OP, while you didn't really say in your initial post, one thing that should be clarified is that you don't need to "keep" 2 cards at $0, you just need to ensure they report $0. From the language with which you wrote, it almost suggested that you wouldn't even use those 2 cards at all, which definitely doesn't need to be the case.
The advice about at finding out when your creditors report is solid. For my, my Capital One payment due date is the 14th and my statement cuts on the 17th. Capital One usually reports to the bureaus for me on the 17th, although sometimes on the 16th, which is a bit odd as the statement period still has a day before it ends. Anyway, if this were your AZEO card that you want to leave a small balance on, you'd want to PIF on the 13th-14th (at the latest) your total balance, not just your previous statement balance, less the small amount you want to allow to report. For example your previous statement balance may be $40 and you may have a current balance of $240 if you used the card for another $200 in purchases for the cycle. On your payment due date (or a day or two before) you'd want to pay $235 for example, leaving a $5 behind to report. Keep in mind any charges between that payment and the statement close date will be added... so if between the 14th and 17th you spend $100, you'd report $105 instead of just the $5 you were planning on. I'm not sure what the limit is on the card you're planning to report a balance with, but if it's low you may need to watch your swipes during this few day period as it could potentially put you above 8.99% reported on that card. Hopefully that makes sense.
