The credit card companies ding you if you pay off the cards or turn over the cards to get lower interest rate or not using them often enough. Heck I was at a car dealer and told him I had a credit score near 800 as he would find out but he said they have their own way of scoring. Example given was I did not buy too many cars over the years.......
The scores are a Hoax created by the card companies. You can be a multimillionaire and have a Zero score. Why? No recent purchases. Dave Ramsey talks about it. He had his checked. He didn't have one LOL. He started out basically as a property flipper and was successful at it and made millions. He worked with a bank to front the money and all was well. The bank was sold as was the debt and the new company saw too much risk and called the loans. He went bankrupt.
He got back on his feet by using cash only or a bank debit card and took the technique he used to get back out of debt and built a company on how to handle money. He's back on top.
Some credit is nearly impossible to avoid like a home especially in middle class or lower earnings. But for things like a new car? He advises buy used. He also advises if you want a good deal go into a store and dicker waiving cash. If that business declines it the next one likely won't. Which is true. Car lots make a good chunk as agents for banks. But Cash is then and there and not many businesses want to decline an opportunity even at a lower profit.