Is this right?

[Anonymous]

Thanks to everyone here, you guys are the best!

I have read lots of questions and answers about paying on your cards to get the most bang for your score, and I want to make sure I understand it right from those of you who are pros. Here is a made-up example...let me know if I am right or not.

Credit Card A

Statement Date 5th

Due Date 30th

Does this mean that I can make a payment on the 30th and pay again anytime before the 5th and have that balance reported? What gets reported is the balance on the date the next statement drops, which would include any charges made after the due date, is that correct? So if I pay the minimum payment on the dute date, but pay the balance on the 4th, then it gets reported as o balance, as long as my balance is 0 when the next statement closes, is that correct>

I have paid all the minimums this month when the bills came, since I dont ever want to be late on anything. But then paid the cards off the day before the next statement was scheduled to drop, so I am wondering if I am going to see that on my CR.

Thanks!

[Anonymous]

To make it easier -

I pay the min the minute the statement cuts-
and pay what ever the budget has BEFORE the NEXT STATEMENT cuts.

For me they report the balance when the statement cuts- any posted payments are reflected.

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@Anonymous wrote:

Thanks to everyone here, you guys are the best!

I have read lots of questions and answers about paying on your cards to get the most bang for your score, and I want to make sure I understand it right from those of you who are pros. Here is a made-up example...let me know if I am right or not.

Credit Card A

Statement Date 5th

Due Date 30th

Does this mean that I can make a payment on the 30th and pay again anytime before the 5th and have that balance reported? What gets reported is the balance on the date the next statement drops, which would include any charges made after the due date, is that correct? So if I pay the minimum payment on the dute date, but pay the balance on the 4th, then it gets reported as o balance, as long as my balance is 0 when the next statement closes, is that correct>

I have paid all the minimums this month when the bills came, since I dont ever want to be late on anything. But then paid the cards off the day before the next statement was scheduled to drop, so I am wondering if I am going to see that on my CR.

Thanks!

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[haulingthescoreup]

Or just to confuse you even more...

The statement date gives the amount of money that you need to pay by the due date to avoid finance charges. For maximum buck-banging, here's what you would do:

Go on-line 4-5 days before the statement date. This would be on the 1st or 2nd in the example you gave. Let's say the balance is $500. This is getting ready to post on your statement, and it is probably the amount that will post to the credit bureaus. (*This can vary!!!*) Pay off however much it takes to make that number into the one that you want to report on your credit reports. If you have a $3000 CL, and you're playing the 1-9% game, allow $270 or less to post, so pay down what's due to reach that point. Then, hunker down and sit tight, and wait until it shows up on a report. (And this is why so many of us do TrueCredit and the other credit monitoring services.)

Then, if you don't want to pay any finance charges, pay off the rest before the due date--so maybe around the 25th in the example you gave. (If you've gotten ahead of the game, you won't have to pay anything, but you know you should! ) Next month, do it all again.

Everyone wins here! You don't pay any finance charges. FICO is all excited because a low amount is being posted. Your CCC is excited because you are using your card and promptly paying it off. It's easy to forget that when we're doing all these weird conniptions to make FICO happy, we also need to not freak out the CCC.