DON'T Use 0% Credit Card Utilization - Here's Why

Agree 💯, thanks for the video!

One thing I have seen is when I pay off my Chase balance to zero, within a couple days it reports the new zero balance no matter where I am in the payment cycle. I noticed this when I started getting alerts from my various credit monitoring services. I mean literally, I would get my bill, and it would report that statement balance. The next weekend I would pay my total current balance. By mid-week, I would start getting alerts that Chase reported I had paid off my balance. If I had just paid my statement balance, it probably would not have reported the new balance. I'm really not interested in experimenting to find out. I just know to handle my accounts properly, I am better off paying the full current balance when I go online to pay my bills. That's just my preference and it has worked for me.

Thank you so much!!

Thank you for another great video! It is easy to see how people can get confused. Real world experience can clear the confusion!

A lot our lost cause you gotta use the card to show You’re using available credit responsibility if you’re showing zero how would they know if you’re using the credit That’s available too you

You are right! I kept a zero percent Utilization for years and my score either never moved or went up a point or 2. It when up only because a few inquires fell off or I got a score a Credit limit (CL) increase.

2 credit card companies had my cards canceled for zero utilization. They were American Express and Capitol One. I don't care. I pay my bills on time. No worries...😁💰

Do you pay off the balance once the bill comes and it’s reported or immediately after using your credit card?

4% is key, well key to me because everyone’s story is different. I’ve seen an increase on my personal profile when reporting 2-4% sometimes. While keeping it at 0 my score didn’t even move. Also asked for a credit increase with a credit card I barely ever use, they hit me back with a denial and the reason was I don’t use enough of the available credit 🙃

Thank YOU!!!! The best advice I’ve heard. I’m against the utilization talk. I figured out what works for MY credit profile. New Sub!

This is so 💯 correct. The perfect utilization is between 1-4%.

Thank u so much for the golden nuggets ... I'm going to apply this info

Do companies round up? Example CL is $18,000. But balance is $1,000.

2 to 4% is grand for every month to be reported 1% will get you a good boost 0% and it will drop bad especially with equifax they don't like 0% they will say no usage of credit they will drop you some points fo sho lol.

A 0 percent utilization will not increase your score at all. 1-8 percent utilization is ideal. You want to show the credit bureaus that you're using your credit card responsibly

Why not just get a charge card that doesn’t report utilization ? Then you can load it and use all the money no problem and it gets paid off in full monthly automatically. Still getting credit the legit way with less worries.

I think u are 100% right, I heard this b4. I fluctuate between 0-10 (even though I never been at 10)

I think you have to do ur own homework on ur own credit. but like I said b4, I believe u r 💯 %correct!!! I get cards that work in my budget and don’t see the need for no more than four cards. Just remember, some banks and/or credit cards is not interested in helping u. credit one can hurt good if not careful.

You are 100% correct. I’ve been using 1% utilization ever since I got my credit card 5 years ago and was able to build an 800+ credit score like you. I accidentally used 0% utilization 3 or 4 times and every single time my score dropped 30+ points by the next report. When I went back to using 1% my score return to what it was previously by the next month.

2% on all your credit cards and you are golden

Just on the topic of utilization I don't think just being under a certain amount constinuously works. For example I had an 8% utilzation one month then I thought I would test out paying it off next month to a zero. Then by doing that I have to go up so I went from zero to 4% and my score dropped 3 points. So just being under is not the key. I'm going to test it but I'm thinking starting somewhere like a 30% utilization then drop it every month by 2 or 3% so it can take 6 months or so and get it down to 2% or something then start over again at least you'll have 6 months or so of your credit going up and 1 month of it dropping when you restart. The way the bureau sees it if I have a $50 balance and the next month it drops to $45 then it's good but if it goes back up to $50 even if you're keeping it under 10% they see it as a higher balance and your credit goes down. That's my recent experience and I'll be testing my theory.

Call your credit card company to find out your statement date , 4-5 days before the statement date pay the card to a 1% -3% utilization

Leaving a balance adds interest. 0 does work for me at least.🥰

The key is to pay it off every month. Also, use is good, and under 10% is so correct.

My credit utilization as a total for all my cards ranges from 3-5% according to Experian and this range works better for me than just showing 0 utilization. Like you, I had to experiment to see what was best. So out of all my cards I pay all off except for two cards and leave less than 10% on those and then make sure the sum total Utilization on all my cards comes out to 3-5% monthly and it allows my score to increase each month... This is just my personal experience.. I watched John Ulzheimer, the renowned credit expert and he explained that most people in the excellent range keep a total utilization around 7%. So I shoot for less than 7%.. You are so right WYS about testing out your own formula that works best for you. Thanks again for your great informative videos WYS!

Thank you for explaining the difference between 0% utilization and paying off in full. This has me a bit confused 🙏🏽

So after I spent 10% of my credit should I pay the balance before the due date or when I receive my statement?

So I paid my $76 annual fee before my due date which is February 8 so my statement date is February 12 should I charge my card $8 an let it report or

I like ur voice! Thanks for the video ❤❤❤

Im a bit confused still. I use my credit cards and I never don’t go over 30% or sometimes over 10%. My due dates for my 2 cards are the 4th for the first one and 14th for the second one. I pay it in full obviously but after I pay it off, I wait for the billing cycle to end. For my 1st one its the 10th of each month, and for the second card its the 19th of each month. I wait for the cycle to end and then I use my cards again, then the statement summary always reports a $0 Balance. Is it good or bad that I do this? Is the 5th-10th is my grace period for my first cc and 15th-19th for my second cc? Please I would love some info on this topic more.

I’ve actually seen my results being better by carrying a small balance on my cards which is showing the card companies I’m using the card which in turn makes them money yet keeping the balances very low below 10% utilization and showing I’m using my 20 credit cards responsibly. My scores fluctuate from 770-826. Also proving it doesn’t matter how many cards you have, it’s all about how they are handled. Keep doing your think! Great videos!! Thanks

I paid my balance full and my credit score dropped by 8 points now I’m at a 776 credit score

So if in one month I got up to 6% utilization and paid it all down before the statement came out, does that mean it’s 0% or is my utilization still 6%?

0% has always been better for me.

I've tested this many times (on purpose AND on accident) 1% utilization has ALWAYS dropped my score for 1 month (yes. Paid ON-TIME, but sometimes just AFTER the closing-date).. As SOON as a new billing & credit scoring cycle occurs (after going back to 0%), my credit ALWAYS went back up. Either I'm an exception, or the so-called experts & bloggers are wrong. THEE ONLY THING that I've seen negative from keeping my utilization at 0% is a credit card may not want to give me a credit line increase at a certain time and ONE of the reasons for a denial will show "NOT ENOUGH UTILIZATION'

Does the utilization matters if you pay off the balances in full and on time?

You suggest a low utilization, below 1%. Does it mean that you use the card only to 10%, or that you could use the card even at 50% but before the statement closure date you take it down to 10%?

I did not used my credit cards for a whole month to try a 0% utilization and my credit score went down 10 points!

While it’s true that 0 % utilization is not ideal, all your cards should not report to the bureaus monthly with balances. I carry a balance on only one card, perhaps 5%-8%. The rest of my cards I don’t feel the need to carry balances. This probably gives my overall utilization around 1%. I pay this balance after it reports and before finance charges kick in. And, yes, they is a way to know when your card reports.

I see more people talking about 30% than 10%. I want to hear more people talking about under 10%. 💯💯💯👑👑👑

What happens if your credit report reports 0% with you spending 1 dollar for example out of a 2500 credit limit?

I subbed bro, thanks for the clarity on this subject 📊♻️

I’m trying it out this month with money on it on all cards. Last month I did one card with like 20 cents and it was written off while I had went over my limit for one card as an experiment, it’s like if you went 100% on your limit the drop in credit score despite reporting all together under 20%.

for me, what works best when the credit card company reports 0%. I usually leave a credit before I use it on my credit card account so it can report 0% to the credit bureau if there is a balance one month next month 0% balance my credit score went down by close to 40 points. I believe it has to be reporting a balance every time or has 0% balance every time. It is not good. Have it report a balance once or a zero balance it has wild swings Lots of points upwards, lots of points downwards.

Now I have a card at $44,000. Do I really have to have a 1% utilization on that card?

Thanks for those gems

i thought you was talking about vsomething else

I hit 0% this month and my fico 8 dropped 13 points, bad news for sure

The strategy you are speaking of worked for me. The 0% utilization didn’t work. I do however utilize my credit cards that have a smaller limit when I need to raise my credit score.