How will 50% utilization affect score?

[Anonymous]

I am having surgery soon. It's going to cost what's left of my deductible, about $3k. I have two credit cards, one is OpenSky secured ($200) that I only use for Netflix subscription, and a Discover with a 6k credit line. I only have a balance of $275 on that card, so my utilization is very low. (My Discover card is It with cash back and it's a new card, so I have 0% interest for the next year.) If I put the entire balance of my surgery on my card, that will put my utilization at approximately 50%. Will that be hugely detrimental to my score? 

[ridgebackpilot]

Yes, you'll lose around 20-30 points when you increase your utilization to 50 percent.

But remember, that's temporary! As soon as you pay your cards down, your scores will go right back up. Fortunately, utilization has no memory. Many of us experience score fluctuations periodically due to rising or falling utilization.  Good luck!

[dacv01]

+1. The good news is this will bounce back once balance decreases. I am sitting at 50% currentl on CR and dropped 22 points when this was raised. Just paid down to below 30% so this will give me a good boost 

[AllZero]

Excellent advise from all of the above.

Finances over FICO. Take advantage of that 0% APR promo.

[Anonymous]

^^^ this. Plus, 48.9% is a scoring breakpoint. Pay Disco down to 48% (which would be a payment down to a balance of $2880), and you'll fall under that threshold and probably pick up 5 points or so right then.

[Harvey26]

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@Anonymous wrote:

I am having surgery soon. It's going to cost what's left of my deductible, about $3k. I have two credit cards, one is OpenSky secured ($200) that I only use for Netflix subscription, and a Discover with a 6k credit line. I only have a balance of $275 on that card, so my utilization is very low. (My Discover card is It with cash back and it's a new card, so I have 0% interest for the next year.) If I put the entire balance of my surgery on my card, that will put my utilization at approximately 50%. Will that be hugely detrimental to my score? 

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Have you thought about adding another card to the mix? What are your stats?

[blindambition]

All very good info. Luckily it's a Discover card. A lender who shouldn't get skittish with temporary increase. Try to at least double or triple min monthly payment though. Even more if possible. GL with procedure.

[Anonymous]

I'm at 59% on my CFU. Cost me about 27 pts. No biggie, I'll get them all back immediately when I PIF in June. 

[Anonymous]

OP, might I suggest going with a Discover CLI request first?  You said your current utilization is low on the card around maybe 5%, so you're in a good position to request one.  Have you tried for Discover CLIs in the past?  They can be hit or miss.  You could come away with a $1k-$2k CLI for example, which would then absorb some of that balance you plan to carry utilization wise, where you'd be sitting at 38%-43% instead of 50% using the numbers above as an example.  That's a full threshold lower and could possibly be accomplished with 30 seconds of time invested online.

[blindambition]

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@Anonymous wrote:

OP, might I suggest going with a Discover CLI request first?  You said your current utilization is low on the card around maybe 5%, so you're in a good position to request one.  Have you tried for Discover CLIs in the past?  They can be hit or miss.  You could come away with a $1k-$2k CLI for example, which would then absorb some of that balance you plan to carry utilization wise, where you'd be sitting at 38%-43% instead of 50% using the numbers above as an example.  That's a full threshold lower and could possibly be accomplished with 30 seconds of time invested online.

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I don't think that is an option. OP stated the Discover is new.