From 1% to 0% util

[Beautifull]

Dear haulingthescoreup 

What should you do if you only have one card?  I am in the rebuilding stage and this is valuable information.  I have another card on the way but my NFCU card is due to report on the 29th of this month.  I charged $28 on it and have PIF a week ago.  Please advise.

PIF or let it report a small balance?

Beautifull

[Jazzzy]

---

@Beautifull wrote:

Dear haulingthescoreup 

What should you do if you only have one card?  I am in the rebuilding stage and this is valuable information.  I have another card on the way but my NFCU card is due to report on the 29th of this month.  I charged $28 on it and have PIF a week ago.  Please advise.

PIF or let it report a small balance?

Beautifull

---

Hi Beautiful,

That is a hard question. Depending on the credit limit of your card, showing $28 on the statement likely won't hurt anything. What is your credit limit?

Are you going to be applying for credit very soon? If not, then don't worry too much about showing a small balance. It will be nice when you get your 2nd card. Then you can let a small balance show on one card and still have the other at zero.

[marty56]

I gain points on TU (10-15)  and loose 3 points on EQ for 0% reporting.  IMHO everyone should baseline their scores at 0% (if possible) and then experiment with adding a small amount  ( 1%, PIF'able) on a single card and see what happens.

[haulingthescoreup]

This is an older thread, from back in August, but a member posted today that when s/he had only one card, scores were higher with a $0 balance than with either low or high util.

You said you have "another card on the way" --have you already apped and then been approved?

I'd probably go ahead and PIF this card to where it reports $0. But whichever you do, as long as your one card isn't showing super-high util, I don't think that there'll be that much of a point difference. And if you're not apping immediately for some sort of loan that is score-driven (a mortgage, for instance), it's probably not that big of a deal.

IF you want to maximize scores:

Once you have two cards, have one report $0 and the other some token amount, like $10, and then pay it off well before the due date. It is so, so easy to miss that second step and risk a late.

But if you aren't torturing your scores the way some of us do (out of boredom in my case, lol), just use them and pay them off responsibly. Don't ever carry a balance. If a lender requires interest out of me, they're out of luck. They'll have to survive on the merchant fees I generate whenever I make purchases.

[Beautifull]

Thanks a lot for all of your responses!!  :-) 

My current card is a NFCU secured card $500 cl and the other card, that I have been approved for is an Orchard gold card.  I am unsure of the limit.

My goal is to apply for a mortgage within the next year or so, so I am trying to get the scores up as soon as I can.  I know that it will take time and patience but, I want to know that I am doing all that I can to maximize my points. 

I welcome any and all help!!!!! 

Have a GREAT weekend

Beautifull :-)