@Anonymous wrote:
I been leaving small balance and total utilization at 1% on 1/3 of my CC's . Last few months. And been getting very small increase on my scores 1-3 points. I started this around 3 months ago 1st at 20 dollars reporting then 15 now 10. Question is its hard to go lower when nothing costs under 10 dollars in Hawaii lol. So if I go back to 20 and show increase in a card balance. Will I lose some of the points I gained nullifying what I accomplished??
No you won't.
It doesn't matter whether it's $10 or $20.
What matters is that no card exceed 29%, that overall you stay below 10%, and that your number of cards reporting balances be less than a third.
Part of the increase in score you are seeing is just the passage of time, as any baddies continue to age and you make payments on time.
I really doubt any of those points increases are from going from $20 to $10 on any card or cards.
What are the credit limits on the cards you are managing?
@Anonymous wrote:
Discover 400 first progress 750 and capital one 200 . I only show balance on capital one
While I know it is best to manage utilization, honestly with limits like that, the "low utilization" thing is nearly impossible with most people's monthly spend.
You are, at this time, effectively trying to show Discover and Capital One that you know how to use credit. They will reward you later with either CLI (Discover) or larger limit new cards (CapOne).
In this situation, my advice is to use the cards for normal spend, don't go over the limit, pay frequently if you like, but don't get too concerned if they show balances on the statement. You are rebuilding. Showing responsible use with these cards will get you better cards later. The utilization will cause your score to gyrate a bit for now, but that is temporary, is easily resolved later by paying the cards down. For regular months? that much work (getting the cards to low utilization before the statement) is just not necessary. Avoiding going over limit, that is necessary.