Ideally, you should plan to pay off your current credit card balance as quickly as possible. However, if it makes sense for you to carry a balance, then it may be okay to do so. Just know that the longer you hold onto this debt, the more additional interest fees you're likely to accumulate. This makes it more difficult for you to lower your utilization ratio because it's calculated as a total debt divided by the total credit limit. In other words, if you're carrying a balance of $5,000 and your credit card limit is only $2,500, then this suggests that your utilization ratio is 50%. If, instead, you're carrying a balance of $2,500 and your credit limit is $5,000, then this suggests that your utilization ratio is 40%. The lower the number, the better you appear to creditors and other credit scores. Since you want to aim for the lowest possible score, paying off credit card debt as quickly as possible may make sense.