Advice on Using Credit Card and Keeping Utilization Low On My Credit Reports Somewhat Confused

[Anonymous]

I have 2 new cards both Capital One first ones in over 5 years.  My credit limit is $300 on one account and $500 on the other one.  If I want to use these to pay bills I would normally have to pay anyway (electric, gas, groceries etc) is it ok to charge up to my limit? I would then pay it off or pay down enough to be below the 30% utilization goal.  This would have to be done before the statement ending date correct?  If not then the high utilization would report to all 3 credit bureau's is that right?  I don't want to mess this up it took me too long to get back to where I am.

[Anonymous]

Yes, that is the best way to use them. I put virtually all of my bills and expenses through them.

[Anonymous]

Thank you I though that was the best way. Do I need to make the payment back a week or so before the statement closing date? Do the cc companies look at balance on closing date or couple of days before?

[Anonymous]

Depends on the lender. With Capital One, I can make an online payment, and it will be credited the same day if its before 4PM. Same with Barclays.

[Anonymous]

The reported balance is almost always going to be the balance on the day the statement closes.

[Anonymous]

I use to pay daily expenses - well most, and to pay bills - some as I'm getting used to what I can use a card for and which are set up on autopay checking account and I need to move to cards.  

It's a new process for me so I pay off/down on payday and again a couple days before the statement cuts - just to make sure the payment applied in time - then I put a sticky note on the card in my wallet so I don't accidently use it again until after the statement cuts (I have two Cap One Cards and have a tendency to mix up which cuts when so this helps).     

I have 2 cards that cut early in the month - around the 6th - and 2 more that cut around the 15th.   

I always have at least ONE that is available.....So far that is working for me.

[Anonymous]

I am trying to do the same thing with switching things around. Thanks for your input.

[crrredit]

I keep a pretty detailed online calendar for my credit issues. I usually aim to pay the cards to $0 on the scheduled payment date, which is usually 3 days before the next statement date. I use my bank billpay. Because it's an electronic transfer and not a check payment, it posts the day they receive payment, so it's pretty easy to schedule accurately. 

When a credit card is paid to zero, and I don't want to use it until after the statement cuts, I transfer the card to a different section of my wallet. The cards that I don't want to use are harder to get to, so I rarely use the wrong one. The thing that usually tricks me up is when I use a card to schedule regular payments, i.e. MyFico billing. Also, sometimes a transaction will update a couple days later, like a restaurant tab or when I pump gas. I've had to make last-minute $3 payments sometimes to try to keep the balance at $0.