Balance on 1 card only or rotate?

[Anonymous]

Hey all.

I'm trying to raise my score and was wondering if I should keep my CC balance to one card only, or rotate use of the cards every month? I have 4 major credit cards (the rest are store cards). For example, use 10% ulti. on one card, then pay it off, and then use another card.  Or is it best to use just one card only and keep that balance at 10% of avail. credit line?  What have been some of your experiences? What's the best way to do it for the highest score? I've read the thread about FICO high acheivers and that helped too. Just wanted some more input. Thanks.

[MarineVietVet]

I'll relate what I do and let others also and then you can decide what you think might works best for you.

I have 7 CC's and most of them I use to pay recurring monthly bills that I'd have to pay anyway. That way I never have to worry about forgetting to use one of them and it being closed for inactivity. Since I know when all of the statement dates are I pay all of them but one before the statements post. Then on my remaining card I try and make my payments so that my utilization right before statement time is where I'd like it to be. I then pay the balance before the due date to avoid interest.

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.

Are you completely confused now?? I have difficulty explaining myself sometimes. 

From a BK years ago to:
EX - 3/11 pulled by lender- 835, EQ - 2/11-816, TU - 2/11-782

"Some people spend an entire lifetime wondering if they've made a difference. The Marines don't have that problem".

[clocktick]

Marine, personally, what percentage works for you to leave on that one card?

Your input is always appreciated.

[MarineVietVet]

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@clocktick wrote:

Marine, personally, what percentage works for you to leave on that one card?

Your input is always appreciated.

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To be honest I've finally reached the point in my journey where I don't really need to tweak my percentage all that much. As long as it's under 9% or so I'm happy. And there are times it goes over that recommended <9% level but I know that the next month or so it will be back down.

Looking for the "sweet spot" really isn't necessary to do all the time unless you just want to to experiment or you need to maximize scores for an upcoming credit application.

From a BK years ago to:
EX - 3/11 pulled by lender- 835, EQ - 2/11-816, TU - 2/11-782

"Some people spend an entire lifetime wondering if they've made a difference. The Marines don't have that problem".

[CreditAble]

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@MarineVietVet wrote:

* To be honest I've finally reached the point in my journey where I don't really need to tweak my percentage all that much. As long as it's under 9% or so I'm happy. And there are times it goes over that recommended <9% level but I know that the next month or so it will be back down.

* Looking for the "sweet spot" really isn't necessary to do all the time unless you just want to to experiment or you need to maximize scores for an upcoming credit application.

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I agree with both points above.

Let me chime in here and build on your premise. If I person wants to get higher credit limits, I believe that showing some higher monthly spends occasionally on the reports is advantageous.

I believe that it is OK to let even as high as a 50% individual account utilization report so long as it is Pifed the next month. Creditors see other card issuers' balances (monthly spends) on the credit reports.

If all that shows is low usage (under 9%) on one account, and a bunch of 0s on all others, credit increases will be granted based upon creditors' "in house" spending records only. If a card issuer can see 20,30, or even 50% utility on competitors cards that is paid in full the following month, that can motivate said card issuer to raise the CL on its card.

As you pointed out, It is not that important to squeeze the last 15 points out of the FICO score every month.

Knowing how to tweak the score when an important credit app is contemplated, is what counts. My philosophy has always been to listen, learn, experiment, try different reporting options to arrive at a best case scenario for my credit profile. That became my base line (target) to return to when I wanted to to maximize my score. I then tried other options to try to show usage and increase credit limits.

[Anonymous]

Thanks to everyone for your responses. Made perfect sense. I believe in using the 10% or less utii because while I'm rebuilding, I've really learned how to distinguish between a want and a need and Im not so quick to plop my card down for any and everything now. I just want to be debt-free and raise my FICO to 800!  Hey, I'm gonna keep saying it and practiciing good habits till it happens! I BELIEVE!  

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

Hey all.

I'm trying to raise my score and was wondering if I should keep my CC balance to one card only, or rotate use of the cards every month? I have 4 major credit cards (the rest are store cards). For example, use 10% ulti. on one card, then pay it off, and then use another card.  Or is it best to use just one card only and keep that balance at 10% of avail. credit line?  What have been some of your experiences? What's the best way to do it for the highest score? I've read the thread about FICO high acheivers and that helped too. Just wanted some more input. Thanks.

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Since you asked for input.   IMO, It is better to put all your expenses on most your credit cards and become a good customer.   Best to PIF by due date to avoid interest.  Plan your applications in advance and control your utilizaton for maximum FICO score at application time.  I don't see the need to maximize my FICO score every day.

[Anonymous]

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@MarineVietVet wrote:

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@clocktick wrote:

Marine, personally, what percentage works for you to leave on that one card?

Your input is always appreciated.

---

To be honest I've finally reached the point in my journey where I don't really need to tweak my percentage all that much. As long as it's under 9% or so I'm happy. And there are times it goes over that recommended <9% level but I know that the next month or so it will be back down.

Looking for the "sweet spot" really isn't necessary to do all the time unless you just want to to experiment or you need to maximize scores for an upcoming credit application.

From a BK years ago to:
EX - 3/11 pulled by lender- 835, EQ - 2/11-816, TU - 2/11-782

"Some people spend an entire lifetime wondering if they've made a difference. The Marines don't have that problem".

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MVV ,   A  crack in the amour?         Happy Holidays!  

[Anonymous]

I have been thinking about a score raising strategy, if you will, at great length for some time now.  I've read all the posts and have digested all of the information about allowing only one card to report a balance or PIF before the statement cuts or keeping utilization under x percent; and I genuinely believe that, to some degree, some combination of each of those methods work.  I've decided to approach raising my score in a calculated way, to see if it might actually work to any degree.  The plan is to use all of my cards to about 50% or so utilization one month, then let that balance report.  The next month I'll PIF all those balances down to zero and let that report.  The next month I will use only one card to 9 or 10% utilization and let that report and then start all over again.  I plan on doing this for two cycles (for a total of 6 months) to see what happens.  I'm hoping these actions trigger the FICO scoring system since I will be demonstrating that I can pay down/back my debts, that I have usage and that I can responsibly fluctuate my spending habits (account aging is obviously a factor as well, but since that will be taking place on its own during this experiment and is something I cannot control it is a non-factor for the sake of this experiment). I don't get a sense that doing this will hurt my scores to any excessive degree.  We all know that lowering utilization raises your score.  I can attest to this when I paid down my Cap One card and I gained points as soon as the lower balance reported.  This month I allowed my AmEx to report a larger than usual balance and let Discover report 60% utilization.  I got a score alert that my score had increased.  I'm sure I might see a minor drop when the high utilization reports but I want to see if it will increase even more after I PIF.  I'm approaching 700 on my EQ report so I'm hoping this will jumpstart the scores on TU and EX to move up since they've been pretty much stagnant or at least slower to increase than EQ. (EQ has always been my highest score). Hopefully six months from now I'll fully be in the 700 club on all reports!

[haulingthescoreup]

Enjoy; I don't think you'll be hurt, unless your lenders soft you and see 50% util on all your cards and completely freak out.

Otherwise, FICO has no "memory" for util. Points from util come strictly from what is on your report when it is pulled at that moment. There is no util trend tracked, so it doesn't matter if your util is rising, falling, or staying exactly the same.

Again, though, you might want to give some thought as to what your lenders might think if they see your util (and therefore your scores) all over the map.