I think more people are micromanagers of their credit if they are recovering from bad credit. I know I watch my credit like a hawk simply because I made some mistakes in my younger years and I finally fixed them now at the old age of 33 LOL and I just want to make sure I dont make those mistakes again. I do know that once my reports are clean that I will not obsess over my credit like I am now though. As long as I am never late and only charge what I can afford and apply for what I will use and benefit me and my family, I will be good. Just my viewpoint on my credit profile.
@youdontkillmoney wrote:I've noticed there are at least two schools of thought on the matter of FICO score maximization. Active management whereby one may purposely keep utilization at a certain percent and / or keep a balance on one card, etc. The other school of thought which I've subscribed to for the past 24 years and that is not track such metrics as utilization but use cards as I need them, pay them off as I can, usually in full each month, sometimes before statement cycle closes because I just want to wipe out that bill and not worry about it, open and close cards as I feel, and never, ever be late or miss a payment. This latter method has always landed me in the 780+ FICO since I started. Sure if I had to many inquiries my FICO may drop 10-20 points, but after a few months goes right back up to 780+ again. Basically I don't actively manage or worry about how so and so will affect my credit, and spend too much time fretting credit decisions so as long as I don't miss a payment or late. Currently I have 4 credit cards, Amex Platinum, Citi Prestige, Iberiabank and Simmons First; and 5 PLOCs.
How about you?
I think if you are doing this sometimes, then I'd say you actually fall somewhere in between both schools of thought. Is your 780+ with balances reporting on all of your cards at the same time? I'd be more likely to think that your score drops on months when you got new accounts because of the minor AAoA hit + inquiry hit + maybe you didn't pay any of your balances before statement closing. I can't imagine inquiries and inquiries alone leading to such a large drop, but I suppose it's possible if we're talking about 5+ inquiries in a short period that lead to no new accounts. Is the number of accounts reporting a balance ever different when you see these swings?
@kdm31091 wrote:It really comes down to how "anal" you are about it. You can have a great score by just using the cards responsibly, not charging more than you can afford, but otherwise being more "passive" i.e. not micromanaging.
Some people love to micromanage util and keep everything very organized. Pay the card before statement cut, etc. I don't really know that it makes a significant difference with scoring, but it makes some people feel better.
With that said, unless you are someone who apps constantly, consuming a lot of your time with your FICO score is overkill. "Passive' management, i.e. simply following good credit common sense, is enough, IMO. No need to let credit consume your life.
I feel like the answer to this depends on exactly how passive you would be if you weren't being anal. In my opinion, it will make a significant difference to go from one card reporting a balance to all of them reporting a balance. As long as you aren't planning on apping for anything or fear AA due to new accounts, I guess it doesn't really matter. However, I'm sure it would affect your score noticeably.
My TU FICO just dropped from 765 to 759 with two new accounts reporting (AAoA went from almost 6 years to just above 5 years), 1 additional balance being reported (2 of 16 cards with a balance) and 1 new inquiry. The balances on my cards are 15% and 5% utilization. I'm sure that if I let even one more balance report with a >30% utilization I'd see another similar drop. I'd consider that significant, at least for me. 
I think the anecdotal evidence of people who don't pay attention to FICO but happen to have a good one results from the fact that they optimize by accident. Most people who aren't on MyFICO and manage credit responsibily may have a 2-3 cards. They often only use one of them actively and they let that balance report and pay their bill before it's due. Assuming they are paying all their bills in the same way, then what do you know? They did what us anal people do without even knowing they were doing it. My mom falls under this category.
My reasons for following the active FICO management route over the past 9 months are: a) I've been applying for a lot of cards to make up for 10+ years of not taking advantage of credit card rewards and bonuses, and b) I would like to avoid AA from all the new accounts.
By the end of the year I would like to be somewhere in the middle of active and passive FICO management. The only times I will optimize completely are when I'm planning to apply for new credit because it does make a difference. The only question is how much do you care about that difference.
33 seems to be the magic number on this thread Count me in too! But I'm more passive now compared to last summer when I got my first cards. Micromanaging I no longer do bc my scores seem to be coming along and rebounding from slight set backs just fine. Pay bills on time, use my cards, thats pretty much enough for me. Util stays low but its more personal preference than micromanaging.
Last year I would have been scared to put a couple trips on my card and let a highish balance report due to freaking out about score impact but now? Pfft. Have three trips in mind which I'm about to purchase all at once for about $3,500 total and let report then pay off.
Count me in too! But I'm more passive now compared to last summer when I got my first cards. Micromanaging I no longer do bc my scores seem to be coming along and rebounding from slight set backs just fine. Pay bills on time, use my cards, thats pretty much enough for me. Util stays low but its more personal preference than micromanaging.Last year I would have been scared to put a couple trips on my card and let a highish balance report due to freaking out about score impact but now? Pfft. Have three trips in mind which I'm about to purchase all at once for about $3,500 total and let report then pay off.