I would like to up my middle FICO score which is 644 to 650 so I can get a decent mortgage rate for a home purchase. I have the following debt and want to pay some down to maximize my score. Any suggestions on what to pay first (or off?). I owe: $7,000.00 on Provid. I have a 7500.00 limit. (one 30 day late) ( $1700.00 on Shell. 2000.00 limit (no late) $200.00 on First Premier MC. 300.00 limit (long positive history-never late) $200.00 on First Premier Visa, 300.00 limit (long positive history, never late) $100.00 on First Premier Card, MC, 450 limit (long positive history, never late) $4,000.00 on HH bank card, 5,500 limit (one year old car, no late) Unsecured loan Beneficial 7,000.00 (new loan, two months old) and of course, I'm paying off my current Amex bill.
If your main interest is score, try to pay each one down to below 50% utilization. If your main interest is saving money I'd give you different advice. But the utilization will probably help your score the most. The lower the utilization the better, but one of the things that crops up is number of cards over 50%, so I'd go for all below 50%.
You are probably not paying great rates on any of the above cards. What are the terms of the HH and Beneficial loans, and how do they treat early payments?
