ok..
The idea isn't too pay off the credit cards if money is tight. Only to make payments as required. that's the best thing to do to build your credit score.

If you have extra cash to pay off credit cards,even better.

It doesn't have to be all or nothing to improve your credit score.. Only as agreed to... in the contract.

Good to know things are going well for you!!

Thanks Monty

I had a bit of cash loaned to me by family to do this.

I caught up on all past due. I have not paid off any cards completely yet, but will be paying them all off (besides leaving a 1/3 balance on my major Credit Cards to improve score quickly with use)

My house sells in 2 weeks and I will have enough case to pay off all the debts (besides car loan), so I am lucky that way.

I expect to see a big improvement when I do

wow... improvemycredit... nicely done!!

That's the idea..

are you paying off the most expensive credit cards first?

This is good news. It takes a bit of cash to pay off past due balances, but it's impressive to see the kind of results a person can get by taking proactive position!

I just ran another credit report. My first one was May 12th this one June 17th. (both with Equifax)

Credit Report 1 - FICO Score 415

Credit Report 2 - FICO Score 487

So my credit improved 72 points in about 1 month. What did I do in that month?

- Paid off all past Due Balances

- My Balances went down on all loan , mortgage accounts and Credit Cards

- Most Credit Cards are below Limit (just below nothing drastic) one Store Card is above Limit. Last month all the cards were at limit or just over (by a few dollars)

- Got current on an account that was 120 days past due and that is now 1000 below limit

I was excited with this big jump.

I expect to see another jump after I pay off most of my debts (beside Car loan), I am keeping my 2 active Major Credit Cards at 1/3 balance at that time instead of paying them off.

I know my score still is bad (still a high risk category) but to jump 72 points to me was great, I expected it to be around the same

I also want to say that you should always have one revolving credit product and one installment credit product on your credit bureau that is active. IE) one car loan ( installment) and a credit card ( revolving). That keeps your score more 'true'. It is not a good idea to not have anything ongoing. Essentially to the credit world you would be 'off the map' and your score wouldn't be realistic. Lenders want to see a positive and established pattern. So don't just pay off every single good thing listed on your bureau, pay off the bad ones first.

Thanks dkc-cal

It would be extremely hard to give you an exact number because Equifax and Transunion have several criteria that need to be met. It is almost like a list of 100 questions that they have to answer. That is why when people see their credit scores and check again 3 months later they may not be the same. In some cases the score is lower but they have not done anything negative.

I agree with average joe about the 30% balance, but in this economy credit bureaus know that people are carrying higher balances. In turn they are not putting as much 'weight' on that as in the past, ie: instead of lowering your score by 30 points they are lowering it by 20. ( these numbers are made up so do not think that if this is your scenerio that this is how much it is. I am just using it for an example.)

I hope that this helps.

Thanks Joe

Do you have any idea how much my credit scores will go up by paying off the 2 loans I have (5600 of 10,000 left remaining on one loan and 1800 of 2100 on 2nd loan)

I would keep a balance on each card, but make sure only 30% of your credit limit is used on each card and of course keep the payments on time every month.

So keep a balance on the cards? Or do I pay it off completely and then use them monthly and pay off before it accrues interest?

That was the main thing I was wondering about