+13 votes
by (3.4k points)
Question about credit card usuage. From what I have gathered it is best to keep credit cards below 30%. Is this total for all cards combined or each individual card? Example. I have 3 credit cards with a max of $1, 000 each. Do I keep each card below $300 or just make sure the total is below $900? Thanks for any feedback.  
Question about credit card usuage.

12 Answers

+10 votes
by (4.4k points)
Are you talking about how much you owe on each card or how much you have you can use in each card?  
by (3.4k points)
@incogitable usuage. Talking about total balance
by (4.4k points)
@undersea you shouldn't have a balance on credit cards. Where did u get 30% from? Cc are wealth killers. Do you mean to say your aim would be to have 30% of credit card limit on balance at end of each month? They will charge you interest on that balance.  
+13 votes
by (700 points)
My goal would just be to purchase one thing on each card, to be paid off every month. Keep them active but practically no balance.  
+6 votes
by (610 points)
The scores are influenced at an individual card level — so aiming to keep each one under 30%. This is a flaw in the calculation in my opinion. I have several credit cards that I rarely use and then one or two primary ones which means I can be close to 30% on those some months, but am never anywhere near 30% total of all my credit lines. Unless I’m about to apply for a new loan I don’t worry too much about going over 30% on a card since I always pay the statement balance so any small dip in my score recovers the following month. Now if you were to go try to get a loan they will care more about the total debt you currently have and what the monthly payment would be of your debt (even if you pay your credit cards off each month). Plus they obviously factor in your score for your credit worthiness which again is influenced on your utilization of each card.  
+4 votes
by (580 points)
Keep it that way
+7 votes
by (720 points)
The 30% utilization is a credit score measure. Once your total credit card utilization creeps up over 30% you will start to see negative impacts on your credit score. And next to “on time payments” it’s one of the biggest impacts on your credit score so it’s fairly important to stay below 30% utilization across all of your active credit scores. That said, I agree with the other comments. It’s obviously best not to carry a balance if you can manage.  
+9 votes
by (11.5k points)
As long as you can pay off the balance IN FULL every month, it does not matter.  
+6 votes
by (3.4k points)
Thanks for all the feedback. We are keeping our balances at 0. It was more of a random question I had.  
+5 votes
by (990 points)
We’ve taken advantage of 0% interest for a year offers in which we went to near 100% utilization on a card for that period but then paid it off by the end of it. It definitely impacts credit score but it’s so minor if everything else is good that it doesn’t make a noticeable impact for getting approved for bigger loans at good rates, like mortgages.  
by (3.4k points)
@marriott this is something we are working up to. Slow and steady for us
0 votes
by (6.6k points)
Total utilization. But if you have tons of debt on each card, getting each down to 30% should be the goal.  
+8 votes
by (6.8k points)
If you stay below 30% on each card, you will keep you below 30% total also  
by (410 points)
@spencer8887 obviously, but what is better? 3 cards at 30% or 2 cards at 0% and one at 90%? Clearly neither is ideal because you're carrying a balance.  
by (3.4k points)
@spencer8887 thanks buddy
by (6.8k points)
@liqueur Individual Usage AND Total Usage are both factors, so 3 cards at 30% is far better than 2 at 0% and 1 at 90%.  
+7 votes
by (1.9k points)
Each card. But it only matters on your statement date when the company reports. Credit hack= just before your statement date make a payment to bring your utilization down to the desired %. Pay the remaining balance on the due date.  
+10 votes
by (7.6k points)
It is "best" to keep them low as possible. Some theories are that once you hit 30% usage the numbers really start to hurt your credit score.  
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