@Anonymous wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:
I just paid down my Propel on a 0%. I let it report 99.9961% lol. I had the high balance at 9,999.61 on a 10k CL. It reported over 99% for 3 months. As a result, I got a 2K CLI. Ran it up to about $11,600, because I was never worried about it.
But, I have a long card history with large limits. I lost about 40 pts on my scores, but that still put me near 800. Once you are able to establish a long history, % utilized reported won't matter much.
By maxing out my card, I was able to earn interest on my purchases until the 0% rate expired.
Back in 2007 when CCC deposited funds to your checking account with no fee and a 0% rate (sounds crazy today), I ran up 90K of free money earning interest. Not sure what my utilization was back then, but it could have topped 70%. I didn't even think about it back then, but it probably wasn't too smart on my part. Didn't get a CLD, or any hint of any card companies getting nervous. But those were very different times.
Keep improving your credit and you'll never have to think about what balance amount gets reported, even if you max out a card.
Well with my income, it would definitely concern my lenders if I maxed out a $10K card but I get your point.
I do not think my profile is actually that fragile with any of my lenders except AMEX -- and even then it's only because they don't know me very well yet. I mean $18K income is nothing yet even with a BK on my record and so much new credit that FICO has moved credit seeking to my number three reason code on FICO 8, I still have 720 scores and more than 5 times my income in total limits. As for thickness, even with all my seeking behaviors I still have 2y AAoA.
I think it's much more getting comfortable with letting things report than anything else. Even before my BK I never let myself max out a card. It's very unlikely I will ever be okay with more than 80% reporting but I can see myself being comfortable with anything up to 68.9% eventually.
With a limited history and a BK, you don't want to report too many cards with balances, especially high utilization. But once that BK ages and falls off, it should be no problem.
You should report some utilization each month that shows you pay off balances. And mix them up with different cards.
Another reason I like to run up utilization is the high balance attribute on a card. I have no idea what formula they use for calculating FICO scores, but I have a hunch that high balance is used in some small way. If not with scores, maybe with CLs. If a card company sees a low current balance and a high balance number from the past, they may be more comfortable with CLIs.
With Chase, I had an initial 19,100 CL with them. Ran my 0% up to 18,900. Paid it in full and got an automatic bump to 23,600 within 1 or 2 cycles.
Hoping Wells Fargo follows suit with a CLI.
Other than that its an OCD thing. Unless youre striving for a specific short-term goal or it's part of a viscious downward spiral, I don't see the benefit of burning some life expectancy days over it.
