@Anonymous wrote:I pay off my credit cards everymonth, I have all my bills going to them and then I pay them off each month, however my score updates days before I make my payment, even though my payment isn't actually due for atleast a week maybe two. Do I need to change my due dates? What can I do to make sure my score doesn't continue to go down every month when I'm paying off the balance every month like I'm supposed to??
The vast majority of lenders report the statement balance; which generally is a few days after the due date (lender online interface will tell you or look at the prior statements); however, between delays in lender reporting and also in burean / monitoring processing, it can show up a while later (like a week or sometimes more).
The trick is to zero out the balance before the due date, and then let the tradeline sit idle till the statement cuts if you're trying to pretty up your optimization; you do that on all cards except one, and on that final one you leave a small balance on it.
Generally speaking one only needs to do this either for practice or for an application or as a FICO check to see where you stand; otherwise if you're not doing anything with your credit report, it doesn't matter much. Interstitial FICO scores (between applications) are kinda not that important these days as long as you're keeping your revolving debt to a minimum anyway.
@Anonymous wrote:There are interim and yearly credit scores?! I thought the score drops I was getting everymonth were simply the main fico 8 score updating. So the ones that are dropping are not the end all be all. So how do I know what my yearly score is?
Whoopsie, not what I meant.
By "interim" I meant: between applications.
FICO only matters when a lender pulls it. As long as you never miss a payment or pay less than the minimum your FICO will trend upwards over time; however, there are some worthwhile tricks (reindeer games) to play with regards to reported balances and similar that can optimize your score when it does matter... namely when a lender will be pulling it.
The changes in your score that are happening with the reported balances are indeed your FICO score dropping; what I was trying to get at it is just temporary, and you can clean that up by prettying up your balances as soon as the following month as long as you have the financial resources to do so.