Credit Card Utilization for Credit Rebuild Help

[mmajer4211]

Can I please have a few pointers on a couple new credit cards I just recieved to maximize my FICO scores? One of them has a $500 limit and the other has a $1200 limit. Both are unsecured and these are the only credit cards I have. The only other account I have is my car loan which my wife co-signed on and has around $24k left on a $32k loan. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks everyone!

[Anonymous]

Congratulations on your rebuild.
Keep your reported credit card balances between 2% and 9%.
I say 2% because when my minimum is too low Discover eats ot and reports 0%.

[CGeorge]

I will say this...when I had credit scores that are in your current range, I applied for every card that I could get my hands on. Yes, my credit scores took a hit from the inquiries, but I ended up with a huge combined SL, and I kept my percentage of utilization near to 0%. I found that that helped me build my scores. Last summer I cancelled two Credit One cards + 4 other cards. I never had a secured card. 

[FireMedic1]

Who are the cards with? Yes only have one report under 8.99%. PIF the other each month. In 6 months go for 1 more card then you'll have the FICO we like 3 cards and an installment loan bonus. Then when 1 reports and the other 2 are PIF. You'll be less than 50% of cards reporting. Bonus. Good Luck!

[Anonymous]

And above all, never ever miss or be late on a single payment, for any reason, ever. Plan ahead, make a couple partial payments if need be, whatever it takes. This is absolutely the key point to both raising your scores, and keeping them high by developing the proper financial management habits you’ll need later on when juggling larger and/or more accounts.