Credit Card Balances

[jmonye21]

Hello, all

I have a few credit cards totaling a $3K limit. Some say to keep a small balance on them, others say pay in full. I purchased something for $2 on one card and my TU went down 2 points and EX went down 3. 😑 The balance on the card was literally $2.17, while all other balances are low and on time. 

Any suggestions? I paid the $2.17 by the way. 

[JoeRockhead]

Sounds like you were just penalized for "having too many accounts with balances". Silly I know, but it's a thing. The good news is utilization has no memory so, it's an easy fix. For the up coming billing cycle pay everything to zero except one card, and allow it to report only a small balance and see what that does for your scores.

ETA: what are your balances/limits on each of the cards?

[SouthJamaica]

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@jmonye21 wrote:

Hello, all

I have a few credit cards totaling a $3K limit. Some say to keep a small balance on them, others say pay in full. I purchased something for $2 on one card and my TU went down 2 points and EX went down 3. 😑 The balance on the card was literally $2.17, while all other balances are low and on time. 

Any suggestions? I paid the $2.17 by the way. 

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1. Always pay in full.

2. Let one card report a balance each month before you pay it off; let the others report zero (i.e., pay the others before the reporting date, which is usually the statement date).

[jmonye21]

Great idea- I'm going to try that. 

I have:

$98 balance/$1K limkt

$3 balance/ $800 limit

$12 balance/ $450 limit 

$8.25 balance/ $400 limit.  

$0 balance (paid the $2)/ $300 limit

[CreditPoor]

Definitely too many balances reporting. I would reduce all but one to zero and let that report. The thinner your file the more sensitive to balances it is. 

[jmonye21]

Credit Card Balances

Great idea- I'm going to try that. 

I have:

$98 balance/$1K limkt

$3 balance/ $800 limit

$12 balance/ $450 limit 

$8.25 balance/ $400 limit.  

$0 balance (paid the $2)/ $300 limit

[jmonye21]

Thanks! Will try that.

[SouthJamaica]

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@jmonye21 wrote:

Thanks! Will try that.

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You should have mostly zero balances reporting.

[jmonye21]

Gotcha. Gets confusing with some saying to leave a small balance. Guess I had too many. 

[Snook_on_the_Line]

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@jmonye21 wrote:

Gotcha. Gets confusing with some saying to leave a small balance. Guess I had too many. 

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The metric you are trying to optimize with AZEO is % of accounts with balances

your looking a low percentage of your accounts, but not 0

For score improvement purposes one card reporting a small balance on statement day is ideal.         just pay it in full before the due date to avoid interest charges.  

I hear from people IRL all the time say you need to carry a small balance month to month while paying more than the minimum to improve your scores     

This is wrong.

  I feel like this is disinformation spread by cc companies to earn more on interest.   

I've never carried a balance (and as such have never paid any interest) 

and my scores are up 265+ points over the last 2.5 years (505-772)