Utilization question

[MissKay]

Once you get your utilization to under 9%, will your score change if you go under say 5%? or does it remain the same after a certain point? TIA

[wmcodywilson]

Under all the posts Ive read on here it varies for each person. The best advice I can give is to play around with the percentages month to month and see what gives you the best score jump. Im currently playing with this as well. 

[LIGHTNIN]

Good answer wmcodywilson.

I would also like to add. If you have 3 CC's, have 2 of them report $0 and the last CC to report about 9%.Some say that works the best.

[MissKay]

Thanks for the responses. I have 3 and I was at 8% and carrying a $20 balance on 1, $0 on the other and a $60 balance on the other. I paid down the $60 cc to $20 and was wondering if it will matter. By the end of this month I will carry a balance on just 1 cc and see how it helps. Do I need to charge $20a month on the other cards then pay before the statement to $0, or am I ok just not using them at all?

[MarineVietVet]

---

@MissKay wrote:
Thanks for the responses. I have 3 and I was at 8% and carrying a $20 balance on 1, $0 on the other and a $60 balance on the other. I paid down the $60 cc to $20 and was wondering if it will matter. By the end of this month I will carry a balance on just 1 cc and see how it helps. Do I need to charge $20a month on the other cards then pay before the statement to $0, or am I ok just not using them at all?

---

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.

[rckstrscott]

---

@MarineVietVet wrote:

---

@MissKay wrote:
Thanks for the responses. I have 3 and I was at 8% and carrying a $20 balance on 1, $0 on the other and a $60 balance on the other. I paid down the $60 cc to $20 and was wondering if it will matter. By the end of this month I will carry a balance on just 1 cc and see how it helps. Do I need to charge $20a month on the other cards then pay before the statement to $0, or am I ok just not using them at all?

---

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.

---

+1

I saw my best scores when I had all of mine reporting zero with the exception of one reporting under 9 percent..

-scott