topic Managing New CC, PIF Each Month in Credit Cards

Managing New CC, PIF Each Month

Anonymous — Thu, 16 Jun 2011 15:36:12 GMT

Good Morning,

I have one cc since beginning my quest of rebuilding my credit. It's an OB card with a $300 limit. I've had it since April, and use it responsibly, utilizing 10% each month. Yesterday, I was alerted that my fico jumped 21 points, yay for me!

My question: what looks better to future lenders/credit companies when they view my CR - waiting until my monthly statement is issued and then paying in full (which is how I have been handling it), or PIF before the statement date?

Or does it really make a difference either way?

Thanks,

Mark

Re: Managing New CC, PIF Each Month

daytrade5 — Thu, 16 Jun 2011 15:53:02 GMT

Either method is fine to be honest. As long as you pay your balances in full either before the statement cuts or after (before the due date) I think you'll be fine. Even if you decide to carry a balance for a month or two, as long as you're paying more than the minimum payment I think you'd be in good shape.

Re: Managing New CC, PIF Each Month

Anonymous — Thu, 16 Jun 2011 18:49:57 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
Good Morning,

I have one cc since beginning my quest of rebuilding my credit. It's an OB card with a $300 limit. I've had it since April, and use it responsibly, utilizing 10% each month. Yesterday, I was alerted that my fico jumped 21 points, yay for me!

My question: what looks better to future lenders/credit companies when they view my CR - waiting until my monthly statement is issued and then paying in full (which is how I have been handling it), or PIF before the statement date?

Or does it really make a difference either way?

Thanks,
Mark

Very Good! Good for you

IMO, since you only have one cc ... I say keep up your good work. May better to bring the util down to lower than 10% to see how does your score changes.

Re: Managing New CC, PIF Each Month

Anonymous — Thu, 16 Jun 2011 19:35:04 GMT

Hi Bunnyrabbit,

Lower than 10% utilization will improve my score? really? I thought keeping it around 10% was optimum, that it shows I can use credit responsibly?

Thanks,

Mark

Re: Managing New CC, PIF Each Month

haulingthescoreup — Thu, 16 Jun 2011 20:15:24 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
Hi Bunnyrabbit,

Lower than 10% utilization will improve my score? really? I thought keeping it around 10% was optimum, that it shows I can use credit responsibly?

Thanks,
Mark

I'm not bunnyrabbit, but most of us find that the lower the reported util is, the better our scores, except that you don't want it to be 0%. Let one account report a small balance, in other words.

Even when our accounts report $0, reports indicate whether the account is being used or not.

Re: Managing New CC, PIF Each Month

Walt_K — Thu, 16 Jun 2011 21:11:13 GMT

You may already realize this, but I wasn't sure from your post. You don't have to limit yourself to only using 10% (or less than 10%) of your CL each month. The less than 10% "rule" is for reporting purposes. You want to pay your CC down to less than 10% of it's limit before the statement generates because the statement balance is what gets reported to the CRA (this is for most cards, some cards report the end of month balance and Orchard may be one of them, you'll have to check around for that). Then, after the statement cuts you pay your balance in full so you don't pay interest. The point is that you are controlling what gets reported. You aren't limited to only using your card for a $30 purchase every month.