It actually goes in the opposite direction. You get a statement, let's say it's dated on the 5th. It says that your balance is $700, minimum payment $35. You have until (let's say) the 27th to make that minimum payment or more. Then a week or 10 days after that due date, on the 5th of the next month, a new statement generates. It includes any new purchases you've made that weren't on the last statement, plus any balance on the last statement that you didn't pay off. And THAT figure will be due on the 27th of next month, and on and on. (Obviously these are all made-up dates.)
So anyway, the amount that is reported to the credit bureaus in most cases is that $700 that was on the statement. If your credit limit is $1000, that card is reporting 70% utilization, which is high. Even if you pay off the entire $700 the next day, that's not reported --the $700 is the figure that FICO knows about and uses to calculate your score.
If you go online 4 or 5 days BEFORE that statement posts, and pay for instance $650 of that $700, then only $50 of $1000 is reported, and suddenly that card shows at 5% util. And that makes FICO smile.
After it posts, you want to be sure to pay it off before that due date on the 27th. This is how people use their CC's for every conceivable purchase, but their reported utilization stays very low.
(If you've got TrueCredit or another monitoring service that shows the exact date that your activity is reported, you can confirm the amount and the date of the report. Some CCC's report differently.)
Anyway, I've thread-jacked Tuscani's Success Stories thread!
sorry...
* Credit is a wonderful servant, but a terrible master. * Who's the boss --you or your credit?
FICO's: EQ 781 - TU 793 - EX 779 (from PSECU) - Done credit hunting; having fun with credit gardening. - EQ 590 on 5/14/2007