$42 balance on $5k limit = 0% Util

[happypill]

Live and learn.

I wanted to try to max out my score so I paid off all CC balances before reporting except for one card.  My Venture is my daily driver and has a $5k limit.  I have pending charges every day so don't know exactly what the balance will be at the end of each day.  As it worked out, the statement reported a balance of $42.  My CK Equifax (not a FICO I know) shows 0% utilization now and my score isn't greatly changed from lats month when util was about 25%.

I know that 0% isn't ideal and wasn't trying to get to that leve, but now I also know that if you're below 1% util, it could be considered as 0% as well.

[tonyjones]

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@happypill wrote:

Live and learn.

I wanted to try to max out my score so I paid off all CC balances before reporting except for one card.  My Venture is my daily driver and has a $5k limit.  I have pending charges every day so don't know exactly what the balance will be at the end of each day.  As it worked out, the statement reported a balance of $42.  My CK Equifax (not a FICO I know) shows 0% utilization now and my score isn't greatly changed from lats month when util was about 25%.

I know that 0% isn't ideal and wasn't trying to get to that leve, but now I also know that if you're below 1% util, it could be considered as 0% as well.

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yeah FICO sucks like that, I'd strive to always have 9% report on one card, even if your over it won't hurt as much as having 0% reporting!

[Anonymous]

Thanks for the info!  I was planning on doing the same thing.  I guess it needs to be a real 1%.

[Josh611]

I could be wrong but I believe Fico considers any balance under 1%, 1%. Credit karma is completely different so they may call it 0

[Anonymous]

Creditkarma will list is as <1%.

[MarineVietVet]

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@happypill wrote:

Live and learn.

I wanted to try to max out my score so I paid off all CC balances before reporting except for one card.  My Venture is my daily driver and has a $5k limit.  I have pending charges every day so don't know exactly what the balance will be at the end of each day.  As it worked out, the statement reported a balance of $42.  My CK Equifax (not a FICO I know) shows 0% utilization now and my score isn't greatly changed from lats month when util was about 25%.

I know that 0% isn't ideal and wasn't trying to get to that leve, but now I also know that if you're below 1% util, it could be considered as 0% as well.

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This is all you need to know.

FICO will score that as 1% utilization. Ignore these things from CK.

[TheConstant]

Is 1% util ideal too though? To my understanding, isn't 4-6% the "sweet spot" for your score?

[gdale6]

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@TheConstant wrote:

Is 1% util ideal too though? To my understanding, isn't 4-6% the "sweet spot" for your score?

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You want only 1 card reporting no more than 9% of its individual CL. You will need to play with the actual percentage between 1-9% that you let report, the sweet spot is different for everyone though a lot of people see the best Fico result at 1%.

[MarineVietVet]

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@TheConstant wrote:

Is 1% util ideal too though? To my understanding, isn't 4-6% the "sweet spot" for your score?

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As gdale said everyone's situation is different and there is no one size fits all approach to this and therefore no "ideal" number 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.
 
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.

My utilization has remained at 1% for many, many months.