Question about over all utilization versus per card utilization

[traveler2005]

Hi Everyone

In December I will be in position to pay all but about 2500 of my credit card debt. I currently have about 35000 worth. I have a plan to leave most of the 2500 on my care credit card and pay the others off in full. My utilization for that card would then be about 35%, but no interest. Is this the route that I want to take or would spreading it out to a few cards with less utilization per card produce a higher score? 

Thanks for any and all suggestions.

[Anonymous]

That would be wise from a purely financial standpoint, but may not be the most efficient 'scorewise'. Putting the balance on one or more cards so no card has more than 10% UTI would be best from a scoring standpoint.

FWIW, I would go with whatever saves me the most dollars and sacrifice the few points on my score, unless I was apping for a mortgage. Even at 9% that $2500 balance will cost you over $200 a year to carry.

[-NewGuy-]

I think Norman's got the right idea. Technically by spreading it out a little bit (no card over 10% for example) you could probably get a few more points out of it. However, unless you need to app for something soon, I wouldn't worry about it. The nice thing is that UTIL history isn't remembered or factored into your score, it's a snapshot in time.