

Thanks in advance for any replies

[Anonymous]

If your goal is to reduce overal utilization, then I would focus on the two higher utilzations and then tackle Capital One. What are the balances versus limits of each card and how much money do you have to play with?

[live-n-learn]

My overall goal is to reduce utilization but I'm trying to see how I can get my scores boosted in the process.

I know they will increase eventually,  (by the way my scores are 675, 685, 721);

but I also have learned from here that certain strategic moves can boost your scores quicker.

my balances & limits are:

BARCLAY NFL:  $2400  / $5000

BEST BUY:  $980 / $2000

CAP 1: $700 / $4000

I have about $1500 that I can apply towards it at the moment.  

[SpideySense]

From my own experience, I would suggest a target of <40% utilization on one card,  $0 balance on all other cards, and <10% total utilization of all cards.   Those ratios have yielded the max scores across all 3 bureaus for me.  

In a check of my historic numbers, I had a utilization situation close to yours with 1 card at 40%, 2nd card at 53%, and 3rd card at 14%, with a total combined/total utilization of 9.48% and my TU-fico then was 793.  I did not break the 800 barrier until i got to 36% on one card, $0 all other cards, and 9.95% total util (TU-fico:843).

Without knowing the amounts you owe, its hard to suggest a specific strategy to get there. --

and congrats on having debt at 0% --- always best to pay with tomorrow's money!

s¢

[gdale6]

Pay off the Cap-1 QS and just leave the other 2 reporting monthly, you want to get both of those down to 30% or less of their CL sooner rather than later but I understand the 0% deal.

[Anonymous]

How much do you have earmarked monthly to pay this down after the $1500?

Overall utilization will be the same regardless. So, if it was me, I would pay off the Cap One QS, since I'd otherwise be throwing money away on APR when I really don't need to. Then, I'd throw the rest of it on the Best Buy, to bring that one to 9%, since your Barclay isn't over 50%.

After that, on a monthly basis, I'd pay the remaining $180 on the BB. Then, I'd take everything and pay down the Barclay's.

This also assumes you don't add additional spend, and are paying at least a little more than the minimum.

[live-n-learn]

I should have between $600-$800 / month to apply after the initial $1500. I like the idea of paying off Cap 1 first as I get the satisfaction of having one less card to think about paying on.

I'm just a little afraid of Barclay because I've read many stories about them balance chasing or CLDs.
I haven't had that happen to me on any of my cards yet.

Then that thought made me question if paying them down first would be a better decision and if it would result in a score boost since that would put all my cards under 50% utilization.

[takeshi74]

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@live-n-learn wrote:

What should I do? or better yet What would you all do in my case???

---

Use a spreadsheet or something so you can put in different amounts and see the before and after utilization.  Work on getting all cards under the suggested 30% max.  Then work on reducing number of balances.  Score doesn't really matter much as you shouldn't be applying until you reach your goal anyway.

[Anonymous]

There is no "history" of utilization, your FICO score is based on whatever your utilization is at time of the pull. If you aren't planning on aping for anything soon then pay down your cap 1 first, the whole point of a better score is to save money and if you're paying interest on a card just for a better score thats a little crazy to me. Then I personally would put about 50-75 towards BBY and the rest can afford to Barclays until they're paid off.