How can I calculate credit score impact (or improvement) when I decided to "pay in full" versus the decision to "settle in full" for old outstanding credit debts? I read it is always better to PAY in full... but am curious to quantify HOW much it helps me in doing that (and considering cash is hard to come by, it is a valid consideration).

You can't. The actual formula for calaculating the credit scores is a closely guarded secret (to prevent people from manipulating their scores).

Be very, very careful with this; especially when you say old debts.

Since recent activity has more impact on your score than old activity, you can really hurt yourself. For instance, let's say you have $50 collection from 5 years ago that is coded "collection" on your report. You pay it and now it is coded "paid collection". What happens to your score??

It drops like a rock! Why... two reasons. First, a paid collection hurts only a little less than an open collection... just a few points. But because you updated the "date of last activity" from 5 years ago to now, you could see a 30-50 point drop, depending on what your score was before.

My suggestion. If you are going to pay, negotiate a pay for delete. In other words, I'll pay you the $XXX, but you DELETE the record from my credit report. Always get it in writing from a supervisor FIRST and if they tell you they cannot do that, they are lying!

Best of luck!