Hello everyone,
I am currently shooting to have my credit cards under 9% Utilization.
My strategy is to have only 1 card report with a balance and the rest to report zero.
Would it be smart to stick with the same card that reports a balance or could you change it up a bit. For example if I have my capital one report under 9% then I have the rest of my cards report 0. Then for the next month could I have my US Bank secured card report 9% then the rest report zero. Will this swapping hurt my score at all?
Oh ok I see , thank you very much for the info!
First off, congratulations on getting started with 4 cards to rebuild. You have some tools now you can use for that rebuild.
Second, since you are rebuilding, I think your main objective isn't necessarily to play the "all cards at zero except one at 10%", at least not every month. Instead, my suggestion would be to just go ahead and use the CapOne and US Bank cards to their limit, pay frequently, make sure you pay in full by the payment due date, but most importantly, not worry about what shows up on the statement each month. With a $200 limit and a $300 limit, just pay them down when you get close to the limit, and keep on using them. Using these two cards heavily will be one of the best things you can do for your long term credit, not because of your credit score now, but because of the higher limit, decent rewards cards that are in your future with Capital One and US Bank after you have shown responsible use with these two cards. If I were you, I would not worry at all what my FICO score was, just use these cards heavily, pay them frequently, and let time take care of the rest.
As far as switching between CapOne and US Bank, be aware that US Bank reports a few days after the 1st of the month, not based on your statement cut date. Capital One reports a few days after statement cut. So in order to do any swapping between these two cards, both cards are going to have to report in some overlap period. This may or may not have any impact at all on your score, but if you mis-time which card is picking up to report, and you get zero cards reporting anything, there may be some score decline until the next card gets to a statement print and report.
Open Sky, I'm not as familiar with, but if there are fees or instant interest cost, use and pay immediately. I know with Credit One, you are only allowed a few payments per month, so ensuring your payments are "no fee" is important as well.
The issue with using the Fingerhut is, you want to be careful what you buy on the FH site. Go ahead and use it if there is something specific you would buy anyway. Otherwise, no use, is my suggestion.
So, FH should be zero most months, Open Sky probably used minimally, and CapOne and US Bank are likely reporting near their limits each month. In my opinion.
And if you want to prove me wrong, try the above for two months, then switch to trying to have just one card report 9% on the statement, and report back your results 
Thank you so much for the information, I really appreciate the feedback.
So you recommend me not to worry about the Utilization for now correct?
@evsports7 wrote:Thank you so much for the information, I really appreciate the feedback.
So you recommend me not to worry about the Utilization for now correct?
On the US Bank and the Capital One cards, that is correct, utilization should not be a concern for quite a while.
On cards with much higher limit, utilization is a concern. $200 and $300? no, use them up to the limit, PIF, rinse and repeat, multiple times a month if you want.