Workshop Twelve

Utilization isn’t just about your total balances—it’s also about how those balances are distributed across your individual accounts and when they are reported.

Advanced strategies can include spreading balances across multiple cards, paying high-usage accounts down before the statement date, and keeping one small balance reporting while others show zero, depending on your goals.

These moves don’t replace the fundamentals—paying on time and staying out of debt— but they can give your score an extra lift when you’re preparing for major approvals.