1-9% carry over balance on CC

[Anonymous]

Im trying to play around with my cut off carry balance from 1-9% to see how many % work for me. I have heard 1-4% work best for some people and some work best with 5-9% balance.  Last month I carry over 1%....IF I carry over 9% this month would that make a different in score? This one CL are 1k

On a side note...I have 2 more CC from capital one that supposely will start to report next month for the first time.  IT will be the first statment, how many % balance do you guys recommend me to carry over for the first statment? These 2 CC are CL 300 each.

[takeshi74]

No way for us to tell you.  You just have to test and find out.

As iI indicated in your other thread, carrying a balance and letting a balance report are two entirely different things.  You do not need to carry a balance.  You can pay in full and have a balance report since the balance reports at statement end.  Anything you pay after the balance reports will not change the reported balance.

[masscredit]

I was down to .002% of my total credit card utilization a few months ago. Seemed to have gained a few points because of that then lost some points by letting 2-3% report.  I was viewing it by total utilization with one card reporting. That was on EX 08 and TU. EX 04 seems to be able to weather changes a lot more. I read some threads that say it's based on the total utilization of the one card. So you can have 1-9% of your total utilization reporting but that card's utilization might be 25%. Mine was 30%  

I can see that because someone might let one card report less than 10% of their total utilization but it's a low limit card that's pushing 70% of the available balance. That wouldn't be good for scoring.  It's a confusing game! So now I'm going to look at it as 1-9% on one card. That's how I'm going to do it for the next few months to see what happens. 

[MarineVietVet]

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@masscredit wrote:

I was down to .002% of my total credit card utilization a few months ago. Seemed to have gained a few points because of that then lost some points by letting 2-3% report.  I was viewing it by total utilization with one card reporting. That was on EX 08 and TU. EX 04 seems to be able to weather changes a lot more. I read some threads that say it's based on the total utilization of the one card. So you can have 1-9% of your total utilization reporting but that card's utilization might be 25%. Mine was 30%  

I can see that because someone might let one card report less than 10% of their total utilization but it's a low limit card that's pushing 70% of the available balance. That wouldn't be good for scoring.  It's a confusing game! So now I'm going to look at it as 1-9% on one card. That's how I'm going to do it for the next few months to see what happens. 

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FICO rounds up on utilization so this was scored as 1%.

You probably know that but I make the comment for those who are not aware of this.

[Anonymous]

As other posters have stated it depends on your credit files. For me it is 2%. Actually experimented with my payments, billing cutoffs and credit reporting for two years and watched it like a hawk. Again, people can give you guides lines but our own credit files hold the final details. Read many "gurus" that hark under 30% utilization (my profile takes a massive score hit drop at 30%).

[elim]

it's harder to pinpoint with your new accounts as you just "took some hits" and you're scores will slowly climb as they age.

use em' and PIF to avoid interest and make some green marks on your CR.

in 6 months let 1 card report 1% and check your scores

the 1% on 1 card method worked best for me(much better than 9%) on TU and EQ, EX did'nt show much change.