@Anonymous wrote:So... Is it safe to assume it's best to carry a 3-9% balance on at least half your cards?
Your assumption is very close actually. 
Having 3 cards, my EQ gain was the biggest zeroing the first card, which means more than half of my cards were still reporting a plus balance. That's different with TU in that being down to the last card having a plus balance gave the biggest gain, which would also explain why TU more so than EQ penalized me for arriving at the overall $0 baseline.
DW has 4 cards reporting, which means the halfway point, 2 cards, could be noted. Her EQ provided nice gains zeroing the first card and also the second, but less at zeroing the third. With TU, the smallest gain of the three steps was in zeroing the second card. So zeroing the first was a nice gain, and leaving one with a plus balance was a nice gain, which roughly correlates with my cards.
All of this addresses neither the utilization (overall and of individual cards) nor the (remaining) dollar totals on the various cards. It does however take into consideration (to the extent I'm aware of it) other minor variables whose gains and losses I have put aside (no rebucketing, but there was slight aging, and we each got an inquiry at some point).
The personal or general experiences of others may differ some or radically. While the validity of those (and mine) may be depend on how detailed they are recorded haha, it goes without saying there's bound to be some variance, even with people within the same rough score range (we're in the so-called excellent category).
Looking into the near future, we have two situations that bring about plus balances on one card each for each of DW and me. I didn't plan it that way, but that's ok. One card only will come soon enough. (A Discover for each of us will report for the first time before or after an Amex we share which is slow in reporting.)
Anyway, the whole standstill of the $0 baseline with utilization out of the way brought all of our scores pretty close to each other. For both of us, EQ is 3 points higher than TU. She's 11 points higher than where I'm at. So what about EX? You can't purchase Beacon 05, but I was willing to settle for Beacon 09. All three for both us were within a small range. Six points for her, five points for me. My EX was in the middle, lowest for her. EQ was best for both of us.
Which model is the standard? Looking at the FICOs for our refinance last fall, the EQs were Beacon 05, but the TUs were the TU 04 of most mortgage lenders while myFICO uses TU 98. The EXs were FICO II, earlier than both FICO III and FICO 08 (Beacon 09 in EQ speak).
Our Beacons 09 vs 05 were consistent. 09 was 6 points lower for my EQ, 4 points for DW's. 8 points lower for my TU, 3 points for DW's. I may want to run the comparison again later, just once more, when we have some steady utilization. Our TU 98s are likely to soar based on our experience, less so with the rest.
Correction: The mentioned Beacon 09 that I pulled yesterday was really an Equifax Credit Score (280-850). Had me going there for a bit.
@haulingthescoreup wrote:Most of us find that we do better to have balances on fewer than half, not more.
Yup, that's why all OP had to do was to turn his truck around. 
What I focused on at the time was that both ends of the road are of interest. You zero the first card, which may result in a significant gain. You zero the last card, which may result in a significant loss.
I have 11 open revolving accounts, including a line of credit, and I aim for 1 with a balance, or 2 at the most. After that, both scores start going down. When my scores were lower, as in the 700-720 range, I think I could get away with 3 on EQ before I saw a score drop.
I was wondering if you recall the point increases for each card that you zeroed.The pattern would be most useful, I think.
Could you please enlighten me on the definition of "balance" as used on the board? I thought it was the unpaid portion of one's statement from the previous month - which would generate interest due on the account. For that reason, I never leave that kind of balance. If I were to charge $3000 one month and pay only $2990 in order to leave a $10 balance, I would be hit with something like $50 in interest charges. However, if "balance" refers to the amount on one's account at any given time, then I do try to have a small balance on the statement every month, paying it off the day after the statement is issued. (I believe this is what you said you have been doing since Dec 09 - paying off all but $10 BEFORE the statement is issued). Since I still can't get my score to move up, I am considering overpaying every account for a couple of months so that the statements all show a credit (positive) balance. I Can't wait to see what, if anything, happens to my score then.
Starting Score: 777
Okay, wait. Let me get this straight. I just PIFd all my cards. Then, my CapOne MC ($500 CL) showed a $4 balance, I think, and my Orchard Bank VISA (CL $300) showed a $14 plus change balance. I paid the $4 balance today after everyone reported and my scores had gone up (quite a lot). Are you saying I should have left that tiny "statement balance" in place until next month? I was afraid it would push me into a late-pay situation. My CC bills are all due near the end/beginning of the month -- the 30th, 31st, 1st, or so. Other cards include IKEA $500 CL, Lowes Project Card (revolving line, not credit card) $2K, and Wal-Mart $700. There are a couple of other cards I'm authorized to use but really never use anymore, and some show on EX but not on TU/EQ anymore.
Starting Score: 550Not sure I'm reading you right, but if those $4 and $14 balances were owed by you (as opposed as credits owed TO you), then yes, you absolutely have to pay them off. If they show on the statement, they have to be paid, or the minimum has to be paid, by the due date, even if you paid a thousand bucks before the statement posted.
Forgetting to finish paying them off is an excellent way to shoot yourself in the foot. 
@haulingthescoreup wrote:
Forgetting to finish paying them off is an excellent way to shoot yourself in the foot.
I have all my cards set to automatically pay in full by the due date. Just to make sure there's money in the checking to cover it.
I took a 12 point hit for no balances. 