debt to credit score ratio?
489399
there are several factor affecting your credit score, one of them being the percentange of debt to credit. you want to keep your debt to credit at less than 30% so if you  had a 1000 limit on your card you would not want o spent more than 300 on that card or it will start to affect your credit score, also you want to pay more than your minimum balance, on time every month on all your cards.  Even if you max out your cards & pay them all off each month that can be a detriment to your credit score depending on when it was pulled (before the payment was processed for that month)  Another factor is how long your accounts have been open. the longer your good credit standing the better your score will be.  this is to discourage people from canceling thier old accounts.  Another factor that has an effect on the score is how many inquiries, meaning how many loans, cards, or lines of credit have you applied for in the last six months.  That isn't to say that you cant shop around for rates, you can file with a couple of mortgage brokers & banks looking for the best rate, as long as they are all grouped together within a few weeks, that should count as one inquiry.  Also if you have derogatory reports on there like slow credt payments, missed payments, bankruptcy etc.  These also have an effect on your score.\nHope this helps
1011838
Unfortunately not. There are many factors that make up your score. The biggest percent is how you pay your bills (timely or not). A few other factors include, the debt to available credit ratio, how long you have had credit, how many accounts you have open, etc. If you go to annualcreditreport. com, you can purchase the score for 5.00. That is the cheapest I have found.
691054
Sorry you do not have enough time to up your scores much.\nFor one you do not owe enough on different accounts.  second just making your payments on time does not mean you are a good risk. By making only the required payment and no more shows creditors that you possibly are just making enough to pay that amount and no more.When making payments always pay more than the required amount a extra 5 to 50 per month looks great. get a few credit cards put something on them and do not pay off each month yet pay monthly about twice to three times the minimum due each month. this looks very good on your report.\nDue to my wife's health I filed for bankruptcy lost every thing we had and in 4 years I had built my credit score up to 700. To earn a good score this takes time and planning . As of today my score is 786. Good luck.
250326
Typically raising your score by 10 points will not affect your scores enough to change your interest rates unless you know you are 10 points or less below the next credit tier(an auto loan example)\n\nI paid off my Macy's card last month and it was less than 50% utilized(I had a balance less than 50% of my credit line) and it only raised my FICO score(Equifax) by 12 points. I actually thought it would raise my score more since this was the only credit card I had that had a balance. \n\nGo figure, that's why credit scoring doesn't always make sense.\n\nGood Luck
1001596
You will be fine with getting a morgage. My credit was not much better than yours when I got my morgage. You may not get the best interest rate, but you can have that lowered by paying points upfront. The morgage will increase your credit score in a very short time. Mine is now above 700 since getting my morgage 2 years ago. Just keep paying your bills, do not get into out of hand debt, and give it time. From your score, you are doing things fine thus far, just keep on track.
846434
The score ranges from 300 to 850, with the average being around 720.  Your score, being below average, means that you may qualify for some loans and credit cards, but your interest rate will most likely be higher than someone with a better score.  \n\nSome creditors might feel there is more of a risk associated with lending money to you because there has probably been a history of late or missed payments, or collection type accounts in your credit record.
592577
Nope credit score, amount of debt, and amount of possible debt (possible debt is if you have a lot of credit card accounts open even though you have no balance the fact you can get a balance hurts your ability to obtain further credit) are all taken into account.
73084
Absolutely. Just keep paying against what you have on time. Single biggest factor impacting score is payment history. Next, if you have the ability, is paying down revolving credit like credit cards and the like. No need to pay them off - but if you keep them below 33% of the approved limit, you'll see your score rise.\n\nIncreasing income, by the way, has no impact on score.
752775
even if you went into the bank and lied your way into a personal loan (since banks don't generally give loans for debt consolidation), your interest rate will be totally dependant on your credit score...which is partially determined by how much of your available credit is currently being utilized.  Your easiest bet, albiet still dependant on your credit score, would be to apply for a low interest credit card with a low interest transfer rate (and no transfer fees).  If you can qualify for a card at or above your current debt level, you can transfer balances and hopefully pay it off before the interest rate hikes to it's normal level.  Another option is to look at your current cards.  They may be already offering transfer options or may be willing if you call them.  As long as your payments have always been on time, they will be flexible with you.  Otherwise, you need to pay the minimum on all the cards except for your lowest debt and focus all your extra bill money to the smallest card.  You'll pay it off quicker than throwing extra money at your biggest debt...you end up just paying off interest and not really getting ahead very fast.  Hehe 6% would be a luxury, but if you have a good enough credit score, it may not be impossible.  Check www.bankrate.com.  Great research site that will list tons of different credit cards, rates and any special things about them.
978354
Your credit score won't be affected unless you make late payments.  You're okay.\n\nGood Luck!
551960
The credit score is the common name for FICO SCORE.  It is a highly guarded secret, (at least the exact formula is).  Most people claim that it is approximately 35% payment history, 30% amounts owed, 15% length of credit history, 10% new credit, 10% types of credit.  The link below is the FICO homepage.
113927
Not really.  Some lenders (like the one I work for) look for a minimum of 640, others 620. You are right on the borderline.  Anything from 640-699 is ok and 700 or above is considered very good and will likely get you better rates.  I would find out why you are a 630 (delinquencies reporting?  overextended credit cards?  a lot of new debt?) and work on correcting those issues.  Good luck!
1044328
Yes Closing out open credit cards will lower your score. It's all based on Credit Utilization, i.e. what percentage of your open credit lines are you currently using. FICO credit scoring adds up all your balances and all your credit lines to determine part of your credit score. The best is to have zero utilized but up to 25% is OK. If your utilization is higher than 25% it will definitely lower your score.\n\nI would look at your whole revolving debt picture before closing any accounts. Put the cards away in a safe place and don't use them for 6 months and then decide if you still want to close those accounts.\n\nGood Luck
454969
kharma217's answer is excellent.  Let me expand on it a little.\n\nLets say you have 4 credit cards, each with a $5000 credit limit.  Two have no balance, one has $4100 charged, and one has $200 charged.  \n\nYour credit limit totals $20,000, and your debt is $4300.  So your "debt to credit" ratio is 21%.  Not bad, but could be better.\n\nNow lets cancel those two unused cards....\n\nNow your credit limit is $10,000, but you still have $4300 in debt.  Your new debt/credit ratio is now 43%, twice what it was before!  And this sudden change in your debt will also have an effect on your credit score.\n\nGo to the link below.  This is the home page of the folks who developed the FICO credit scoring system.  There is lots of information on how to improve your score, and other usefull hints.
178339
Maybe I can explain it more clearly for you....\n\nA big part of your credit score relates to your debt to credit ratio.  How much credit do you have, and how much of it are you using now?\n\nLets take this example.  \n\nYou have 8 credit cards.  The credit limits are all differant from $2000 to $10,000.  Lets say the combined amount is $40,000.\n\nNow lets say 5 of those cards have a zero balance, the other 3 have $400, $1850, and $2500.  Your total debt is $4750.  \n\nYou want to close out the 5 cards with no balance, so we will assume that you remove  $25,000 work of credit cards.  \n\nBefore you canceled the cards, you had $4750 in Debt, and $40,000 in Credit.  YOur Debt/Credit ratio is 12%.  The lower the percentage the better, so 12% is excellent!\n\nNow look at what happens when you cancel those cards.  YOu still have that $4750 Debt, but now you have only $15,000 in credit.  Your new Debt/Credit Ratio is now  32% (nearly 3 times worse then before).  Your credit score will be adjusted to reflect this.\n\nThat's why it's not wise to cancel your cards.  If you must do it,,cancel them 1 at a time over a long period of time.\n\nGo to the link below and study how your FICO scores are calculated.  This is the site of the people who designed the system.
1161248
If you pay on time every month and don't go over your limit you don't pay any interest (on most cards).  \n\nYour score could still go down because of a bad ratio of debt to income.   But it's much worse to have a bad ration of used credit to available credit.  \n\nyou don't have to pay any interest if you pay it completely off on time every month.   Or that is how all my cards work.
909911
It might be helpful for you to get educated on how the credit score is calculated. Then you can see the whole picture. See Below: