Grades 9–12Ages 14–18 · Unit 4.3 · Building and Protecting Your Credit
The 30% rule: a free credit utilization worksheet.
Two people spend exactly $200. One damages their credit score and one does not. The only difference is the limit on the card. This sheet works through three scenarios, including the one almost nobody knows about: paying in full every month and still reporting 70%.
No account. No email. Nothing collected about your child.
What is on the page
- The utilization formula, stated once
- Three scenarios to calculate and judge
- The statement-balance trap worked in full
- An answer page with all three
What it teaches
- Calculating utilization as a ratio, not an amount
- Why closing an old card can lower a score
- That a card reports the statement balance, not what you owe today
How to run it
The third row is the lesson. Paying on the due date is on time for the lender and too late for the bureau — pay before the statement closes and the reported number drops.
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Where it comes from
Unit 4.3 · Building and Protecting Your Credit of a 266-lesson curriculum.
This sheet is one activity, unchanged, from Financial Foundations™. Teachers can run a free five-week pilot with one class. Families can take the Family Edition home.