topic CC Utilization/Reporting in Bankruptcy

CC Utilization/Reporting

Anonymous — Fri, 25 Sep 2015 17:49:16 GMT

Good morning all...

I have been reading the post in the forums for a while. I have already filed my ch. 7 bankruptcy and received my discharge on 9/10/2015. Within this time, I have received a new auto loan and recently approved for 2 capital one cards: Quicksilver and Platinum card. I am very excited to have been given a fresh start with capital one so soon after discharge. I hope this is not a repeat question but reading through the older post I still wasn't clear on the best way to use my cards so that I will see an increase in my credit scores. if anyone can assit me I would greatly appreciate it.

Should I use the cards and pay the balance in full before the statements print or do I use the cards and allow them to send me a statement and then pay the majority of the balance before the due date ? I am just totally confused any information would be greatly appreciate.. Thanks in advance.

Re: CC Utilization/Reporting

Anonymous — Fri, 25 Sep 2015 17:54:39 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
Good morning all...

I have been reading the post in the forums for a while. I have already filed my ch. 7 bankruptcy and received my discharge on 9/10/2015. Within this time, I have received a new auto loan and recently approved for 2 capital one cards: Quicksilver and Platinum card. I am very excited to have been given a fresh start with capital one so soon after discharge. I hope this is not a repeat question but reading through the older post I still wasn't clear on the best way to use my cards so that I will see an increase in my credit scores. if anyone can assit me I would greatly appreciate it.
Should I use the cards and pay the balance in full before the statements print or do I use the cards and allow them to send me a statement and then pay the majority of the balance before the due date ? I am just totally confused any information would be greatly appreciate.. Thanks in advance.

Pay one down to $0 before the statement cuts and pay the other down enough before the statement cuts so that no more than 1-9% of that card's limit is utilized.

Be careful of pending charges that can final post on the same day your statement cuts. If I'm having a month that I'm REALLY watching my utlization on a specific card, I actually quit using that card a few days before the statement cuts.

Re: CC Utilization/Reporting

Anonymous — Fri, 25 Sep 2015 18:07:58 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:
Good morning all...

I have been reading the post in the forums for a while. I have already filed my ch. 7 bankruptcy and received my discharge on 9/10/2015. Within this time, I have received a new auto loan and recently approved for 2 capital one cards: Quicksilver and Platinum card. I am very excited to have been given a fresh start with capital one so soon after discharge. I hope this is not a repeat question but reading through the older post I still wasn't clear on the best way to use my cards so that I will see an increase in my credit scores. if anyone can assit me I would greatly appreciate it.
Should I use the cards and pay the balance in full before the statements print or do I use the cards and allow them to send me a statement and then pay the majority of the balance before the due date ? I am just totally confused any information would be greatly appreciate.. Thanks in advance.
Pay one down to $0 before the statement cuts and pay the other down enough before the statement cuts so that no more than 1-9% of that card's limit is utilized.

Be careful of pending charges that can final post on the same day your statement cuts. If I'm having a month that I'm REALLY watching my utlization on a specific card, I actually quit using that card a few days before the statement cuts.

Thank you so much for the plain explanation because some post were a bit technical and with me being new to credit card use and monitoring my credit scores I wanted to make sure I was using them properly. I appreciate the information.

Re: CC Utilization/Reporting

Anonymous — Sat, 26 Sep 2015 03:02:45 GMT

One thing to remember is that Utilization doesn't have a memory. If you mess up one month and miss paying it down to under 10%, that's ok. Next month get it done and the scores will right themselves.

Good luck!

Re: CC Utilization/Reporting

Anonymous — Tue, 08 Dec 2015 22:46:38 GMT

Since my chapter 13 discharge in may 2015 Ive been able to get three new credit cards. 1st Cap One Secured $500 CL on Aug. 2015, 2nd Discover IT $6.5K CL Nov 2015, 3rd Cap One Quicksilver Cashback rewards $5K CL. I was planning on using all of them up to 9% utilization accross the board and PIF each month. But reading tru the forum I always see the recommendation of pay in full all of them except one. Does it make a differnece if I let all of them report a balance under 10% and then pay in full each month?

Re: CC Utilization/Reporting

Scupra — Tue, 08 Dec 2015 23:55:45 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
Since my chapter 13 discharge in may 2015 Ive been able to get three new credit cards. 1st Cap One Secured $500 CL on Aug. 2015, 2nd Discover IT $6.5K CL Nov 2015, 3rd Cap One Quicksilver Cashback rewards $5K CL. I was planning on using all of them up to 9% utilization accross the board and PIF each month. But reading tru the forum I always see the recommendation of pay in full all of them except one. Does it make a differnece if I let all of them report a balance under 10% and then pay in full each month?

Yes, it makes a major difference. You would only want ONE card to report a balance less than 10%. You can use them all how you want, just don't let them all report a balance. Utilization has no memory and one should only be this concerned when preparing to app for something.