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- 3. Stay on top of things
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- Benefits
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- 22. Wingstop
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- Loss of use
- Get final approval
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- Global Entry or TSA PreCheck credit
- 17. Interior decorating
- 10. Vacation rentals
- Consider backup funding options
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- 12. Get paid to stream on Twitch
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- 16. Ice cream shop
- 3. Building a budget
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- Revolut
- 5. Focus on investing for the long-term
- 4. Minimize restaurant spending
- 18. Woodworking or furniture building
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- Vanguard Balanced Index Fund (VBIAX)
- Payday lenders
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- 1. Decide what type of investor you are.
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- Invest
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- 11. Electronics repair
- Gifting large sums of money to family
- 17. Dry cleaner
- Step 6: Find and maintain clients
- Cell phone protection coverage
- Pay off debt
- American Express® Green Card
- Winter storms
- Vanguard Growth Index Fund (VIGAX)
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- Happy hour
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- Trusts
- 18. Bookstore
- High-interest installment lenders
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- Perks that are the same across cards
- 5. Get discounts on entertainment
- Paying for vacations, cars or other stuff
- Vanguard Small Cap Index Fund (VSMAX)
- California young child tax credit (YCTC)
- 9. Become an Instagram influencer
- Our pick for: Maximized value
- 25. Anthropologie
- 6. Manage your stock portfolio
- Pay off debt
- 20. Clothing boutique
- Association of Professional Flight Attendants
- Avoid taking on more debt
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- 4. Saving money
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- 1. Pick which types of I bonds you want to buy
- Average car insurance costs after a speeding ticket
- Giving a laid-back loan
- Vanguard Total International Stock Index Fund (VTIAX)
- California child and dependent care tax credit
- 26. Banana Republic
- For credit scores of 690 or higher
- Current
- 6. Map out major purchases
- 21. Bed and breakfast
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- Wait to apply
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- 20. Floral shop
- Reasons to take pause before renting from RVshare
- Setting up joint bank accounts
- American Express® Gold Card
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- California adoption cost tax credit
- 2. Choose how much you want to invest.
- 27. DSW
- How to avoid the skim scam
- Repeat
- 22. Food truck
- 21. Gardening and landscaping
- 10. Monetize your Twitch channel
- Best insurance company for financial strength: Auto-Owners
- 2. Decide how much you want to invest in I bonds
- Step 7: Invest in advertising and expanding
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- 28. J. Crew Factory
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- 7. Restrict online shopping
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- 3. Gather your paperwork.
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- 23. Restaurant or cafe
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- 22. Nail salon and spa
- 29. Journeys
- 3. Figure out how long to keep your I bonds
- Wildfires
- 24. Craft brewery
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- 23. Photography
- 30. Madewell
- 8. Delay purchases with the 30-day rule
- Screen Actors Guild - American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA)
- 11. Sell your photography
- 4. Pick your investments.
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- FamZoo
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- 9. Get creative with gifts
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- Our pick for: Prime gaming
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- United Auto Workers (UAW)
- Selling bonds
- Best insurance company for discounts: Amica
- 15. Personal wellness
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- Best insurance company for discounts: Amica
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- 27. Landscape services
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- 27. Hardware store
- 33. Aveda
- 28. Pet grooming
- 12. Become a dog walker with Rover or Wag
- 5. Maximizing your credit cards
- Your house
- United Auto Workers (UAW) — Mack Trucks
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- 28. Catering company
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- 11. Reduce your gas usage
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- Your location
- Average annual car insurance costs for drivers with good vs. poor credit
- Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital
- 29. Real estate agency
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- Why we love Cruise America
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- You and your stuff
- 30. Massage therapist
- Coalition of Kaiser Permanente Unions
- 30. Event venue and planner
- 13. Sell unused gift cards
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- 12. Bundle cable and internet
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- Writers Guild of America (WGA)
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- Best insurance company for customer satisfaction: State Farm
- 13. Switch your cell phone plan
- 31. Nutritionist
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- 32. Veterinary office
- Best insurance company for customer satisfaction: State Farm
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- Our pick for: Target gaming purchases
- 38. Lancome
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- 6. Borrowing money
- 18. Consulting
- 14. List your spare bedroom on Airbnb
- 32. Personal trainer or fitness instructor
- 33. Food truck
- 39. Sephora
- 14. Reduce your electric bill
- 34. Health clinic
- 40. SmashBox
- How much is auto insurance for young drivers?
- 33. Beauty services
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- 35. Bakery
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- 15. Lower your student loan payments
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- 42. Ulta
- Best insurance company for military members: USAA
- Best insurance company for military members: USAA
- 15. Sell your gently used clothes
- 16. Cancel unnecessary subscriptions
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- 35. Tutor
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- Meet a local demand
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- 43. AMC Theatres
- 17. Refinance your mortgage
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- Our pick for: Walmart gaming purchases
- 44. Barnes & Noble
- Scout locations
- 16. Trade in old phones, electronics for cash
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- 18. Set savings goals
- 37. Senior care provider
- 21. Social media management
- 45. Redbox
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- 38. Interpreter or translator
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- Calculate the costs of starting a business
- 39. Housecleaning
- 17. Get a babysitting gig
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- 19. Track spending
- 22. Marketing copywriter
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- 7. Your credit score
- 40. Automotive repair
- 20. Pay off high-interest debt
- 23. Virtual assistant services
- 41. Handyman services
- 18. Rent out your car
- Our pick for: PlayStation purchases
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- 21. Keep savings in a high-yield savings account
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- 42. Dry cleaners
- 22. Create a 50/30/20 budget
- 43. Hardware store
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- 1. Do your research
- 19. Sign up for TaskRabbit
- 44. Self-storage business
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- 2. Get organized and make it official
- 45. Freelance copywriting and content creation
- 23. Shop consignment and thrift stores
- 46. Rideshare driver
- 20. Become a private tutor
- 3. Find the right financing
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- 47. Website development and design
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- 48. Sell clothes online
- Our pick for: Best Buy purchases
- 24. Join initiatives to get free items
- 21. Drive for Uber, Lyft
- 8. Taxes
- 49. SEO consultant
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- 25. Use car sharing services
- 22. Make deliveries for Amazon, Uber Eats
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- 9. Paying off debt
- 26. Stock up on household supplies when they’re cheap
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- 23. Find work as a housesitter
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- 27. Enjoy community events
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- Our pick for: Digital Microsoft Store purchases
- 24. Sign up to be a mystery shopper
- 28. Cash in on your birthday
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- 25. Put your drone to work
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- 10. Insurance
- Cheapest auto insurance in Florida for 60-year-olds with poor credit
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- 11. Investing
- Cheapest auto insurance in California for 60-year-old drivers with one at-fault crash
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- 12. Starting or running a business
- Cheapest auto insurance in Texas for 70-year-olds with poor credit
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- 13. Travel
- Cheapest auto insurance in Florida for 70-year-olds after a DUI
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- The NerdWallet Smart Money podcast
- Cheapest auto insurance in California for 70-year-old drivers after a DUI
- Auto insurance laws in California
- Low-income car insurance in California
Your credit utilization is simply the portion of your available credit you use, expressed as a percentage. It is the total of balances on all your credit cards divided by the total of all your credit limits. (It's also figured on a per-card basis.) This number is a big factor in your credit score — the less available credit you use, the better it is for your score.
Here’s how to keep your utilization low.
Why is having a low credit utilization important?
Paying your balances on time and in full every month is the best way to keep your score intact or build it. On the other hand, using a larger portion of your credit limit could do damage. Credit utilization accounts for around 20% to 30% of your credit scores.
But if a financial crisis means you have to lean on credit cards, take heart: Credit scores can rebound quickly once you're able to lower your utilization.
How to lower your credit utilization
1. Keep your charges on each card to a minimum
The simplest way to avoid losing credit score points for using too much of your limits is to watch how much you charge to each card. Make a habit of patrolling your online accounts to keep tabs on spending. If you are close to using 30% of your credit limit on one card, try to make a payment or switch to using another card.
Simply getting into the habit of paying twice per month instead of once could help you decrease your credit usage. Lower balances can save you interest if you carry a balance — and are good for your credit score regardless.
You can also monitor your per-card and overall credit utilization by viewing your credit score profile from NerdWallet.
2. Ask for higher credit limits
If it’s tough for you to avoid utilizing more than 30% of your available credit, another solution might be to request a credit line increase on your card or cards. Getting a credit limit increase might require you to call your card issuer or make the request online. Sometimes increases are offered automatically if you’ve had your card for a while and have a positive payment history, so be on the lookout for those offers when you log in to your account.
Another option to get a higher overall credit limit is to ask a friend or relative to add you as an authorized user on an established account. The primary user doesn't even have to give you a card or tell you the account number for your credit score to benefit. Do choose carefully: Being on the account of someone who is having problems with credit could affect your score, too. You want to be on an account showing good payment history, preferably with a high credit limit and consistently low credit utilization.
A higher overall credit limit could help you keep your credit utilization lower than it would be otherwise. This could make a big difference in your credit score. You can check your own credit to see the effect (and it won't hurt your score).
3. Set up balance alerts to stay on top of spending
If you find yourself consistently overspending, setting up balance alerts can help keep your spending in check.
Sign up with your credit card issuer to receive alerts via text message or email. You can choose to be alerted when the balance reaches a certain amount or percentage of your credit limit. Your goal is to keep the balance below 30%.
4. Pay your bill before your issuer reports to the credit bureaus
Most credit card issuers report your balance and payment activity to the credit bureaus once every 30 days. However, this doesn’t necessarily coincide nicely with when your bill is due. If your issuer reports a few days before the end of your billing cycle, you’ll consistently look like you’re carrying a high balance — even if you pay it off in full just a few days later.
Place a call to your card issuer’s customer service line to find out when it reports to the credit bureaus. Simply pay off as much of your balance as you can in advance of that date every month, and you might see a jump in your score.
5. Monitor your total credit utilization
If you have multiple credit cards, it might be hard to view the bigger picture of your credit utilization. Using the calculator below, input your credit card balances and limits to check whether you're under the recommended 30% utilization threshold.
If you’re creeping up to that limit, do your best to pay down your balances and explore ways to stop spending money.