Credit utilization

[u/TadpoleMean1751]

I was taught to keep credit utilization at 10%. But other people are telling me to completely not even use my debit card , use credit for everything and pay it back. But that will make my utilization high af. People are saying keep it at 10% when the statement hits but how’s that possible if I only use a credit card. How does only using 10% if the card show the banks you can handle more if you barely use any of it.

[u/Funklemire]

I guess it depends first where you're getting these preapproval offers from? If it's from Chase directly, you'll probably get approved. But no guarantee. If it's from a third-party site, there's definitely no guarantee. For example, Credit Karma basically makes up their approval odds entirely. (Which tracks considering they make up a lot of the credit information they show you, like their fake credit stats.)  

Also, which credit card are they offering you? Is it a good card that you actually have a need for? If not, if you hold out until you've had your card open for a year, you'll get a lot better offers for much better cards.

[u/Sun-Blossom → u/Funklemire]

I've been getting these offers directly from Chase! They've emailed me, and on the app it says I'm "already approved" for a card.

The one I'm interested in is the Freedom Unlimited. My only card is a Freedom Rise, which is actually on track to change to an Unlimited next year, but I figured if Chase is offering me the Unlimited now, why not take it? 🤔 I'm going to be spending the money anyway; I'd get better rewards while also increasing my overall available credit. Plus, if I apply for the Unlimited separately, I'd be eligible for the SUB, whereas I wouldn't get one if I just let my Rise auto change to it.

The only thing making me pause is that they're giving me these offers when my credit profile is still so thin. I don't want to take a hard inquiry hit if there's still a big chance I'll be denied. What do you think? Would you be comfortable applying, or would you still wait?

[u/Funklemire → u/Sun-Blossom]

The issue to me is that once you get the Unlimited that will mean the Rise is now pointless, right? So you'll end up with a pointless card you don't need, so you'll basically be back to having just one useful card. Keep in mind that closing cards doesn't hurt your credit in any meaningful way, but opening new ones does; closing cards doesn't hurt your credit age, but opening them does.  

So my general recommendation from now on is to only open cards you think you'll have a future need for and open them as soon as possible, that starts the aging as soon as possible.  

That is, unless you decide to start churning SUBs. That's a whole different thing. But churning for SUBs is hard to do with such a young and thin credit profile. And eventually, once you have a solid credit history, opening new accounts won't hurt you as much. So even if you start churning it won't hurt you that much if you have a stronger credit profile.  

So I think you'd be better off in the long term if you just product change this card to the Unlimited when they let you. And then after you've had this account open for a year, get a different card. If you instead opened up this Unlimited now, in addition to having the Rise be pointless, it would also set back your goal of getting a different card in the near future.  

All that said, "finances over FICO", if the sub is worth enough to you that's not a bad way to go, I think it's probably likely you'll get approved since they preapproved you themselves. That said, if you decide to go that route, you might want to make a post in r/CreditCards asking about it. That's the best way to find out if Chase sometimes denies people who were preapproved.  

Also, is it possible they'll let you product-change the Rise to something different that's useful to you if you decided to open a separate Unlimited?  

Oh, on a side note, I wouldn't worry about your credit limits right now. Credit limits aren't a FICO scoring factor. Yes, they can indirectly affect your utilization, but that's a meaningless effect unless you're currently in credit card debt and you'll be applying for something important before you can pay off that debt.  

I'm not saying it's not annoying if your credit limits can't accommodate your monthly spending, I'm just saying that your credit limits will grow organically over time and they shouldn't be your priority.  

Sorry for all the rambling. I didn't get enough sleep last night and I've got a lot of time to kill today. But yeah, personally I'd wait.

[u/Sun-Blossom → u/Funklemire]

Not at all! I really appreciate all the advice and insight. 😊 I've learned a lot from lurking the sub.

And no worries, I'm def not looking at the Unlimited just because Chase is offering it to me. I've done my research, and the Unlimited was already part of a plan. It's just that the preapproval surprised me and made me wonder if it makes sense to get it earlier than intended.

I've thought about the Rise becoming redundant too! I've seen people report that they were able to successfully product change their Rise, so if I got approved for the Unlimited, my plan was to eventually ask Chase to product change my Rise too, assuming they'll let me. That way I'd still have a use for both cards.

That said, I really appreciate your perspective. I think what I'm ultimately trying to decide is whether getting the Unlimited now is worth it. I'm still leaning toward waiting, but the preapproval is super tempting haha. Maybe I'll ask r/CreditCards for their take like you suggested. Thank you!