question about paying off accounts

[wrxlover2]

hi guys and gals

so i have about 8 accounts with balances,id like to pay them all off,some  cards i might use once and while but i dont plan on using them often

because i want to try and not rely on credit, 1 card i will continually use every month my question is i have 0 balances on several cards but one will that hurt my credit?i heard haveing several accounts with 0 balances reported several months in a row can hurt it,but i really dont want to have a balance on them all the time except for the 1 card,thanks for taking a look at my question

i appreciate you

[lcochran3]

I have been told to pay them all off except one - and keep no more than 9% of available credit as a balance. I dont' know if this works yet or not because I just started the process too. Good luck!

[guiness56]

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@lcochran3 wrote:

I have been told to pay them all off except one - and keep no more than 9% of available credit as a balance. I dont' know if this works yet or not because I just started the process too. Good luck!

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Anything credit related is a YMMV thing.  But, yes, this is the way to achieve an optimal FICO score.  Keeping in mind that you are dinged for too many cards reporting a balance and again if none of them report a balance.  FICO likes to see you use your extended credit but wisely.

The 1 - 9% can be experimented with.  Try different % to see what gives you the best score.  Utilization is the one thing you have complete control over and one of the most damaging to your score.