You guys are awesome. Thanks for the advice and clarification. I have heard it both ways.. So I am going to give it try next month and see what happens, My limits are very low as you can see so Utilization for me important. I do manage to keep my balances under the 30%. I have that fingerhut card which I have only used once and it actually has my biggest credit line of 500.. Sad I know... But im rebuilding slowly. I am gardening until the first of the year or December this year and ill check my scores again and see if I can move up to something else. My Capital one card will be a about a year old by then .. Thanks again.. I love this site and the awesome advice!!
Garden Club Member" width="40" height="40" align="right">
Fine-tuning one's reported CC balances for the purpose of maximizing credit score isn't important UNLESS you intend to apply for new credit in the next 1-2 months, in which case I would adjust payments such that all but one card reports zero balance and the remaining one card reports 1% utilization. In my experience, that will give you the optimal credit score.
Please refer to my reply in this thread for how to report zero balance and 1% utilization. My example there uses actual dates so it's easier to understand when to make payments and for how much.
