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As your revolving credit card balances rise, your credit score will begin dropping long before it reaches the recommended utilization limit of 30% of your available credit. The common wisdom is to keep revolving debt below 30% of your available credit line. For example, if you have a Visa card with $1,000 credit line, keeping your current balance at or below $300 is recommended. I recommend that you start at 50% first especially if you are just starting to keep your budget under control. Experts say that your FICO score starts taking a hit even at 5% credit line utilization and continue to drop as your utilization rate climbs towards 30%. The actual decline varies a little from person to person. For example, those that have a lot of depth in their credit report will not see the same drop as someone who has only one new credit card.  

Maintaining a good credit score is a lifelong process. However, if you are cramped for time and need a quick fix - Credit Utilization is one criterion that you can work on quickly to boost your FICO score. Here are other ways on how you can increase your FICO score.