 TITLE: Understanding Your Credit Card Balance CONTENT: How a High Credit Card Balance Affects Your Credit Score\n--------------------------------------------------------\nYour credit utilization ratio is the amount of revolving credit you're currently using divided by the total amount of revolving credit available to you. The less of your available revolving credit you use, the better it is for your credit score. Using too much of your available credit could indicate you are having trouble managing your money and are relying on credit cards to pay your bills.\nHow much is \"too much,\" exactly? The FICO® Score☉ and VantageScore® models recommend keeping your total credit utilization ratio under 30%, but the lower, the better. That means if you have a credit card with a $10,000 limit, you should keep the balance below $3,000. Since credit utilization can account for up to 30% of your credit score, depending on the scoring model that's used, it's important to keep this ratio under control. The best way to do that is to pay off your balance in full each month. END