Do you change your payment due dates on your cards?

[red259]

I have never moved my payment due date, although I know it is an option. Most my cards tend to share the same due dates, but I was wondering if there are people out there that optimize this so they have cards on two different due dates to avoid having to pay all credit balances on the same day and at the same time be able to more effectively manage credit util by spending on cards based upon which statement just cut vs which statement is about to cut. I'm just curious because I sometimes determine the card I will use on how long I have until the statement cuts, especially when I am carrying large balances on 0% apr cards and don't want my overall util to cross specific thresholds. 

[Anonymous]

i did on one of my card. i made it cut sooner so my recurring bill will post after the cut. if not carrying a balance, i think my grace period lengthened (not sure. im newb to APR, carrying balance, etc) and i now have more leeway if i want my balance to report or PIF before it cuts again.

[Anonymous]

I've changed dates on many cards. I try to get them to close almost all around the same time as I'm paid once a month and I just want to pay once and be done. I do have a couple cards that close a few days earlier so that if I want to optimize my scores I can pay them first and then charge and then pay the rest of mine to report as many zeros as possible. 

[Anonymous]

I used to coordinate my statement cut dates so all statements cut around the same time. I could then just pay all my balances at once a few days later. With very low interest rates on savings, the interest I missed would only be about $1 on a $1,000 reported balance. It was worth the simplicity.

A few times I paid cards before the statements cut to have more $0 balances if I expected to app shortly. I should note that even when I had balances on most of my cards, no lender ever mentioned them as a concern - just my short and narrow (CC only) history, inquiries, and new accounts.

I've since added more cards, and haven't decided how much trust to have in autopay systems.

[UncleB]

I've changed mine with USAA, Discover, and one of the Quicksilver cards.  The previous due dates seemed to fall a few days before I got paid, and I would have to 'hold back' money each month to pay the next month's credit card bill. 

It wasn't a huge issue, but it was much simpler to just have the due dates pushed out a week or so. 

[UFGuy2006]

If I have more than one card with a particular lender, then I usually get them all on the same cycle. Other than that, they hit when they hit.

[red259]

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@Anonymous wrote:

I used to coordinate my statement cut dates so all statements cut around the same time. I could then just pay all my balances at once a few days later. With very low interest rates on savings, the interest I missed would only be about $1 on a $1,000 reported balance. It was worth the simplicity.

A few times I paid cards before the statements cut to have more $0 balances if I expected to app shortly. I should note that even when I had balances on most of my cards, no lender ever mentioned them as a concern - just my short and narrow (CC only) history, inquiries, and new accounts.

I've since added more cards, and haven't decided how much trust to have in autopay systems.

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I don't use autopay. I keep meaning to set them up so they make the min payment in case I forget a credit card bill, but I like the manually do my own payments so I can monitor my cashflow in accounts (I have to move business money into my personal accounts to pay myself and I don't really like to do that until I actually need the money) and also I like to take that opportunity to review all my charges to make sure there isn't some charge somewhere that I did not authorize. Plus by reviewing the statements I am reminded about what services I have on montly billing and it reminds me to check to see if I want to cancel that monthly charge or not. 

[Anonymous]

I do. I try for the 20th-25th for all of my cards! That fits with my money schedule best! Rent is always the 1st-5th, anything else besides electricity has to fall within that time frame.

[Anonymous]

I have been interested in doing this with a couple of cards. Did those of you who changed the date call in to do it or can it be done online?

[EdMan63]

I've changed mine. Most of mine were all over the place so I try and get them closer together which makes it easier to manage for me.