Credit card percentage for $1500 credit

[Athens 101]

Hello friends,

pls move if not in the right forum. 

My credit score is out after 6 months with a score of 759. My $200 security disposit, according to the email I received has been sent back to me by mail in form of a cheque. Right now, my credit has increased to $1500.

My question is; what percentage do I spend in order to have my credit score increase more and not decrease. 

Can I make a purchase twice in a month and pay off before the due date or make a purchase once in a month. 

I ve already spent $38 from the $1500 because I didn’t know my credit increased. 

Thank you all

[Ontarkie 14,218]

~~Moved to Taxes and Finances, from AOS Family~~

[Coco8 1,042]

As a rule of thumb, you want to pay your credit card in full each month and try not to regularly spend over 30% of your credit line. A year from now, try to have your line increased maybe to 3,000 or more. Even if you are not spending that much money, having the possibility of spending more will be on your favor. 

 

Eventually, you also need credit history. So you could have a second credit card a year from now. Then, you could have a car loan. 

 

I have 9 years of credit history and 770 of credit score, but they denied me a car loan because I needed 3 credit lines. I went someone else and got a better deal in the car loan anyway. But the thing is, it is not just only about the credit score, but having multiple "credit lines" and using them too. So you cannot have the credit card and not use it. You can put utilities on the credit card to have something on it every month. 

 

Hope that helps.

 

 

[Athens 101]

9 hours ago, Coco8 said:

As a rule of thumb, you want to pay your credit card in full each month and try not to regularly spend over 30% of your credit line. A year from now, try to have your line increased maybe to 3,000 or more. Even if you are not spending that much money, having the possibility of spending more will be on your favor. 

 

Eventually, you also need credit history. So you could have a second credit card a year from now. Then, you could have a car loan. 

 

I have 9 years of credit history and 770 of credit score, but they denied me a car loan because I needed 3 credit lines. I went someone else and got a better deal in the car loan anyway. But the thing is, it is not just only about the credit score, but having multiple "credit lines" and using them too. So you cannot have the credit card and not use it. You can put utilities on the credit card to have something on it every month. 

 

Hope that helps.

 

 

Ok thank you. 

What if I am not able to use up to 30% and use between 5% and 10% monthly

 

since I made a purchase already when I thought it was still same amount I had earlier, can I make purchases twice in a month? 

Edited May 12, 2018 by Athens

[zilchfox 296]

1 hour ago, Athens said:

Ok thank you. 

What if I am not able to use up to 30% and use between 5% and 10% monthly

 

since I made a purchase already when I thought it was still same amount I had earlier, can I make purchases twice in a month? 

Anything between 1% - 29% is fine, the lower within this range the better.

0% will lower your score, because it potentially shows you don’t need credit

30%+ will also lower your score (even more), because it shows that maybe you can’t handle it.

 

Keep at least a 1% balance every closing period across all credit cards consolidated, and once the closing date has passed, go ahead and pay off the card. It’s okay to be at 0% until you’re nearing the closing period, then you’ll want to make sure you’re sitting at least 1% again before the closing period.

 

I’ve been trying to build my credit for quite some time, and I think I nailed what you need to do. My credit history is 1 year, 3 months in the U.S., however I have a credit score of 785 and a max credit limit of $14,000 spread out amongst SEVEN credit cards, and a car loan worth $19K at a 6% APR (not the greatest, but not too bad either). I only use one of the cards (max $4K by itself, but it’s my cashback card so I use it constantly), the other 6 are completely paid off and sitting in a sock drawer, never touched. Sometimes logging into the bank portals will present you with automatic pre-approvals without needing to check your credit score, I personally always go for these since I feel I have good dicipline in making sure I don’t overspend and I know that having more accounts on file with good history will only help boost my score even further. Aside from my car, I have no debt on any of my cards, as I do pay off that one card I do actually use every month.

 

Lately I’ve been getting mortgage offers, although I don’t plan on buying a house anytime soon.

[arken 4,197]

1 hour ago, Athens said:

Ok thank you. 

What if I am not able to use up to 30% and use between 5% and 10% monthly

 

since I made a purchase already when I thought it was still same amount I had earlier, can I make purchases twice in a month? 

You are overthinking a lot for sure....

you don’t have to use up to 30%. It is suggested to use less that 30% for better score. Even if you use just 2% one month and 10% other month, you are fine.

 

you can make as many purchases as you want in a month (or billing period) as long as you keep the usage less than 30%. 

 

Don’t sweat if you use 50% or more if needed once a while. Just pay it asap and you would be fine. 

 

 

[Athens 101]

Ok thank you all for your contributions. I am not overthinking but trying to make sure I am in the right track like I did when I got the $200 secured credit card. Don’t forget I heed to your previous advice to get to where I am today. It’s a good thing to see that the advise I received worked. Now that my credit line is increased to $1500 with a good credit score of 759, I want to make sure I keep it up. 

Since I can use it twice or more but within the 30% maximum which I don’t think I can even use up to that, I have decided to use it for gas only and two purchases in a month or 1 time gas purchase and some other if need be. 

 

I am grateful guys. I will stick to 30% down. I used 2.5% already to purchase gas. I may use additional 1% - 2% this month and if need be, more.

 

if you still have more advise, whether past experience, any other good system of utilization etc, pls let me know. 

 

One more thing guys, how can I stop other credit card company from sending me pre-approved offers? 

Edited May 12, 2018 by Athens

[JD2017 34]

Here is a link for information on pre-screened credit offers and opting out...

 

https://www.consumer.ftc.gov/articles/0148-prescreened-credit-and-insurance-offers