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Will PIF on my smaller cards/balances do anything to raise my score?

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Anonymous
Not applicable

Will PIF on my smaller cards/balances do anything to raise my score?

I have been following a DOLP/snowball pay off excel spreadsheet deal for about 1 year. I put it together in an effort to methodically pay off my debts.

It started with a bunch of small stuff at the top that I've paid off. Now I'm to the medium stuff (Best Buy $350, Macy's $600) those are going in the next 3 months. Then I'm on to the big boys (Amex, Discover, Nordstrom).

I got myself in debt but I feel good about the steps I'm taking to get myself out.

Ok, to the question. I just signed up for MFSW and I'm 650. Will paying off the Best Buy & Macys raise my score at all? or will it not matter since the big balances are still there?
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1 REPLY 1
haulingthescoreup
Moderator Emerita

Re: Will PIF on my smaller cards/balances do anything to raise my score?

In my experience, the more paid-off cards, the better for scores. And PIF'ing the low-limit cards is the simplest way to do this. There's a combination of fewer than half of cards with balances + less than half of all TL's (including mortgages, loans, etc) with balances. Since every installment account by definition has a balance, that means really having to go after the cards.

Congrats on the snowballing! I understand the reasoning behind the other methods, but snowballing is great for morale. Once you fight your way through all this, you'll find that life is a lot simpler with everything PIF'd except for one or two high-limit cards. You can keep a balance of 9% or less on them without a lot of hassle.
* Credit is a wonderful servant, but a terrible master. * Who's the boss --you or your credit?
FICO's: EQ 781 - TU 793 - EX 779 (from PSECU) - Done credit hunting; having fun with credit gardening. - EQ 590 on 5/14/2007
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