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@Anonymous wrote:It only looks bad if you let a high utilization report to the CRAs. Most cards report on statement date, some report on the 1st of each month, so learn when yours reports.
One thing I did when my only card was a toy limit was "push" payments from my bank to the credit card -- this way instead of running up high utilization, I actually usually had a NEGATIVE balance (a credit). So with a $400 credit limit, I might make a charge of say $250 but then push $250 from my bank. So my credit card would rarely see any utilization.
That's a great idea. I try to keep my cards zeroed out, but there's been many a time when I got stuck showing a balance because I paid in full at the CC web site a couple days before the closing date, but the payment didn't report until a day or two *after*. I hate that.