CARRYING A BALANCE
The average credit card balance is $8,195, according to CreditCards.com, and would take the average household 13 months to pay down when applying 15 percent of their income. Meanwhile, the FICO score used by credit bureaus to determine credit health values a spotless payment history (35 percent of a FICO score) and the amount of debt a cardholder carries in relation to their credit limit — or their credit utilization (30 percent) — more than anything else.