question for score increase

[Anonymous]

It's been another tough year with illnesses and such in our family.  Last June my score was 576 and has now dropped to 523.  This is going to sound horrible, but my credit limits on credit cards total $1800 and I owe $2,760.  This is fees, etc., an old one I have been trying to pay off, etc.  We are planning to pay at least half down next month, hopefully more.  What will this do to my credit score?  Will this improve significantly?  By the end of March our plan is to have them down to 10% utilization.  I just need a little hope . . . we are a family of 5 living in a 2 bedroom apartment and need some space!!!!  Thank you anyone who can help.

[llecs]

If you have multiple CCs that are over the limit, paying them down below 100% would net a significant increase (at least 20-30 pts I bet). Paying them below 50% utilization would likely bring more that 50 additional points. And paying them down to nothing, with 1/2 at $0 and the other half at $1 or so would net you at least 50 pts beyond that. Educated guess anyway.

[haulingthescoreup]

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miz wrote:

It's been another tough year with illnesses and such in our family.  Last June my score was 576 and has now dropped to 523.  This is going to sound horrible, but my credit limits on credit cards total $1800 and I owe $2,760.  This is fees, etc., an old one I have been trying to pay off, etc.  We are planning to pay at least half down next month, hopefully more.  What will this do to my credit score?  Will this improve significantly?  By the end of March our plan is to have them down to 10% utilization.  I just need a little hope . . . we are a family of 5 living in a 2 bedroom apartment and need some space!!!!  Thank you anyone who can help.

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I agree with llecs.

If you can scrounge up the money, paying down/ off balances and thereby improving util is the fastest and most significant thing that you can do on your own to improve your credit.

Do it, do it! Congrats on your plan, and I hope that things are turning around for you.