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How many CC's should report a balance?

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Anonymous
Not applicable

How many CC's should report a balance?

I've seen commentary on this - and recently saw my score drop when I reported no balances on cc's.  How many cc should I allow to report a balance?  And is it the same for all 3 CRA's?  TU seems pickier on this - or at least I picked it up first from them.  Thanks for your good advice!
Message 1 of 13
12 REPLIES 12
smallfry
Senior Contributor

Re: How many CC's should report a balance?

No more than 40% of all open accounts including installments should report a balance. I got no score ding for having 4 of 7 open report a balance last month. Tough juggling since the kids got hold of one card. Credit card whack a mole. 
Message 2 of 13
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: How many CC's should report a balance?

funny!

 

Sorry, I've never heard the 40% rule - I've only seen to keep balances on so many cards.  Very interesting.....

 

So, with only 1 cc, 1 student loan, 1 second mortgage - what would I shoot for?  When I pulled my CC down to zero, I got dinged.

 

AND with 3 cc, 1 second mortgage, 1 mortgage - what should dh shoot for?  He also gets dinged when all 3 cc are at zero.

 

I should probably be able to do some figuring, but it's boggling my brain cell.

 

 

Message Edited by utah2009 on 06-05-2009 11:27 PM
Message 3 of 13
smallfry
Senior Contributor

Re: How many CC's should report a balance?


@utah2009 wrote:

funny!

 

Sorry, I've never heard the 40% rule - I've only seen to keep balances on so many cards.  Very interesting.....

 

So, with only 1 cc, 1 student loan, 1 second mortgage - what would I shoot for?  When I pulled my CC down to zero, I got dinged.

 

AND with 3 cc, 1 second mortgage, 1 mortgage - what should dh shoot for?  He also gets dinged when all 3 cc are at zero.

 

I should probably be able to do some figuring, but it's boggling my brain cell.

 

 

Message Edited by utah2009 on 06-05-2009 11:27 PM

I have 7 open accounts so I try to have 3 report with balances.  2 would be fine too. One is fixed as the car loan is showing a balance until I decide to pay it off. So 2 credit cards and the auto loan. 

Message 4 of 13
smallfry
Senior Contributor

Re: How many CC's should report a balance?


@utah2009 wrote:

funny!

 

Sorry, I've never heard the 40% rule - I've only seen to keep balances on so many cards.  Very interesting.....

 

So, with only 1 cc, 1 student loan, 1 second mortgage - what would I shoot for?  When I pulled my CC down to zero, I got dinged.

 

AND with 3 cc, 1 second mortgage, 1 mortgage - what should dh shoot for?  He also gets dinged when all 3 cc are at zero.

 

I should probably be able to do some figuring, but it's boggling my brain cell.

 

 

Message Edited by utah2009 on 06-05-2009 11:27 PM

When you let the credit card report with a balance do you see too many accounts with balances on your FICO report? What negatives do you see? 

Message 5 of 13
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: How many CC's should report a balance?

My score drops about 10 points - I think DH drops a bit more when he zeroes out.

 

Also when you use the simulator you'll see higher points when you simulate a small balance than when you simulate a zero balance.  I'm just trying to understand ideally how many cc's report a balance--Small balance on all?  Small balance on one & zero on rest?

Message 6 of 13
mt2va
Established Contributor

Re: How many CC's should report a balance?

Everything I've read talks about 1 CC reporting balance.  And keeping overall utilization under 9%. 
Starting Scores 10/12: EQ 460 (FICO)/TU 502 (FAKO)/EX 474 (FAKO)
(7/14): EQ 572 (FICO)/TU 624 (FICO)/ EX 612 (FICO)

Current (2016): EQ 605 (FICO)/TU 657 (FICO)/EX 646 (FICO)




Message 7 of 13
haulingthescoreup
Moderator Emerita

Re: How many CC's should report a balance?

I have *goes to count* 11 open CC's, a mortgage, a HELOC, and a car loan. The last three always have balances, so that makes 3 out of 14 accounts with balances. I get dinged for 0 CC's with balances. Score reward for 1 card with a balance. If I have 2 with balances (5 out of 14), TU dings me, but EQ doesn't. 3 with balances (which would be 6 of 14, or 43%, and EQ dings me also.

I hadn't heard of the 40% thing either. That's interesting; I don't know if that's a hard and fast rule, or a typical percentage for having 2 or 3 cards with balances in addition to open loan products, which by definition always have a balance.
* Credit is a wonderful servant, but a terrible master. * Who's the boss --you or your credit?
FICO's: EQ 781 - TU 793 - EX 779 (from PSECU) - Done credit hunting; having fun with credit gardening. - EQ 590 on 5/14/2007
Message 8 of 13
smallfry
Senior Contributor

Re: How many CC's should report a balance?

Hauling it might be the fact that I am in the derog bucket but I score the same on EQ for 1-2 or 3 credit cards reporting balances out of 7 open accounts. Most months I use 2 of my 6 cards and let them report then PIF.

It's tough to know what to do these days. None of my cards with the exception of Walmart goes more than a month w/o meaningful usage. That is why I culled. In hindsight I just applied for too much plastic. 

Message 9 of 13
haulingthescoreup
Moderator Emerita

Re: How many CC's should report a balance?

It's odd, because I'm in the serious derog bucket as well.

It just goes to show that when it comes to smaller factors like # of accounts with balances, the best bet is for each person to experiment with their own accounts and see where their "sweet spot" is.

Once you've done everything else (reducing util, etc.), and all you can do is sit around and wait for negatives to fall off, playing with the number of cards with balances is about the only entertainment left. Smiley Sad Smiley Tongue

I hear ya about too much plastic. I'd like to kill off another 3 cards, but the most likely targets are older ones with derogs, and I still periodically grovel for GW on them. (No luck, of course!) If I could ever get any mercy on them, I'd probably go ahead and close them, which would probably be a relief for them as well as for me. They're also my lowest-limit cards, which is not a coincidence.
* Credit is a wonderful servant, but a terrible master. * Who's the boss --you or your credit?
FICO's: EQ 781 - TU 793 - EX 779 (from PSECU) - Done credit hunting; having fun with credit gardening. - EQ 590 on 5/14/2007
Message 10 of 13
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