I have seen that paying down installment debt (two auto loans) has no effect at all on my scores. A $7,000 decrease in installment debt did not change my score even one point. Yet, I find that for every $700 I pay in credit card debt, I get 1 point. Yesterday my credit card debt went up $200 and I lost four points. No other changes in my report. Today, my installment debt went down $250 and I did not gain any points. None of this makes sense. I think the message here is to pay down credit card debt before you pay down installment debt.
for sheezy, always pay down the HIGHEST APR, but you are correct. We are penalized far more for credit card debt than installment loans.
