If you carry a $10 balance, you're probably giving up the free float. Since I pay the card off each month, I get between 31 and 61 days of free float on purchases. If I don't pay it off in a given month, finance charges accrue from the date the charge is posted.

As to having utilization on the card, normal usage is enough to ensure that there is always a balance due on the card anyway. (If you spend money on the card regularly, the payment you send in August is for things you bought in July and by the time it posts, you have more August charges on the card, meaning the balance is only ever zero if you do a massive return or if you have a multi-week spending embargo hit at just the time the credit company pulls your report.)