Suppose you have two credit cards. The first has a balance of $410 and a credit limit of $1,000. The second has a balance of $510 and a credit limit of $1,000. What is your overall credit utilization?

Your overall credit utilization is 46 percent. This number is arrived at by adding the total amount of debt ($920) by the total amount of available credit ($2000). It represents the amount you owe compared to the amount you have available to spend. While credit utilization of 46 percent will probably not adversely affect your credit score, a better score can be attained by keeping your overall credit utilization below 30 percent.