What percentage should I keep my utilization under? I heard 30%, but some say no more than 50%?

[Anonymous]

My total available credit is showing 6450, but have since increased limit on 3 credit cards (in order to lower my utilization), so what percentage should I try to pay down so I can get a score boost? Half?

[Anonymous]

As much as possible to 1% on 1 card only. But if that's unrealistic, start by paying down as much as you can your balances so that not one card is over 30%. Then pay them off and keep them at 0 until you have only 1 card reporting at 1%. That's in case you want the maximum score possible for your file when you want to apply for a mortgage, Auto loan, etc.

[SouthJamaica]

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@Anonymous wrote:

My total available credit is showing 6450, but have since increased limit on 3 credit cards (in order to lower my utilization), so what percentage should I try to pay down so I can get a score boost? Half?

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My understanding is that the big cutoffs are 50%, 30%, and 10%, so that you'd want to get all your cards under 50%, then start moving them down to below 30%, then start moving to below 10%.

And I'm told that the best way to maximize the utilization impact on your FICO score at any given moment is to have one card posting at below 10%, and the others at zero balance.