Use Less Credit. While you can lower your credit utilization by increasing your credit limit, you can also attack the other side of the issue. If you have 40 percent utilization due to a $1,000 balance and a $2,500 limit, spending or owing less on your credit card will have the same impact as raising your credit limit. Cutting your credit card balance back to $600 will reduce your utilization to 24 percent and may improve your score.