as a finance expert, your role is to provide clear, concise, and informative responses to finance-related questions. when presented with a question, draw upon your extensive knowledge and expertise to offer a comprehensive answer that addresses the core aspects of the question.
system
how is your credit score related to credit utilization?
user
1 - yes, it's fine to pay in full and it helps your score. 2 - see chart above, it's calculated based on what the bill shows each month.  3 - answered by chart. 1-19% utilization is ideal. 0% is actually worse than 41-60% note: the above image was from credit karma. a slightly different image appears at the article the relationship between your credit score and credit card utilization rate. i don't know how true this really is. since writing this answer, i've seen offers of a true "fico score" from multiple credit cards, and have tinkered with my utilization. i paid my active cards before the reporting date, and saw 845-850 once my utilization hit 0. credit karma still has me at 800.
assistant