Effects of High Utilization

[Anonymous]

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@zerbherb wrote:

discover is so annoying raise my ^%$%^ limit so 166$ is not a big deal. so tired of them. i think amex will become my go to card. transunion dropped to 709.

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Discover has been really slow to give me CLI's, however recently with all of the CLI luv button threads I have followed suit and they have finally started opening up the CL. I started at $500 many years ago, but in the last 2 months I have seen 2k in increases and my line is at 4.15k now.

[zerbherb]

i approve of my nickname guys. the herb. its fits.

[degs138]

So here is where I am at.  I was at 35% utilization in May with one card at 85% utilization.  My score dropped to 651 at the worst.  FICO score reported by Barclays.  I paid off my cards in June so I was reporting a 16% utilization.  My score went up to 699.  Next month I will end up paying off my balances and get my utilization down to under 10%.  hoping to be back in the 700s.  I'll update the thread when I get my next score update.

I couldn't believe I went form 709 to 651 with high utilization on one card.  That is a drop of 58 points for using close to the limit on one card.

[Anonymous]

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@degs138 wrote:

I had a lot of bills this tax month and I am going to carry a balance for the first time ever.  It's on a 0% APR card which is the only reason I'm carring a balance.  Keeping the cash I could pay it off in a 3.25% APY account.

My utilization was always 4-8% each month.  For this month my statements cut and I had 35% utilization.  The following happened to my scores

FICO TU reported by Barclay 696 dropped to a 674

FAKO TU by Credit Karma 684 droped to a 635

I'm going to pay all my cards off at the end of this billing cycle except for my 0 APR card.  I will pay that off the following month.  I'll repost my scores as they change.

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If you could get the utilization on that card fro 35% to about 29% or less it will make a huge difference on your score.

[masscredit]

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@degs138 wrote:

So here is where I am at.  I was at 35% utilization in May with one card at 85% utilization.  My score dropped to 651 at the worst.  FICO score reported by Barclays.  I paid off my cards in June so I was reporting a 16% utilization.  My score went up to 699.  Next month I will end up paying off my balances and get my utilization down to under 10%.  hoping to be back in the 700s.  I'll update the thread when I get my next score update.

I couldn't believe I went form 709 to 651 with high utilization on one card.  That is a drop of 58 points for using close to the limit on one card.

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I see that you have two Cap 1 cards. Take a look at their balance transfer offers. I also have a Venture and QS. Each one provides me with no fee balance transfers. Depending on when your statements close, it might be beneficial for you to transfer the balance onto one of them if there is no fee. That could movet the balance early and increase your scores when the other card reports zero. Then pay the Cap 1 down before it reports the higher balance. I have my statement closing dates spread out. This has helped me when I wanted to float something for a month. Didn't have to pay intrerest or see a score decrease.

[taxi818]

Would never worry of the month to month changes. Unless applying. 

[degs138]

Thanks for the advice everyone but I was just doing this to see how it affects score.  I saw a huge decrese when all my credit card debt was on one card.  85% on one card and 2-5% on the others.  I has over 30% total util so I understood the score drop.  When I got back under 30% my score increased.  It didn't increase as much until I got my 0 APR card back under 30%.  Next months I'll report under 10% util.  All my cards will be under 10% except my 0APR card will be between 10-20%.  I don't need the credit, just wanted to see how it affects my score.

[Anonymous]

0% APR offers are awesome - you can keep your money earning interest, while the CCC loans you money for free. I'll carry a balance, and pay it down in the final few months of the 0% promo period.

I usually don't let the utilization get too high on a 0% APR card, but it's not really a big deal if you do (unless you get it so high your CCC takes action, lowering your limit) - your score will be lower temporarily, but unless you're applying for new credit, that's not an issue. Once you eventually pay down the card, your score will bounce back almost immediately, since FICO scores don't have "memory" of utilization. 

For me, the main benefit of an improved credit score is to save money - whether by obtaining better rewards cards or getting lower rates on home/car loans, or taking advantage of 0% APR offers - unless you're in the process of the former, take advantage of the latter.

[masscredit]

I let a few cards report. They are -

Card.... Balance..... Credit Line 

Cap 1    $694.00       $9000.00

Walmart $77.14       $3000.00

Target    $1.01          $3000.00

Yup, I got a little wild with the Target card   Total utilization is just under 2%. None of my scores went down with the three cards reporting. 

[Revelate]

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@Anonymous wrote:

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@degs138 wrote:

I had a lot of bills this tax month and I am going to carry a balance for the first time ever.  It's on a 0% APR card which is the only reason I'm carring a balance.  Keeping the cash I could pay it off in a 3.25% APY account.

My utilization was always 4-8% each month.  For this month my statements cut and I had 35% utilization.  The following happened to my scores

FICO TU reported by Barclay 696 dropped to a 674

FAKO TU by Credit Karma 684 droped to a 635

I'm going to pay all my cards off at the end of this billing cycle except for my 0 APR card.  I will pay that off the following month.  I'll repost my scores as they change.

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If you could get the utilization on that card fro 35% to about 29% or less it will make a huge difference on your score.

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Hrm not on my file; had one card go from <1% to ~67% and score didn't budge but I don't have a clean file.  Aggregate seems to dominate until you get to the >80% or >90% of individual balances on a card in my personal experience.

Something go to test on a stupid SDFCU $250 secured card eventually for me.