<prompt> Human: Ive had a Wells Fargo College Credit card for about a month now. I used 650 of my 700 credit limit. I first made the minimum required payment the first week or so I had the credit after the first one or two purchases thinking I would pay it off as I go along purchase by purchase, treating it like a debit card but that thought went by the wayside when I wondered whats the point, as long as I pay whatever balance I have in full before the monthly due date. So I kind of let the credit limit build up to what it was just now, 650. The due date for the minimum required payment is on the 22nd which says I owe 0 since i already paid i the minimum but I paid off the 650 balance in full just now because I do not want to owe anything over past that due date as I believe I will get hit with fees even though I was told by a friend if you just make the minimum payment, yes you will owe more money in the long run, it will not hurt your credit. But Im wondering if by using that much of my available credit limit per month, am I hurting my credit score. My credit score started at 583 considered poor on Nov 14th 2017 and climbed to 656 as of January 3rd the latest available update.Assistant: You betcha.Your credit score reflects your statement utilization on a monthly basis, so it will go up and down as your utilization does, if you are close to using it all when it goes up...that will make your credit score nosedive.Human: Well shit. So for next months cycle, if I pay off balance little by little, purchase by purchase never letting it go say above 200 at a time, my credit score will improve? Because overall Im still utilizing a large percentage of my available credit, Im just paying it off in smaller more frequent increments rather than one large payment towards the end? Is that the correct line of thinking and way to proceed? Or should i just stick to using my debit card for most purchases and keeping say just my Netflix and Moviepass subscription on my credit card?  <response>: Its sort of confusing. Heres how it works.The card company reports your statement balance as utilization, whether that is new purchases or old ones. You pay interest only if you dont pay the statement balance in full each month.If you want a better credit score, which you can consciously choose to do when you care about your score, make sure that the statement balance the month before is minimized, circa 10 of your credit limit. 