@Anonymous wrote:had a question regarding credit card utilization calculation
currently the four cards i have listed have really high utilization of 90%+
with this new $2000 limit i have with the Capital One card, I want to transfer balance from these 4 existing cards
is my utilization % calculated at the TOTAL level or for each card? in other words, should i just stick with my orig plan of zeroing out one of my cards and transfering the next highest APR or should i pay off a portion from each of the accounts so that individual utilization for each card goes down?
thanks!
Utilization is calculated on the aggregate and individually, also the number of cards carrying balances. Any card reporting more than 89% of its CL is considered maxed out by Fico and an additional penalty is applied to scoring. If you can just pay off the other cards without a BT that would be best.
@Anonymous wrote:i want to do a BT b/c the APR on those cards are very high and the interest is realy eating up my payments. unfortunately don't have the resources to pay everything off in full at the moment.
would it be best then to pay down the accounts so they are <89% util each and then BT the highest APR balance to my 0% intro QS card and focus on paying that off first? sounds like managing utilization at the individual level is ideal as this would also be reflected at the aggregate level
If your not apping for credit it doesnt matter what your score is at the present, I would just go after the highest rate card and on down the list without regard to the best score.
thanks! 
@Anonymous wrote:So my next plan is to apply for the Capital One Platinum Presitge card as soon as my Capital One Quicksilver card reports onto my credit.
I spoke with a rep and they said my first bill will post 7/15, and I'm assuming that's when it will begin to show up on my credit report
I've been using my QS card for all my purchases since receiving it and my paycheck is deposited on the 10th and it will be enough to pay off the card in full
Likely overthinking this but trying to figure out whats optimal here:
- Would I want to pay off the card BEFORE the bill posts and then immediately after apply for the Platinum Presitge card? (my reasoning is if I pay before the bill date that my credit report would show my increased limits with the new card but a decreased utilization since it wouldn't be carrying a balance)
- Or do I wait until the bill posts on the 15th and then pay afterwards? (reasoning behind this is, do I want to show Capital One that I'm fully utilizing the card? but afraid that my credit report wouldn't show any improvement in % utilization since it would've been reported WITH a balance)
You want to have 1 card reporting a small balance so you dont lose Fico points for not using any revolving credit at all.