PIF before or after statement cuts?

[Anonymous]

Which is better for rebuilding?   

I PIF all cards every month, but i'm trying to decide if I should start doing it before statements cut.  I'm sitting here on payday, with money to pay bills with, but no bills are due.  I'm not concerned with the short term credit score bump that can be obtained from lower utilization by PIF before it cuts.

I have old late payments on my reports.  Won't PIF after it cuts put more on time payments on my credit report and look better in the long run?

[Anonymous]

YES...On time payments are on time payments. Paying before statement cuts simply show a zero balance thus no UTI.

I believe in letting cards report and paying them the day I get my on line statements. My UTI always remain at 10% and never over.

My scores stay the same if all my cards report something but AGAIN ALWAYS staying at 10% across the board.

And I only keep it at 10% because I like seeing my scores above 710.

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

Which is better for rebuilding?   

I PIF all cards every month, but i'm trying to decide if I should start doing it before statements cut.  I'm sitting here on payday, with money to pay bills with, but no bills are due.  I'm not concerned with the short term credit score bump that can be obtained from lower utilization by PIF before it cuts.

I have old late payments on my reports.  Won't PIF after it cuts put more on time payments on my credit report and look better in the long run?

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In the long run - it REALLY does not matter. You just need to understand what an optimal UTI% is so you can use that to max your scores when applying for new credit. Keep your balances in control, and enough reserve cash on hand so you can hit that magic "less than 10% on one card only" any time you need to.

[RonM21]

I agree with Norman. I will caution though, that if you know you're trying to get a CLI soon or something similar, I would not let it get out of hand just because you think you can pay it all down to lower your utilization. A lot of times those increases and so on may depend on how you've used the card and your ability to pay. So be careful.

[Anonymous]

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@RM21 wrote:
I agree with Norman. I will caution though, that if you know you're trying to get a CLI soon or something similar, I would not let it get out of hand just because you think you can pay it all down to lower your utilization. A lot of times those increases and so on may depend on how you've used the card and your ability to pay. So be careful.

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I really hate posting stupid questions, but I don't understand what you're trying to caution me about here, and I really want to understand.  How is PIF before a bill posts going to hurt my chances of getting a CLI?

I'm not doing so to artificially manipulate my utilization.  My utilization is fine either way.  

[Anonymous]

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@RM21 wrote:
I agree with Norman. I will caution though, that if you know you're trying to get a CLI soon or something similar, I would not let it get out of hand just because you think you can pay it all down to lower your utilization. A lot of times those increases and so on may depend on how you've used the card and your ability to pay. So be careful.

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I'm not sure I understand either. If the OP uses the card and pays before statement cut the bank will continue to see the ability to pay.

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

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@RM21 wrote:
I agree with Norman. I will caution though, that if you know you're trying to get a CLI soon or something similar, I would not let it get out of hand just because you think you can pay it all down to lower your utilization. A lot of times those increases and so on may depend on how you've used the card and your ability to pay. So be careful.

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I really hate posting stupid questions, but I don't understand what you're trying to caution me about here, and I really want to understand.  How is PIF before a bill posts going to hurt my chances of getting a CLI?

I'm not doing so to artificially manipulate my utilization.  My utilization is fine either way.  

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It's not going to hurt your chances of a CLI.