I'm Really Confused : (

[Mary_From_Georgia]

Not understanding this is about to drive me nuts--deep sigh/

I currently am about 48% utilized on a cc with a $10 K limit. My interest rate is 10.99% (I know, not good).

What I'd like to know is, how will my score change as I pay down the balance? Below are my scores checked on Friday from myfico.com:

Transunion - 657
Equifax - 671
Experian - 650

I don't have any other debt and hope to have my balance down to $0 by the end of April.

I've tried searching on the net for concrete answeres and have found nothing...The approximator on myfico is worthless as I've used it over the pass 6 months paying very close attention to my activity.

I also have a student loan that went into default (when I moved did not inform of new address and did not have automatic payment---RATS!), that is scheduled to fall off Feb of 2006.

Any banking/loan experts here that can help me? I'd like to get all of this done so I can begin saving. I'm 38 now and feel helpless.

Thanks,
Mary

[Craig]

Mary,

I don't know the precise answer to your question, but ... your question confuses me. What would you change if you knew the answer?

Based upon your facts, I assume you're saying that you'll pay off this $4,800 plus interest by 4/30, and then take the monthly available and start saving. Would appear you have nearly $1,700 available cash flow ... you're in great shape, no?

Would also appear that you are well on your way to solving your issues, and having north of $14K more in savings by 12/31.

Only other thought I would have is that you might be able to get another credit card on an intro rate, move the balance, and pay it off at a lower interest rate.

Best of luck.

[Mary_From_Georgia]

Thanks for responding.

I guess I wasn't clear *kids in the background*.

The neighborhood I'm looking to move b/c of the school system has homes in a median price range that only become affordable if my credit score is north of 720. I'd pay close to $200 extra per month if I accepted a loan with my current scores.

Wow, you're really good with numbers. I'm targeting to save $17 K by year end. It will be tough though.

Mary

[cute fuzzy bunny]

Your score will improve until your debt to available credit ratio drops below ~25%.

Hence, closing unused credit accounts (which also improves your score) may increase your debt to available ratio...which is bad.

Nailing down the exact numbers is going to be interesting, since these formulas are protected like colonel sanders secret recipe.

No debt, reduced available credit to a reasonable amount, and pull your credit reports to find if there are any blemishes you might be able to fix.

The rest of it is time in residence, time in job, income vs debt vs available credit, and a bunch of stuff nobodys telling about.

Just getting to 700 should cut your rate pretty substantially...the rate improvement after that isnt too huge. Having zero debt balance and a limited available credit figure should get you over 700.