@Anonymous wrote:
"P.S. Just to make sure, your total credit line for your AMEX is 20,000...correct? you want your utilization on the card you report to be between 1-9% and the others to report $0 balances."
No, my credit line on my Amex is $3700, with the other two cards my total credit line is $20,000. So, the utilization should be 1-9% of the credit limit per each particular card in order to properly use the low utlization method?
"You also have to consider all the other factors that could affect your score in your 9 month 'experimentation period,' so it's certainly not an exact science."
I am not familiar with what you mran by the 9 month experimentation period, please elaborate.
1) you want to be between 1-9% utilization on each card that reports (for you that would only be your amex, since your other two cards report a 0 balance) AND report a balance on less than half of your cards (if you have 3 cards, then reporting only your AMEX, as you've been doing would be preferred). in theory, if you're in between 1-9% on each card that reports, then you'll also be between 1-9% of your total CL, but reporting a HIGH balance on one card (i.e. 49% utilization on your AMEX) even if you are within the 1-9% reporting range on your total CL could lower your score.
This means you would use the CL on your AMEX for the utilization method, since it the only card that reports a balance. Reporting $1,800 on your Amex would not be good, because it would bring your utilization on that card to 1800/3700 = 49%, instead you want to report between 1-9% on each card that reports a balance, which for your AMEX would be bewtween $37 (1% of $3,700) and $333 (9% of $3,700) reporting each month.
2) In your previous post you asked, within the 1-9% utilization range, what would the optimum utilzation percentage number be to have reporting each month. (i.e. would it be better to report 2% as opposed to 5% or 7%). my answer, was that this varies from person to person, and the effect on your credit score is usually minimal (as long as you are in that 1-9% range). i also stated that some members have found their 'sweet spot' or in other words the exact percentage where their score is the highest, but that this number varies from person to person. i then stated, that if you would like to find your exact percentage you would have to experiment for a couple of months to see when your score is the highest. this 'experimentation period' would last 9 months (the first month you'd report 1%, 2nd month 2%, 3rd month 3% and so on up until 9%), check your scores each month and see which month and corresponding utilization percentage gave you the highest score. in my opinion, the change once you're in the 1-9% range will be minimal, but there may be some variance there.
that's where my comment, "You also have to consider all the other factors that could affect your score in your 9 month 'experimentation period,' so it's certainly not an exact science." came up, because during that 9 month period there could be a variety of factors (auto loan, mortage, inquiries etc.) that could affect your score--therefore, you may not be able to contribute an increase or decrease solely to the change in your utilization period, it may also have to do with other factors.
in my opinion, this isn't worth the time or effort to do, but some members have done it to try to determine exactly what % utilization (within the 1-9% range) yields the highest score for them.
-waystinthyme
TU FICO: 807 | EX FICO: 806 | EQ FICO: 806
