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1%-9% on one card anecdotally will give your credit score the highest boost. Your utilization has no "memory" - meaning you could have all your cards maxed out, and then pay them all down and see a huge jump in credit score as soon as the following month.
Typcially, whatever balance is on the statement will be reported to the credit bureaus. And remember, your credit score is only important when you are looking to obtain new credit.
@Anonymous wrote:1%-9% on one card anecdotally will give your credit score the highest boost. Your utilization has no "memory" - meaning you could have all your cards maxed out, and then pay them all down and see a huge jump in credit score as soon as the following month.
Typcially, whatever balance is on the statement will be reported to the credit bureaus. And remember, your credit score is only important when you are looking to obtain new credit.
^^^Yes use and pay your cards on time, everytime. You don't need to micromange your score all the time IMO. However, the time to optimize your score is about 60 days prior to making an application for credit (for auto, home or another cc). This is when you would have all revolving accounts (cc's) at zero except one card and it should report 1%-9% of your credit line.
(The first line that dpeezy wrote is what we mean by optimizing your credit score.)
Yes, for most credit card companies, whatever balance is on your monthly statement will be reported.
remember, even if you pay off every month, the card can report before you pay.
knowing the report date will help you manage balances.
i tell my clients to just leave $20 on there. pay the bill early(but after it reports) and make new charges right away if necessary to get a new small balance.
having a $20 balance is better than a zero balance