topic Re: What should my utilization be? in Understanding FICO® Scoring

What should my utilization be?

Anonymous — Mon, 11 Nov 2019 20:58:19 GMT

I have one more card I’m paying off this week (navy federal credit union). Currently it’s at like 98% utilization. I know no one can really give me an exact answer on how much my score will increase, but what should my utilization be to see a big increase? The card limit in $700. If I bring it down from 98% to roughly 14% will that give me a good increase? If one month my utilization is 14% then the next month goes up to 20% (but always below 30%), will that decrease my score?? I was at 637 a couple of months ago, forgot about a Kohl’s card I shredded that had a small balance. That brought me down about 30+ points when it reported 30 days late. I paid the balance and Kohl’s removed two old lates and my score jumped back up to 600. I’d like to be able to get at least a 640 by end of year. Is that possible? All my other cards are now paid off, this will be the only one I’m letting report a balance.

Re: What should my utilization be?

FireMedic1 — Mon, 11 Nov 2019 21:18:11 GMT

The best spot for the most points is less than 8.9% for 1 card, and for all cards is the same. you'll see jumps as you pay it down.. These are the thrresholds to pass to get a bump. <89, <69, <49, <29, <9% are the %'s. As you drop your util you'll see score bumps up. Pass one of the %'s down it goes. Welcome to the forums.

Re: What should my utilization be?

Anonymous — Tue, 12 Nov 2019 14:20:08 GMT

I received an 11 point boost when my aggregate utilization was a 29.4%. But every profile is different.

Another time I received a 10-11 boost when a single card went below 9%

Re: What should my utilization be?

Anonymous — Tue, 12 Nov 2019 14:27:44 GMT

@FireMedic1 wrote:
The best spot for the most points is less than 8.9% for 1 card, and for all cards is the same. you'll see jumps as you pay it down.. These are the thrresholds to pass to get a bump. <89, <69, <49, <29, <9% are the %'s. As you drop your util you'll see score bumps up. Pass one of the %'s down it goes. Welcome to the forums.

Thanks for you reply!

So if I dropped my util to about 7% - then the next month only went up to 10%, have you ever seen a decrease in something like that? Will my score stay the same, or change if I keep my util every month at 7%? or will keeping it between 1-8% every month be ok?

Re: What should my utilization be?

Anonymous — Tue, 12 Nov 2019 14:30:37 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
I received an 11 point boost when my aggregate utilization was a 29.4%. But every profile is different.

Another time I received a 10-11 boost when a single card went below 9%

When you received your 11pt boost, what was your util initially before getting it downt o 29.4%?

Re: What should my utilization be?

Anonymous — Tue, 12 Nov 2019 22:42:57 GMT

I think it was between 32-34%

Re: What should my utilization be?

SouthJamaica — Tue, 12 Nov 2019 23:29:08 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
I have one more card I’m paying off this week (navy federal credit union). Currently it’s at like 98% utilization. I know no one can really give me an exact answer on how much my score will increase, but what should my utilization be to see a big increase? The card limit in $700. If I bring it down from 98% to roughly 14% will that give me a good increase? If one month my utilization is 14% then the next month goes up to 20% (but always below 30%), will that decrease my score?? I was at 637 a couple of months ago, forgot about a Kohl’s card I shredded that had a small balance. That brought me down about 30+ points when it reported 30 days late. I paid the balance and Kohl’s removed two old lates and my score jumped back up to 600. I’d like to be able to get at least a 640 by end of year. Is that possible? All my other cards are now paid off, this will be the only one I’m letting report a balance.

It's best to make sure that no individual card is higher than 28%, and it's best to have your overall revolving utilization below 9% (and even better for it to be below 6%).