9% utilization..

[cwwatts1202]

Will going from 9% utiilization to 0% give me a boost?? Anyone had expierence with lowering utilization giving a boost in score?

[MarineVietVet]

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@cwwatts1202 wrote:

Will going from 9% utiilization to 0% give me a boost?? Anyone had expierence with lowering utilization giving a boost in score?

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Having a zero balance report across the boards will actually hurt because scoring likes to see activity.

Everyone's situation is different and there is no one size fits all approach to this but what seems to work well for most people is to have only one of their cards report a small (<9% of it's credit limit) balance each month and then pay in full before the due date. You can use it as much as you want during the month but what's important is the reported balance because for most cards whatever is reported on the monthly statement is what is used to calculate utilization for the month.

You might have to play around with the percentages for a few months to see what works best for you. Some people say that 1-3% utilization helps the most. For others it might be 5-9%. As I said it's not one size fits all.

On any other cards always try and have them report a zero balance each month. That doesn't mean you can't use them just make sure that the desired zero balance on these accounts is achieved several days before their statements post.

Along with individual and overall utilization, FICO also scores the number of all types of accounts reporting a balance.at any one time Making sure less than half of all your accounts report a balance helps most people.

Now this approach really isn't necessary if you're not looking to apply for any credit in the near future or unless you are trying to tweak your score for maximum effect but some folks do this as a hobby just to see how high they can get their score.

[marty56]

If you do loose points, you can always allow $1 to report since IMHO $1 is just as good as 9% of your CL.  I never lost points on TU for having 0% util since I had a mortgage and a autoloan.  I lost a few points on EQ but no big deal.

Beyond FICO, it is always good to be CC debt free.

[MarineVietVet]

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@marty56 wrote:

If you do loose points, you can always allow $1 to report since IMHO $1 is just as good as 9% of your CL.  I never lost points on TU for having 0% util since I had a mortgage and a autoloan.  I lost a few points on EQ but no big deal.

Beyond FICO, it is always good to be CC debt free.

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I agree. $1 will do the trick.

Since utilization is rounded up for scoring it will report as 1% utilization.

[cwwatts1202]

I only have 1 CC, so I guess I'll just keep some sort of small balance on it cause it's working so far. Just wasnt sure if there is an actual jump when you get it to 0% with an already low utilization rate. I'm sure if I was at 100% and got it down to 0 I'd see some sort of increase, but going from low to lower wasn't sure what'd it would do.

[MarineVietVet]

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@cwwatts1202 wrote:
I only have 1 CC, so I guess I'll just keep some sort of small balance on it cause it's working so far. Just wasnt sure if there is an actual jump when you get it to 0% with an already low utilization rate. I'm sure if I was at 100% and got it down to 0 I'd see some sort of increase, but going from low to lower wasn't sure what'd it would do.

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You can try having a zero balance for one month and see what happens. If you do lose any points I would predict the number would be small and then next the next month go back to having a small amount report for a balance.

[Anonymous]

I only have 1 cc and just paid mu util from 34% to 8%. i am waiting to see how many points i get.