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1) What is the average # of credit cards a person has?
2) What is the average available credit available to the cards in 1. (Total available credit)
3) I just switched jobs and am wondering if I'm going to get hosed because I've only been with my current employer a month. I have been employed steadily for 4 years.
4) If I'm only supposed to apply for credit I need and then only use < 9% of it, do I apply for cards/CLIs until my normal monthly charging = 7% of my total available credit? I can gradually put many of my bills, gas, parking, groceries, etc on my CC and pay off every month (not going over 7% utilization).
JD11
@JohnDoe12 wrote:1) What is the average # of credit cards a person has? This is preference to each individual.
2) What is the average available credit available to the cards in 1. (Total available credit) This depends on ones credit and everyone is different.
3) I just switched jobs and am wondering if I'm going to get hosed because I've only been with my current employer a month. I have been employed steadily for 4 years. Applying for credit cards may ask for income and employer. I do not remember they ever asked how long employed.
4) If I'm only supposed to apply for credit I need and then only use < 9% of it, do I apply for cards/CLIs until my normal monthly charging = 7% of my total available credit? I can gradually put many of my bills, gas, parking, groceries, etc on my CC and pay off every month (not going over 7% utilization). Once again this is a matter of preference. Some apply for cards because of rewards etc etc... The goal is to keep your UTIL less then 9% as you mentioned, but that can be accomplished no matter what the credit limit is by paying several times if necessary before statement hits.
JD11
@JohnDoe12 wrote:1) What is the average # of credit cards a person has?
2) What is the average available credit available to the cards in 1. (Total available credit)
3) I just switched jobs and am wondering if I'm going to get hosed because I've only been with my current employer a month. I have been employed steadily for 4 years.
4) If I'm only supposed to apply for credit I need and then only use < 9% of it, do I apply for cards/CLIs until my normal monthly charging = 7% of my total available credit? I can gradually put many of my bills, gas, parking, groceries, etc on my CC and pay off every month (not going over 7% utilization).
JD11
This really isn't important unless you're applying for new credit. Obviously, you want to manage your total debt wisely and avoid paying interest where possible, but if you're paying in full every month, the magic 10% number doesn't really matter. If you're going to apply for new credit, you can time your payments to pay before your statements post so you show low utilization. And you would want to do that enough in advance so that your reports have time to update before you apply, but there's no need to worry about this every month if you're not looking for new credit.
The only reason I am aware of to worry about this is if your monthly spend is so high in relation to your limits that you're at risk of adverse action from one of your creditors that gets nervous at your level of utilization. But if you're not looking for new credit anytime soon, and you're talking about gaming your payments to make sure you're at 7% rather than say 30%, I think it's a waste of time.
(Caveat: I'm still new at this so if I've overlooked something, hopefully someone will correct me)
Keeping the reported utilization low maximizes your FICO score. It is a useful trick to help when applying for important credit if your scores are marginal for you want. IMO, it is not worth doing most of the time. Many who post here, treat FICO socre like a hobby or obsession, so they naturally promote techniques for highest scores.