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@Katheryne88 wrote:
Figure out when cards report?
I have 4 cards and I just pay them before they're due and that's it.. Now one of my cards reported $100 balance and the due date isn't until the 28th..
All my cards are also all over the place as of dates so I need to have a spread sheet to keep up and I have an app for that too. But how can I know the dates?
Take a look at your statement date, not the due date. Each credit card company reports the balance that is on the statement date of each month. You should pay before then if you want to avoid it from reporting a balance. For example my capital one reports on the 13th of each month and in order to avoid a balance reporting I have it paid to 0 or less than 30 percent. Ideally 1-9 percent reporting.
"When they report" is not whats relevant. What you need to keep track of is the statement close date. With most cards, the statement close date is going to be 3-5 days after the last statements due date - that actual reporting date is going to be sometime after that - maybe even at the end of the month with some issuers. But regardless, the balance reported will be what was reflected on the last statement. This can be a bit confusing with a payment due date of the 28th, since it crosses a monthly boundary and months have different lengths. So on some months the close may be the 1st and others its the 2nd. Many issuers will allow you to shift the payment date/statement close date to make paying more convenient - I would consider doing that in this instance to reduce confusion.
Yes. Look at your statement. It will say "Statement Date" or "Last Statement Balance as of DATE" the date being the statement date.
The balance ON your statement date is what's reported to your credit report.
@Anonymous wrote:"When they report" is not whats relevant. What you need to keep track of is the statement close date. With most cards, the statement close date is going to be 3-5 days after the last statements due date - that actual reporting date is going to be sometime after that - maybe even at the end of the month with some issuers. But regardless, the balance reported will be what was reflected on the last statement. This can be a bit confusing with a payment due date of the 28th, since it crosses a monthly boundary and months have different lengths. So on some months the close may be the 1st and others its the 2nd. Many issuers will allow you to shift the payment date/statement close date to make paying more convenient - I would consider doing that in this instance to reduce confusion.
+1. (esp highlighted portion)
@Katheryne88 wrote:
So the statement closes a couple of days after the due date?
I'm so sorry I'm not understanding it that easy. I got the part about not having a balance the day the statement closes, but i don't get when it is.
Basically it goes like this:
First lets start with a brand new account and assume the statement begins on the first day of the month, and ends the last day of the month (lets ignore 28/31 day months to keep it simple)
Most issuers allow either 25 or 27 days to pay your statement balance with out being charged interest. I'll use 27 days for this illustration.
You get your new card and the very first statement with the first annual fee of $29 on it at the beginning of the month. It has a statement date of 6/30/15, a balance of $29, and a $25 minimum payment due by 7/27/15. That $29 statement balance will get reported some time within 30 days after 6/30/15.
So the NEXT statement will close 7/30/15 - three days after the previous statement's payment due date of 7/27/15. You would want to pay at least $29 before the due date of 7/27/15 to avoid any interest charges from the 6/30/15 statement balance. If any new charges accrue during the time period from 7/1/15 to 7/30/15, they will be totalled, and any payments made during the same time period wil be subtracted from that total, and that will become your new balance for the 7/30/15 statement.
So, the idea here is to use the card and make several payments during the month as charges accrue, then stop charging around the 25th or so. That will allow all of the charges to clear by the 30th. You make a final payment on the 30th for the remaining balance. Then you can resume using the card the next day. The card will report a $0 balance and you will pay no interest charges. If you have several cards, you want one to report a small balance for the best FICO score. In that instance, instead of paying the full balance on the 30th, you would pay all but $10, or $20, or whatever the desired amount would be.
Note that there is no "lasting effect" of a large balance inadvertantly reporting - while FICO scores may be lower, they will fully rebound if the next months reported balance is low.