I agree with you both! You both have valid points here. Yes Colo, time is a hard pill to swallow but at the same time I think it teaches us patience. I have been patient for so long, until I fell backwards due to the economic hard times that still exists. Because I learned to be patient, I am not as frustrated as I thought I would be climbing back to where I left off. Another thing you mentioned, "reward me heavily" I totally agree to that option also. I was rewarded slowly for my hard work, and then boom, here comes the 800's. I would not be surprised if the 900's is not around the corner.

You know Wanderer that's the hardest pill to swallow, time. Its like, "keep doing what your doing, don't falter and your time will come" How about rewarding me for the "keep doing what your doing" in larger score increments like twice a year ?

I guess Wanderer you have to revel in the joy knowing that you can get what you want provided you have a way of paying it off and knowing that that elusive 800 is out there.......

Joeyman, wait till your utilization falls below 1% or hovers at 0% for months at a time......... Wanderer is right but it sucks when you have tons of revolving credit, manage it well so your utilization is never over 1%, pay your charges the day you acquire them or the next day if you use your bank's online bill pay and what's your reward, small or no movement in your credit score. Lets say you want to buy a car for $9000 and you have the cash, you decide to pay for the car with your cc and then take the cash and pay off your card. You have collected 9000 points, paid off your card, have your car, but no movement in your credit scrore, and to top if all off your utilization is back at 0% !

Joeyman - smcc hit the credit game right on the head. My FICO Scores have very slowly... inched up. The aveage age of accounts and the oldest accounts carry a lot of weight (assuming no baddies). Only time to grow your credit history will solve this one. The FICO 800's are for those who average at least 6+ years with accounts dating back to 16+ years so it takes time and a good credit history. Only now after two plus years am I seeing any very slow creep up in my scores. It takes time and there is NO quick fix.

Joeyman, wait till your utilization falls below 1% or hovers at 0% for months at a time......... Wanderer is right but it sucks when you have tons of revolving credit, manage it well so your utilization is never over 1%, pay your charges the day you acquire them or the next day if you use your bank's online bill pay and what's your reward, small or no movement in your credit score. Lets say you want to buy a car for $9000 and you have the cash, you decide to pay for the car with your cc and then take the cash and pay off your card. You have collected 9000 points, paid off your card, have your car, but no movement in your credit scrore, and to top if all off your utilization is back at 0% !

What happens when your utilization is 1%? Does your credit score just stay the same? Possibly raise on an annual basis, rather monthly? I'm getting to the point where my utilization will be the lowest ever, I'm so close and the feeling makes me nervous — believe it or not. Next month I get three pay periods, specifically the October 1st payday will mark the day when all three of my credit cards will only hold $60 balances. Actually I plan on making some payments before this month is up with my savings, so my reports will update, and just replenish the savings on October 1st from the extra paycheck. Currently, my utilization is below 15%; so it seems like I have no room for raising my score regarding utilization at this point. Because if we estimate our scores online they use utilization increments such as 15%, 30%, etc..


By the way, I'm also gonna go on a mega shopping spree on October 1st!

The actual credit report unique to each one of us will hold the key to your answer. In my case the reports give me a few extra points if I owe around $900. My scores are lower if I have all my accounts at zero (these are actual account dollars not score estimators). The total credit report weighs in on the effect of scoring and credit limits, account usage and so on. You need to play and check results. Just to feel good you may want to zero everything and then experiment over a few months. Note in my case paid off or not didn't really effect the points that much (note, I am talking utilization under 10% not some huge dollar amount).

What happens when your utilization is 1%? Does your credit score just stay the same? Possibly raise on an annual basis, rather monthly? I'm getting to the point where my utilization will be the lowest ever, I'm so close and the feeling makes me nervous — believe it or not. Next month I get three pay periods, specifically the October 1st payday will mark the day when all three of my credit cards will only hold $60 balances. Actually I plan on making some payments before this month is up with my savings, so my reports will update, and just replenish the savings on October 1st from the extra paycheck. Currently, my utilization is below 15%; so it seems like I have no room for raising my score regarding utilization at this point. Because if we estimate our scores online they use utilization increments such as 15%, 30%, etc..


By the way, I'm also gonna go on a mega shopping spree on October 1st! So I'm not just using the fun money for boring credit cards. Hehe.

You know its funny about utilization, you can have a card, say with a $10K limit, use it to buy just Subway Sand, pay if off the day you make the charge and never see your score increase. Your utilization based on this constant scenario is less than 1/2 of 1% at any given time within your billing period. The only way at this point is to let the account age. Then again the issuer can lower your limit because you have abundant credit that your not actively using and they ( the issuer ) can reduce their exposure............

Good info here, I just changed my credit monitoring service. Honestly, I couldn't believe how hard it became to pick a service. I ended up picking Equifax Complete for $14.99 per month. My credit union was offering a free Equifax score every month, with discounts on Equifaxes other products, I believe this normally costs $16.99? Anyway, I'm already confused by it all. My credit union shows my Equifax score as 667 but my new Equifax service says it's 700. The new Equifax score gave me a full 3 bureau report for the first report which shows my Experian at 710 but my freecreditreport.com says it's 721. I love how we can't get a accurate score anywhere! I'm pretty much just gonna say my score is around 700 from now on... At this point, I endorse government regulation with the credit bureaus.

My only problem is my utilization. My CR says Im using about 40% of my CL. I have a $1k Cap one Visa that I have a $750 balance on. My BofA OSU alumni MC has a $7k CL and I have about $3200 in BT's on it. The rest of my cards have either no balance or a small line on them. I have 4 cards that are less than a year old. My Lowes, my second HSBC discover card, and both of my BofA cards have less than a yr. Another issue is I have a Citifinancial loan I took out in March for $15k to get my basement and attic refinished is relatively new on my CR...so I will apply for a new card next year when Im at the 700 club or very near it. Right now my fico is 657.

See what you just stated is no problem. Those are balances that was for a major purchase and you are targeting to pay them down. The real problem comes in when you charged up high util and cant pay them down no tiem soon. Here is the words for encouragment for us credit rebuilders

"If you fail to plan, you plan to fail"

Eric your welcome and I am glad that I was able to help
Ok so I just responded to Eric and he was referring to what I said in another post. LOL! Please excuse the screwup and let me find the correct post LOL!

My only problem is my utilization. My CR says Im using about 40% of my CL. I have a $1k Cap one Visa that I have a $750 balance on. My BofA OSU alumni MC has a $7k CL and I have about $3200 in BT's on it. The rest of my cards have either no balance or a small line on them. I have 4 cards that are less than a year old. My Lowes, my second HSBC discover card, and both of my BofA cards have less than a yr. Another issue is I have a Citifinancial loan I took out in March for $15k to get my basement and attic refinished is relatively new on my CR...so I will apply for a new card next year when Im at the 700 club or very near it. Right now my fico is 657.

Nice info! I was just trying to explain to my sister about the impact of installment accounts and cc/departments cards. Installment accounts does not have a significant impact on your scores like credit cards. Majority of them are due to close on a certain date and some do not start until a certain date (ie. deferred accounts 12 months no pay, or deferred student loans). My credit report shows that i have balances over $55k but:
1. $50k of them are student loans that are deferred
2. $2k for a deferred installment account (My mattress)
3. $800 for treadmill
4. The rest from my cards

The student loans and installment accounts are not affecting my scores, only numbers 3 & 4. I have came to realize that the 700 club is easier to find than what I thought it was, utilization is my only problem right now, and that is actually the least of my worries this year.

Shark6, thanks so much for the information this is very good.

That is really interesting to know. I will definitely pass the information on to family and friends

Members that are new to site and that are starting to rebuild their credit will really appreciate this info.