Letting CC balances report

[masscredit]

For me it became a way of life. My statement closing dates are spread throughout the month so I know when I can use the cards and when to stop so I can pay them off before the statements close. I've also found that it's easier to just let balances report. I've just used them this month let the balances report. I prefer to have my scores maximized but I guess I'm good unless I want to apply for new credit and an increase.  I have been concerned that this is going to raise some flags because it's out of the ordinary for me. 

[Man-Of-Steel]

I'm more in the camp of letting my statements cut with a balance........to a certain degree.  I don't find paying before the statement cuts in and of itself stressful.  However, I find the following stressful:

Altering my usage pattern for a card in an effort to prevent a balance from reporting.

Calculating and paying a portion of the balance to get the statement to report a balance that is in the perfect range.

I don't mind doing this if I'm getting ready to apply for something, but outside of that, I find what's listed above stressful.

Now, for a few of my cards that are somewhat sock drawered and get limited use, I don't mind paying before the statement cuts.  For example, I usually charge my cable bill to my Amex BCE and then I'll usually pay it in full a few days later (or maybe a week later) and that results in a $0.00 statement balance.  Since that was the only charge of the month, it's very easy to manage.  If I'm using a card daily or nearly every day, I find it so much easier to just let the balance report and pay it in full before the due date.  This past month, I let 3 of my 6 cards report a balance, because those cards are pretty active.  

[LadyJEsq]

I let most of my CCs report a balance. The only one that doesn't is Discover. I pay them right after I make my student loan payment. But even though I pay it before the due date, I don't PIF and it carries my highest balance. So far, it hasn't affected me getting a CLI on the card which I received when my available credit was just $900/$3500. I received a generous $4000 CLI, so I'm not sure it's necessary to micromanage even if your only seeking CLIs. But who, outside of FICO, really knows if any of it's necessary. I just choose to do other things with my precious time.

ETA:
balance=total balance^

[NRB525]

OP, there may be a debate about where the "High Balance" comes from, and your example indicates your first Ring month used the mid-month amount rather than statement amount.

The next question is, where does High Balance, as an individual factor, weigh in to FICO scoring; it does not.

Lenders may look at the High Balance, but High Balance has no point in time reference, so could be 5 years ago, could be last month. Lenders more likely look at the string of Monthly Statement Balances. If High Balance is just one of the Monthly Statement Balance amounts, then the quest to game the CCC view by keeping Statement Balance at zero or very low, and strategically popping a High Balance now and then, seems like a lot of work that could be accomplished by just letting the Statement Balance report the high balance, consistently.

I would extend the argument to this hypothetical:

A cardholder makes sure every statement on a card reports zero for 5 years. Two months ago, the borrower charges or BT a $10,000 amount onto the card for 10 days, then at the end of the 10 days, BT that amount off the card to another card. The card continues to report $0 statement balance, shows a $10,000 High Balance out of the blue. When another CCC looks at the high balance (like I said, hypothetical) it looks like the card has NEVER gotten near $10,000 balance at any time in the last 5 years. So the CCC may presume that the $10,000 High Balance was way way in the past history, not recent. At the least, they have no Statement Balance sequence to even make a guess when the $10k happened, if they cared to try to find that.

[Anonymous]

I let my balances report and Autopay PIF on their due dates. As others have said, not really worth the time to keep track and pay everything before the statement close. That, and I'll take 5-7k interest free for 20 days anytime. I've pretty much got the cards I want, but if I was going to AoR, I would pay before statement close just for a month or two.

[takeshi74]

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@TrialByFire wrote:
Anyways, I'm wondering why folks do this when the CCC will report your highest balance achieved, regardless if it was the balance at statement cut time or if you PIF? 

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As always, you have to consider your sources.  There are certainly those who are misinformed and mistaken.  Don't just accept statements from others.  Learn about how report data is assessed, keep an eye on your scores in reaction to changes in your report data and use that to decide how to manage your accounts.

The point of PIF'ing before report date is to optimize revolving utilization when applying for new credit.  Most of my cards report balances and my FICO 8's are above 800 so I don't mess with it.  My choice has nothing to do with high balance.  Granted, this is only anecdotal but I've received plenty of CLI's on cards that have not reported high balances relative to limit.  For example, I have a $25K card that only has a high balance of $587.  Before educating myself on credit matters, most of my cards reported high balances close to or equal to their limits and I never saw any growth due to other limiting factors in my credit profile.

Even if high balance matters it does not determine things on its own.  One's entire credit profile matters.

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@TrialByFire wrote:
There have been some threads recently talking about dont always PIF and to let statements cut with balances

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Keep in mind that PIF'ing and allowing balances to report are two entirely different things.  You can allow a balance to report and PIF.  You can also PIF and have no balance report.  It's all a matter of the timing of the payment(s).

One does not need to carry a balance for scoring purposes.

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@TrialByFire wrote:
Wondering what those who say let statements cut with balances think on this one (irrespective of floating purposes)

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I don't blindly advocate one solution for everyone.  Each needs to determine what works best for the individual.  Keep in mind that everyone's credit profile is not indentical and will have play a part in this.  If one finds it useful and is willing to micromanage one's reported utilization then one should do so regardless of how I choose to manage my accounts.

[Anonymous]

I pay after cut on new cards, and/or a bank I've never had credit with. I'm paid weekly so its easy to micro manage either practice.

Example I'm a huge fan of the Ebates credit card I try to pay as much as I can before the statement cuts because I "never know" if I have a big purchase that's coming along and might have to carry an extra month at an evil interest rate… which negates the extra percent off if I'm not careful

[masscredit]

As I mentioned earlier, I usually PIF before my statements cut but I'm letting balances post on most of my cards this month. There have been months when I've given cards a lot of use and have found that the high balances reported but the statements closed at $0.00. Do the high balances matter? I'd say yes and no. Yes because they show the cards being used and paid down/off. Responsible use of credit. No because those balances don't matter when it comes to score. Just my opinion.