What is my next step?

[Anonymous]

Hello Everyone,

I have a chapter 7 bankruptcy that was discharged in February of 2014.  In march of 2014 I opened up a $1000 secured credit credit builder loan with a credit union and opened up a secured credit card with capital one for $1000 (which just recently got an automatic bump to $1300).

In June 2014 I got approved for a $3000 non-secured credit card with Capital One and in August 2014 opened up a non secured Barclay rewards card ($1500 credit limit).

I'm currently putting small charges on all of my 3 credit cards (paying in full) making sure the credit utilization is under 9% by the time the statement cuts.  

I also have a student loan that I'm paying monthly which should help build my credit as well.

My FICO credit score as of last month is 632.  

Should I be charging all 3 credit cards every single month or is it better to have one card report a 0 balance?  I remember reading somewhere on here about having 1 card report a 0 balance monthly is advantagous for rebuilding credit.

Any other advice would be greatly appreciated!  

Thank you very much!

[StartingOver10]

Actually if you have 3 cards it is best to have two cards report zero balances and the third one report less than 10% of its credit line.

[Anonymous]

Thanks for your reply!

If I don't charge anything on two of my credit cards will they still report to the credit bureaus?  Do you recommend rotating the 1 card I use on a monthly basis? 

Thanks

[Anonymous]

I came across this in the 24 months to 700 thread:

"To maximize your score, Pay 2 cards to ZERO, BEFORE their statements cut and pay the third card down to <10% of your total available credit BEFORE it's statement cuts.  This forces 2 cards to REPORT zero balances, and the third to REPORT a small balance, which is the optimal credit formula."

Should I do this every month from here on out?

Thanks

[StartingOver10]

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@Anonymous wrote:

I came across this in the 24 months to 700 thread:

"To maximize your score, Pay 2 cards to ZERO, BEFORE their statements cut and pay the third card down to <10% of your total available credit BEFORE it's statement cuts.  This forces 2 cards to REPORT zero balances, and the third to REPORT a small balance, which is the optimal credit formula."

Should I do this every month from here on out?

Thanks

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Yes if you are in rebuilding mode. Best way to achieve it is to have something small auto debit to the card monthly (something you would buy anyway - like cable or phone) and then pay it off before the statement cuts. It will report zero as stated above but you are forcing it to report because you have activity on the account.  Some cards will report monthly anyway. Some won't . While rebuilding you want your cards to report as mentioned above.

[Anonymous]

Thank you very much!

[Anonymous]

Great information!