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How much of my secured card balance should I pay every month?

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Anonymous
Not applicable

How much of my secured card balance should I pay every month?

I just received my Capital One Secured card in the mail! I remember reading that you should leave a certain percentage of your limit unpaid every month, is that correct? My limit is $200 - thanks so much! 

Message 1 of 10
9 REPLIES 9
p-
Valued Contributor

Re: How much of my secured card balance should I pay every month?

if it's your only card leave it at 3-9%, or $6.00 to $18.00.

Message 2 of 10
MarineVietVet
Moderator Emeritus

Re: How much of my secured card balance should I pay every month?


@Anonymous wrote:

I just received my Capital One Secured card in the mail! I remember reading that you should leave a certain percentage of your limit unpaid every month, is that correct? My limit is $200 - thanks so much! 



Hi Wendy and welcome to the Forums.

 

Just remember that it is the reported balance on the monthly statement that is important. Once you know when the statement posts each month you can time your payments during the month to reach your desired utilization amount several days before the statement posts..

 

Everyone's situation is different and there is no one size fits all approach to this but you might have to play around with the percentages for a few months to see what works best for you. Some people say that 1-3% utilization helps the most. For others it might be 5-9%. As I said it's not one size fits all.

 

 

 

From a BK years ago to:
EX - 3/11 pulled by lender- 835, EQ - 2/11-816, TU - 2/11-782

"Some people spend an entire lifetime wondering if they've made a difference. The Marines don't have that problem".

 


 

 

Message 3 of 10
Wolf3
Senior Contributor

Re: How much of my secured card balance should I pay every month?

More important to Pay in Full by the due date to avoid interest.  

 

IMO, controlling utilization is not important now, worry about it when it is time to apply for more credit.

 

Message 4 of 10
MarineVietVet
Moderator Emeritus

Re: How much of my secured card balance should I pay every month?


@Wolf3 wrote:

More important to Pay in Full by the due date to avoid interest.  

 

IMO, controlling utilization is not important now, worry about it when it is time to apply for more credit.

 


I agree that paying in full before the due date is very important and I should have included that.

 

But I think that controlling utilization is always something to consider because if a company softs your reports and sees high utilization that in itself might disqualify you for any type of offer for new credit. So you should be aware of utilization at all times no matter how many cards you have.

 

 

 

From a BK years ago to:
EX - 3/11 pulled by lender- 835, EQ - 2/11-816, TU - 2/11-782

"Some people spend an entire lifetime wondering if they've made a difference. The Marines don't have that problem".

Message 5 of 10
p-
Valued Contributor

Re: How much of my secured card balance should I pay every month?


@Wolf3 wrote:

More important to Pay in Full by the due date to avoid interest.  

 

IMO, controlling utilization is not important now, worry about it when it is time to apply for more credit.

 


agreed...  

Message 6 of 10
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: How much of my secured card balance should I pay every month?

I got my captial one secured card a couple months ago and it was my first credit card also. Had a 200 limit, paid my balance in full each month and never had it report more then a $60 balance.

 

Now I'm sitting on a 733 experian credit score and the free Credit Inform membership you get for having a capital one secured card showed that if I keep paying my bills on time for one more year, I'll be at a 776 Smiley Happy

 

I recommend paying in full and making sure it doesn't report more then 30% of your credit limit. Usually it first reports about 25-30 days after having them shipped it. So you can expect your first statement in about 3 weeks. Also, make sure you call and ask for the credit inform membership. It is free since you have capital one and you get a free credit score each month along with credit report and showing your positives and negatives along with a tool that can show what your score will be if you did certain things.

Message 7 of 10
MarineVietVet
Moderator Emeritus

Re: How much of my secured card balance should I pay every month?


@Anonymous wrote:

I got my captial one secured card a couple months ago and it was my first credit card also. Had a 200 limit, paid my balance in full each month and never had it report more then a $60 balance.

 

Now I'm sitting on a 733 experian credit score and the free Credit Inform membership you get for having a capital one secured card showed that if I keep paying my bills on time for one more year, I'll be at a 776 Smiley Happy

 

I recommend paying in full and making sure it doesn't report more then 30% of your credit limit. Usually it first reports about 25-30 days after having them shipped it. So you can expect your first statement in about 3 weeks. Also, make sure you call and ask for the credit inform membership. It is free since you have capital one and you get a free credit score each month along with credit report and showing your positives and negatives along with a tool that can show what your score will be if you did certain things.


I guess I'll be the bearer of bad news but if you'll read this thread about Credit Monitoring Services you'll see that the score you get from this service is NOT an EX FICO score.

 

No one has been able to buy their own Experian FICO score since February of 2009. Creditors can pull Experian and also there is a CU (PSECU) in Pennsylvania that supplies that information to it's members only. You can only buy true FICO scores at a few places. One place is here at myFICO. I suggest you do an internet search for "myfico discount codes" to save a little money.

At one time you could also purchase your Transunion score at transunioncs.com but that site seems to have stopped doing that. Equifax will still sell you a FICO score but you have to look very hard to find it. You can get to it here: www.equifax.com/web-myfico-products/

 

 

 

From a BK years ago to:
EX - 3/11 pulled by lender- 835, EQ - 2/11-816, TU - 2/11-782

"Some people spend an entire lifetime wondering if they've made a difference. The Marines don't have that problem".

Message 8 of 10
p-
Valued Contributor

Re: How much of my secured card balance should I pay every month?


@MarineVietVet wrote:
I guess I'll be the bearer of bad news but if you'll read this thread about Credit Monitoring Services you'll see that the score you get from this service is NOT an EX FICO score....

I think how badly you need to know your FICO depends on your credit goals.  If you are applying for specific credit that you know requires a certain FICO score, then knowing it is extremely valuable.  But if you are in repair mode, the most important thing is identifying derogs on your report and building good account history and utilization.

 

The important thing to remember is a FAKO score is a number only you will see.  It will not impress a potential lender; they will see a different number.  It is, however, a nice way to chart your positive progress as your credit file improves.  And the same fundamentals hold true regardless of your score; pay on time, all the time, keep your utilization down, dispute inaccurate derogs, PFD or GW accurate ones, watch your file for new items, and manage your credit responsibly.  

 

If you follows this and the other good advice on this forum, you'll have a clean enough file to qualify for the best possible rates and offers,whether you know your FICO or not.

Message 9 of 10
p-
Valued Contributor

Re: How much of my secured card balance should I pay every month?

Of course, if you want to help support the people who make this useful forum available for you, then definitely buy your FICO score here.  Smiley Very Happy

Message 10 of 10
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