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TIL my friend thought a 30% credit card balance was 'good' for his score
We were talking about buying a new TV and he said he keeps his card at about $1,500 out of a $5,000 limit on purpose. He thought using a lot of his available credit showed he was a 'good customer'. I had to explain that using more than 30% of your limit can actually hurt your score, and under 10% is the real sweet spot. I showed him my own score jump 40 points last year just by paying my cards down before the statement date. Has anyone else had to gently correct a friend on a basic credit rule like this?
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davidkim5mo ago
I believed the same thing until my score tanked.
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pat7815mo ago
That's a tough break, but it doesn't mean the method is wrong for everyone. Sometimes a score drop is just a temporary glitch or bad luck. Have you looked at what specifically changed before the tank happened?
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beth2765mo ago
Actually found that tracking daily practice questions helped spot patterns before big drops.
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robert6594mo ago
lol @davidkim I feel that in my soul. One time I tracked my practice scores for two weeks straight and the only pattern I spotted was that I apparently do worse after eating Chipotle. Real scientific breakthrough there, right? Like cool I found out I shouldn't eat a burrito before a mock exam but that doesn't exactly help me with the actual material lmao. But hey at least we're consistent with our bad luck patterns right david?
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