Ok early in October when I got my scores they ranged from 540 to 562. I had one 30 day late and these were my tradelines: Aria 5K 4900 Citi 1k 950 Fidelity 500 480 Associates 475 450 Sears 250 120 Target 300 200 Penney 300 250 Lowes 300 0 Exxon 300 250 speigel 825 0 Bottom line 85% ratio BAD Since then I have closed Speigels, Exxon and Lowes and am getting the 30 day late removed and this is how my tradelines stand today Aria 5K 4830 Citi 1K 940 Citi 5k 200 Citi 6k 940 (balance transfers) Fidelity 500 0 Associates475 0 sears 250 0 Target 300 0 Penney 300 200 Bottom Line ratio is 38% good Now I realize my ratio is good but I still have too many accounts, I am thinking about dumping all the retail and closing Fidelity and Associates, which will leave me with 4 accounts and a slightly higher ratio of 41% What do you guys/gals think?? Mom
Suggestion Why not split some of that Aria balance on Citi? That Aria account with the almost maxed out balance looks horrible. Just a suggestion
RE: Suggestion Thanks Eboni I was thinking about that and I appreciate your input as always I may but I also am going to be dumping alot on that account now also. Mom
My reasoning I am sure most are thinking why the heck didn't I transfer some for Aria, I really wanted to get the other 2 accounts paid off and closed and the balance transfer is 6.9 for 6 months, my APR on Aria is 7.9 and I plan on dropping 400-500 on this account for the next several months, my goal is summer so by then Aria will be less that half. Just trying to explain my strange logic If I needed the mortgage sooner I would but I feel this may also work out too. Mom
RE: here's how far I have come Looks better, but there's more that you can do: 1. Nine credit-card tradelines - seems excessive. Also, do you really need 3 from Citibank alone ? 2. Five credit lines with currently revolving balances - waaaaaay to many. By paying off or balance transfering $400, you can reduce that number to just 2-3 revolving lines. 3. Leave no more than 5 credit-card tradelines open simultaneously. I'd close Fidelity, Associates, one of the three CITIs, plus 2 of the 3 store cards. 4. I don't even want to think how many inquiries all these card applications resulted in. In short, way too many credit cards are boiling in your credit pot. Saar
RE: here's how far I have come Thanks Saar, as I said I plan on dumping all retail and fidelity and associates, leaving me with 4 tradlines. I really want to keep my citi's but may get rid of one. I appreciate your input Mom
RE: here's how far I have come Need to utilize Citibank's 5K and 6K lines. If they only report high balance your ratio is much higher at the credit bureaus than your way of figuring.
RE: here's how far I have come Yes so far only experian is not reporting the limits, but I am trying to get that fixed and experian was my lowest to begin with so my middle score which is used for mortgaging will have the limit reported and so will experian when they get tired of me bugging them
RE: here's how far I have come Good job. Since you added 2 new Citibank lines, I would dump everything except 3 Citi's and Aria with 7.9%. You can use mastercard or visa at any of the other retail cards. Plus there very low limits which doesn't look too impressive. I would keep if any is over seven years.
Thanks Doug Yes I really only want to keep those four you mentioned. I am not saying that I am exactly where I want to be, but I think I am slowly getting there. I do feel I am a little better off than I was back in early October. Hopefully by summer it will be looking even better Mom