Question on credit score and credit card balances.

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I just paid off all my credit cards today.

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congrats

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to maximize your credit score, you want to keep a small balance on there just to show them they are making a little money off of you while at the same time showing you can pay it off.

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Wrong. No revolving balance is best for you. Charge a little bit every month (like gas or dinner one night) and pay it off when the bill comes in.

Part of your credit score is % of credit used so keeping a balance, however small, will decrease that % and thus, decrease your credit score.

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I just paid off all my credit cards today

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I had some older friends who said to maximize your credit score, you want to keep a small balance on there just to show them they are making a little money off of you while at the same time showing you can pay it off

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MYTH: Paying my credit card charges early helps my credit score.

FACT: There’s nothing on your credit report that shows when a bill is paid, only whether it was paid on time.

A good credit score is the result … not the goal. It’s not how much you make, it how much you keep. Don't give any of your income away to pay interest charges to a credit card company for the sake of "improving" your credit score.

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I just paid off all my credit cards today. However, I had some older friends who said to maximize your credit score, you want to keep a small balance on there just to show them they are making a little money off of you while at the same time showing you can pay it off. So, which is better, a $0 balance or a small balance, which they suggested around $50-$100?

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I'm in the process of building a house and wanted to maximize my FICO score. I researched and found that (though everyone's situation may be different) the FICO scoring models supposedly are designed to give you the highest score when you keep a zero balance on all open credit cards and between 1 and 9% balance on ONE card. I've tried keeping a small balance on all cards, zero balance on all cards, over 10% on one card, etc. over the past several months. I found that having a zero balance on all my cards except one and a small (less than 10% balance) on that one resulted in the highest FICO score. As soon as I close on this house, I'm paying that one off and won't keep a balance on any cards. There's no reason to keep a balance reporting unless you are trying to maximize your FICO score for a purchase.