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@Anonymous wrote:Should I be worried about utilization if I'm not going to be applying for any credit in the foreseeable future? Just a little background, about 9 years ago, I had 5 credit cards that I maxed out and never paid off, along with other negatives on my credit, so my scores were low. About 2 months ago, I check my scores, and they're decent! As of today, my scores are 701 EX/718 EQ/733 TU. This is so suprising because I had quite a bit of debt, but I'm guessing everything fell off. Since I checked my scores, I've gotten 2 CC's, and I'm at a total utilization of around 29%. Since I'm back in the game with CC's and decent scores, I want to keep it that way. I don't see myself going over 40% utilization, nor do I plan on applying for credit anytime soon, so I don't necessarily need the best scores. If I keep it under 40%, will my scores stay decent?
Hello MrBoss! Glad you have joined the forums.
The thing that jumps out at me, as I read your post, is that it sounds like you are not pulling your reports. You are pulling your scores, and from them you're guessing what might or might not have happened on your reports.
I think everyone here would advise you not to guess. Pull the reports themselves and start getting acquainted with what's on them. If you need help on how to pull your reports for free every month,we'll be happy to give that to you.
You are probably right that your reports are now completely clean, if all that bad stuff happened 9+ years ago (not even a single late since then). But the reports are the way to know for sure.
Also, you mention pulling your scores but I don't think you mention what tool you are using to pull your scores. Credit Karma? Credit Check Total? myFICO? Knowing that will help us advise you better.
Finally, a lot of us are assuming that you are not paying off your cards in full each month. But just because your utilization is 40% (say) that doesn't mean you are not paying the full balance on the statement after it prints. Can you tell us whether you are paying in full? As BBS mentions, paying in full is definitely the smart move for a lot of reasons.
I tend to agree with TT that, even if you are paying in full, your creditors might like it better if your total utilization was under 29%. But the key issue (which you rightly identify) is the fact that you feel certain you won't be applying for credit. When that is the case you have greater freedom about your utilization.
I pulled the actual reports. The scores I got directly from the credit bureaus. I also get TU and EX scores from 2 of my credit cards. Since my post, my EX score has gone up 25 points. Probably because I got another card so my utilization is lower. I also just got a $800 auto increase on my Discover card and then a manual $1700 increase, so that will also help my utilization. In regards to how I pay, I pay $100-150 on each card each card.