R.L. Dane 
🍵 
Any thoughts on #CreditKarma or alternatives out there?
I used to like using it, but now that it's owned by Intuit (a company I despise), I'd rather look for alternatives, or just do without. XD
Tim ChaseWhat do (did) you use it for? Just getting credit scores? I know our credit-cards offer free updates on our score.
Or do you have particular needs to improve your credit? Usually that's pretty doable through responsible use of credit.
Just getting the score, and indicators of why it goes up or down.
You're right, the credit card itself does do that, and my credit card is my only line of credit at the moment.
If you're paying off the balance in full each month rather than carrying a balance, and not opening new lines of credit, the credit-utilization ratio is the main driver of changes in the credit score. Keeping it under ~10% tends to keep the score higher (so if you have $20000 of credit, and put less than $2k on the card), your score should be fine. As that percentage creeps up, your score tends to go down.
Paying it off before the statement-close date can intercept the high-usage reporting, if the score matters. If you're not planning on applying for credit, it might not matter…ours often fluctuates ±10 points in any given month depending on utilization, and a recently expensive month sent it plummeting almost 30 points, but it'll pop right back up to the usual ~820 next month.