Not PIF but not minimum?

[Anonymous]

I pay min and pay more the next paycheck. If the statement cuts receiving both payments, its added and subtracted from running balance with that months charges. Being said when its a promo I try to go 9 month payoff incase it gets tight

[Anonymous]

Money comes at different times and increments for us, but my motto is always pay much more than the minimum and pay well before due. Never have revolving debt that is not at least equally backed by savings or the money is coming in soon.

[Anonymous]

Yes it's ok to pay over time but most people would recommend you pay in full when possible or pay 2x or 3x the min many times i paid my card in monthly payments  of  $550.00 when i owed $4500.00 and citi had no issue with it.

[Anonymous]

They don't like patterns. Paying mins and ramping up gets auto luv even when not pif. Scary stories are all over these boards when its the other way.

[Anonymous]

Wait.. What kind of pattern? Because technically isn't always PIF or...paying 3x min all the time... Etc etc all different patterns?

[Dw4250]

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@Anonymous wrote:

So, the consensus is - 2x minimum? 3x minimum? What is best

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I think consensus is there is no consensus.  For one thing, tolerance thresholds are highly depended on which banks we are talking about.  I paid the minimum for YEARS with Cap One was nearly maxed out and nothing happened (though I didn't get a CLI either).  My guess is they loved the fact I was paying 18% intererest (I want to throw up every time I think about how much money I flushed down the drain in interest/fees over the years).

I think for most people, the best advice is to pay as much back as you can reasonably afford.  2-3x the minimum seems like a good guidepost, but who knows? Don't get freaked out about all the stories of people having accounts suspended/shut down.  Most of the time, there are not giving the full story.  The truth is AA/CLD are exceedingly rare and usually happen when people are either in obvious financial distress and/or are trying to game the system.  Doesn't mean it cannot happen; but the chances are pretty small.

Just make sure you pay AT LEAST the minimum on time, every time.  Don't worry about what the banks "think"...if all you can afford is the minimum payment, it's out of your hands anyway   Chances are NOTHING will happen as the CCC are happy to get fat off the interest you're paying them.  

And if they AA/CLD you...well...c'est la vie.

[Broke_Triathlete]

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@Anonymous wrote:

I think the user here is broke triathelete (or something similar). Not that his was with an AU, but it is about what a despartate family member might do. 

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Tortoise is right. While I was away at college my dad opened up a few cards and utilities in my name. He had everything mailed to home because I wasn't there. Long story short he quit paying and upon coming home from graduation I was being sued by BOA for the tune of $100K so I had to declare bankruptcy, fresh out of college and it wasn't my doing. Be careful with family especially with the mentality of "charge for what you can't afford and pay only mininums" To this day I'm afraid to carry a balance. I have never posted anything more than 5% of my available credit. 

[IllinoisNative]

I work for a prime bank in the credit card department.  We do not give out the account number on phone to the primary cardmember much less  to the authorized user.  If the customer doesn't have access to the card or can't locate it, we issue them a new account number.  Even if we did in rare unusual circumstances give the account number, we ABSOLUTELY DO NOT give out the expiration date or the the three digit security code that is often needed to make a purchase.

Now, if the auth user opens an account with your social security card information, etc, that is a different (and illegal) situation. lol

[bengalikejenga]

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@Anonymous wrote:
Argument with my roommate.

Say you have a 5000 limit. Spending 3000 on a large purchase. Is it not okay to not pay in full, say minimum was 50 but you pay say... 150.. Every month? Does this really scare away lenders? I mean if it's PIF all the time wouldn't it just be a charge card? When is it(if) really okay to pay your CCs over time?

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I just tend to pay whatever i can afford, though i make it a point to pay more than the min, and i often pay my CC bills every pay period, soo i often make periodic payments every time. 

if you have a 0% period, pay whatever you can pay, preferably more than the min. 

if you dont have a 0% period, pay as much as you can afford, and definitely more than the min.

my philosophy. 

[NRB525]

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@Anonymous wrote:
Argument with my roommate.

Say you have a 5000 limit. Spending 3000 on a large purchase. Is it not okay to not pay in full, say minimum was 50 but you pay say... 150.. Every month? Does this really scare away lenders? I mean if it's PIF all the time wouldn't it just be a charge card? When is it(if) really okay to pay your CCs over time?

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Rule #1: Pay within terms. Paying the minimum payment, on time, is paying within terms, so the bank will live with that.

However, you will pay some form of interest, depending on the APR being charged, so you have to factor that into the long term cost, whether you want that cost.

Now, if your finances only allow you to pay minimum payment on some large purchase, then you probably should not be moving to the mode of seeking other credit. It won't necessarily limit the cards you can get initially, depending on scores, but if the cards start gathering high utilization, the FICO score will reflect that, and new cards will be harder to obtain.

One has to make a distinction between working with the cards already in the wallet, and looking for new credit:

In stressful times, you end up making due with the cards you already have. Sometimes that's minimum payments for quite a while.

When you don't really need the extra credit lines, then they become available.