Advice for rescoring - CC Tiers?

Discussion in 'Credit Talk' started by akg, Aug 10, 2001.

  1. akg

    akg Well-Known Member

    I am trying to devise strategies for rescoring, and wanted advice on the credit cards that my husband and I have (what to keep open...what to close):

    Amex Platinum Skymiles (Limit $9,600) Opened 11/00 Bal $1,800
    MBNA Platinum Mastercard Opened 2/00 (Limit $9,500) Bal $8,500
    SearsPLUS (Limit $5,500) Opened 5/00 Bal $0
    Crate & Barrel (FCNB) Opened 12/00 Bal $0
    Rooms-to-Go [Household Bank NA] (Limit $5,500) Opened 4/00 Bal $0

    Any advice would be appreciated.
     
  2. Dani

    Dani Well-Known Member

    Akg,

    You have some pretty decent cards with some good credit limits. To be perfectly honest I would not change anything. I would consider paying down the debt on the MBNA since your usage on that card is at 90% though. My suggestion is to keep the cards you have and use them to their full advantage.
     
  3. akg

    akg Well-Known Member

    Dani-

    Good advice on paying down the MBNA balance. We recently took advantage of a 2.9% interest offer on check purchases to the card...interest will go back to the regular rate after our statement generates in December --- goal is to have it all paid off before then. Why does utilization of credit lines adversely affect credit scores?

    Does it hurt if you have a card with high credit near the limit, but the balance is now $0?

    akg
     
  4. Dani

    Dani Well-Known Member

    Akg,

    I can understand utilizing MBNA for the low interest rate. That is what I did with Discover when they offered me 0% for six months. I ran the card up to its credit limit and paid it off in the fifth month before interest began accruing. Creditworks refers to it as 'exercising your credit' which is a pretty good term for it.

    The only way utilizing your credit hurts you is when it concerns your debt ratio. For an example, I have five credit lines totaling $13,300 in credit (not a lot, but it works for me) but only $7900 in credit lines is being reported. My reports show I owe $4000 (although I pay off everything in full each month except Amex). So it looks like I'm using almost 50% of my credit, instead of only using 20% (which is the truth if all my credit lines were reported and my balances were kept up to date).

    Sorry for rambling. Have a great weekend.

    Dani
     
  5. breeze

    breeze Well-Known Member

    Dani,

    What have you got that isn't reported, if you don't mind sharing? I'm looking for something like that.

    breeze
     
  6. Dani

    Dani Well-Known Member

    Breeze,

    All my accounts are being reported just not the credit limits. Hechts and Amex are reporting my high balances instead, which is killing my score.

    Dani
     

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