I do know paying off your total credit card debt every month does nothing to help your credit score This is correct, but misleading[1][2]. A balance is not n

I do know paying off your total credit card debt every month does nothing to help your credit score This is correct, but misleading[1][2]. A balance is not necessary to gain credit history[0], though a very minimal balance is better than nothing[3]. What matters is utilization rate, which is the ratio of how much credit is used versus how much is available. There is some misunderstanding about "paying it off each month" due to the fact that the CC companies report how much was used during a month not the balance at the end of the month. (ex: with a limit of $1000, $900 was charged then paid off. The $900 is reported, even though it's paid off by the end of the month). You would be far better off to get 2-3 cards, ring up some debt on each of them, and then make the monthly minimum payment, on-time, for 6-12 months. This is some pretty poor financial advice. Paying minimum balances is almost always a bad idea from a financial perspective. The same effect could be had by obtaining one card, using about 5-20% of the available balance each month, then paying it off each month. Using this method, the utilization rate is above 0, but below 30%, the length of the CC history is increasing, and no interest is being paid. [0] - https://www.bankofamerica.com/credit-cards/education/5-facts-about-credit-cards.go https://www.bankofamerica.com/credit-cards/education/5-facts... Myth #5 [1] - http://www.bankrate.com/finance/credit/credit-score-fall-after-paying-loan.aspx http://www.bankrate.com/finance/credit/credit-score-fall-aft... [2] - http://www.creditcards.com/credit-card-news/simon-credit-card-account-balance-score-1508.php http://www.creditcards.com/credit-card-news/simon-credit-car... [3] - http://www.bankrate.com/finance/credit-cards/does-card-inactivity-hurt-credit-score.aspx http://www.bankrate.com/finance/credit-cards/does-card-inact...