<i>I do know paying off your total credit card debt every month does nothing to help your credit score </i><p>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 &quot;paying it off each month&quot; 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&#x27;s paid off by the end of the month).<p><i>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.</i><p>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.<p>[0] - <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.bankofamerica.com&#x2F;credit-cards&#x2F;education&#x2F;5-facts-about-credit-cards.go" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.bankofamerica.com&#x2F;credit-cards&#x2F;education&#x2F;5-facts...</a> Myth #5<p>[1] - <a href="http:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.bankrate.com&#x2F;finance&#x2F;credit&#x2F;credit-score-fall-after-paying-loan.aspx" rel="nofollow">http:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.bankrate.com&#x2F;finance&#x2F;credit&#x2F;credit-score-fall-aft...</a><p>[2] - <a href="http:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.creditcards.com&#x2F;credit-card-news&#x2F;simon-credit-card-account-balance-score-1508.php" rel="nofollow">http:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.creditcards.com&#x2F;credit-card-news&#x2F;simon-credit-car...</a><p>[3] - <a href="http:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.bankrate.com&#x2F;finance&#x2F;credit-cards&#x2F;does-card-inactivity-hurt-credit-score.aspx" rel="nofollow">http:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.bankrate.com&#x2F;finance&#x2F;credit-cards&#x2F;does-card-inact...</a>