Credit Card Utilization ??

[Anonymous]

I'm in the process of building my CS up for an auto loan I'll be looking for in the next few months.

I'm sitting at $10k out of $14k available credit, or so my credit report says at the moment.  I'm down to $6700 currently, and will be at between $1k and $2k by the end of the month.

Would it be better to keep $500-$1000 on my credit card when getting my loan, and pay it off after I get qualified?  Would this create a higher credit score?

Also, I have signed up for the Score Watch program.  Will this update the credit score or do I have to purchase a credit report every time I want to view an updated score?  Can't see an answer on the main site regarding this.

Thanks!

[dodfire]

For maximum scoring it is suggested that you carry a small balance between 1%-9% of your overall revolving credit on 1 card. Let all other cards report a zero balance.

On SW if you adjust your settings it will update. 

[txmomma26]

It's best to have all of your cards report a $0 balance except one.  The amount on the one varies by credit report, but all agree the balance should be between 1-9% of your total available limits. In other words, if you  have a total of $14,000 in credit lines, you should have a balance reporting between $140-$1260 on a card for maximum score potential.  That said, whatever you do - don't pay interest on any charges if you don't have to!

[Anonymous]

Thanks for the quick replies!

I have requested credit limit increases recently, so the $14k total credit will be rising to, hopefully, $15k+.

I currently have one credit card with a $7400 limit (I requested it bumped to $8k last week, still waiting), that I have at $6700.  All others have been paid down completely.  I'll pay it down to a few hundred if I don't need to maintain 10-20%.  I read on other places it would need to be between 10-20%, but if under 10% works, that will save me a little on interest.  This balance is a result of transfers so the interest isn't bad, and I'll pay it off completely when I've nailed down financing for my future new car.

Sitting at 696 CS with $10k out of $14k.  Hoping that dropping that 10k to a few hundred will put me over 720 CS for a solid APR.  Realistic hope?

[Anonymous]

I have a question.  Does requesting CLI result in additional inquiries on your CR?  I have thought about this approach, but was worried it show as inquiries on my CR & I am looking to refinance in the next couple months.

[Anonymous]

Without hijacking the original thread too far the simple answer is "It depends". If you want some specific experience you can start a new thread about a specific credit card or company and members will be able to tell you if a CLI request is a hard pull or a soft pull. Also you can use the search function for "CLI on XX card".