Poll of the Day > When you're first using your credit card you're supposed to only use 10%

(+) Yeah! (+)

of your max credit and the money has to be used on gas or bills. Using any more will drop your credit score. Buying something at the mall will lower your credit score even if you paid on time.
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Sounds worthless, then. My bills are going to be more than 10%...
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Beveren_Rabbit posted...

Buying something at the mall will lower your credit score even if you paid on time.

Huh?
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thats not a thing
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Where did you read that?
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The percentage of your credit that you are using WILL affect your credit score, and sometimes by a lot, but only temporarily. If you pay off the bill, your credit will bounce back to where it was as long as your next bill is much smaller. You do not need to use your credit card to improve your credit score (however, the credit card company may close your account if it's idle too long, which will probably hurt your score big time)

What you purchase has no bearing on your credit score, but it might have an effect on your interest rates. If you're showing signs that you are under financial stress (buying lottery tickets, shopping at discount stores, buying booze), they might jack up your rates and maybe even cut your credit limit.

Other things that affect your credit score include: payment history (missing even a single payment can have a significant impact), negative marks (debt collection, bankruptcy, civil judgements, tax liens), average age of your open accounts (older is better, always keep your oldest credit card account open), total number of accounts (more is better, more different kinds of accounts like credit cards and loans is even better), and hard inquiries (that's where you apply for credit; it'll ding your score for about 3 months. Pre-screening inquiries or checking your own credit doesn't count against you)
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I try to pay off my credit card regularly during the month so the final bill at the end of the cycle is as low as possible. I spent $2500 using my credit card last month, but my statement was just $190. (And that's actually a bit high for me.)
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