Some background
In an attempt to get out of the rental game, I'd like to get my score boosted to the point where I can get considered for first time homebuyer programs. I'm spending north of $1300/month in an area where even awful mortgages on decent homes go for $600/month, and the idea of not wasting around $8K per year has me ready to do anything I need to do to meet this goal.
Due to some stupidity earlier in my life, my credit's a mess right now. Upper 400's with lots of miscellaneous collections still floating around. I've been swatting those down, but it's been a long and grueling process, and getting my identity stolen along the way was not helfpul.
I'm also trying to quit living off my debit card, due to the aforementioned identity theft problems.
Which takes me to my card usage. I've got two cards right now, one secured, one unsecured.
What I'm thinking of doing:
I have a somewhat substantial tax refund coming in. I'm considering, in order:
Wiping out the balance on both cards. They're high, but not maxed out. I'd say 75%.
Allocating roughly half the secured card account to raise its limit further
Moving all automatically recurring bills to the now-higher-limit secure card
In the future, zeroing the balance of that card from checking on a daily basis, in essence, carrying no balance, ever.
Now then, considering that I need a mid 500's score to get into the local programs, and it seems like every point counts, is this plan going to cause me problems?