Adding more to my credit to help my score?

I have 2 credit cards with almost 3500 in outstanding balances that I am working on paying off. If I were to get a credit line of $7500 for one of those catalog things online would that help my credit score? Because right now my reports says the high balances are affecting my score. Whenever I make a larger than normal payment my scores jump a bit. So by extending my credit another $7500 but not using it help?

Public Comments

1. Increasing your credit limits is one way you can increase your score. If you have a 4K balance on a 4K card, that hurts your score. A 4K balance on a 8K limit card however, is much better. Call your card companies ask for as large a credit increase as possible. Also, make sure they do a “soft” pull, not a “hard” inquiry on your credit. That way the credit increases don’t ding your score with an inquiry. You dropped your credit utilization from 90% (very bad) to 42% (much better, under 30% would be best. Or even 0%!). Especially for a younger person with a limited credit history, your credit utilization % is often the only factor you can control. You could easily see a 40+ point jump in your scores by doing the easy, free step outlined above. Good Luck!