 TITLE: How Important Is Credit Card Utilization to Your Credit Score? CONTENT: Monitor Your Credit and Utilization\n-----------------------------------\nWhile credit card utilization is an important scoring factor, you shouldn't let the fear of high utilization keep you from using your credit cards when you need to. If it's for an emergency purchase that you need to pay off over time, focus on paying down the balance as quickly as possible. Or, if it's because you want to earn rewards and use the cardholder protections, you can pay down your card's balance early. Whatever the case may be, you can monitor your Experian credit report for free and quickly check your overall and per-account utilization rates. END