topic Re: Whats considered too low in Credit Cards

Whats considered too low

TheFate — Tue, 15 Jul 2014 23:08:46 GMT

Browsing through threads and reading thru a few peoples denials one of the reasons listed were

"Too minimal of a payment made on revolving acct" (Or something along those lines)

But what's considered too min of a payment?

On one card I only have a $500 of a limit so I can only charge max $100 dollars. So I'll charge around $90 and pay half to leave a balance to report 1-9%. But if it's gonna hurt me in the long run I'd prefer to just PIF... I just don't like to let the lender report a $0 balance.

Can someone explain this into more depth?

Re: Whats considered too low

MT936 — Tue, 15 Jul 2014 23:17:21 GMT

Not too sure but when my only card was a $500 limit I payed in full after the statement closed. I have always payed in full after the statements closes on all my cards, never during the statement and it's worked out well for me. Ideally, you want the statement to close out at 1-9% utilization but I am way too lazy to make multiple payments during the month

Re: Whats considered too low

BearsAndTurtlesRtheBest — Tue, 15 Jul 2014 23:27:55 GMT

Looks lke your doing ti right that way a balance is reporting every month and there is activity on the account.

Re: Whats considered too low

Closingracer99 — Tue, 15 Jul 2014 23:32:25 GMT

@TheFate wrote:
Browsing through threads and reading thru a few peoples denials one of the reasons listed were

"Too minimal of a payment made on revolving acct" (Or something along those lines)

But what's considered too min of a payment?

On one card I only have a $500 of a limit so I can only charge max $100 dollars. So I'll charge around $90 and pay half to leave a balance to report 1-9%. But if it's gonna hurt me in the long run I'd prefer to just PIF... I just don't like to let the lender report a $0 balance.

Can someone explain this into more depth?

TBH I would considered "Too minimal of a payement" Is anywhere between $25 ( or $35 depending on what is the min payement for that Credit card) and around $50-$60 would be considered "too minimal of a payment" but that is just my opinion of what I would consider it to be

Re: Whats considered too low

TheFate — Tue, 15 Jul 2014 23:56:23 GMT

@MT936 wrote:
Not too sure but when my only card was a $500 limit I payed in full after the statement closed. I have always payed in full after the statements closes on all my cards, never during the statement and it's worked out well for me. Ideally, you want the statement to close out at 1-9% utilization but I am way too lazy to make multiple payments during the month

The problem with that is my Due Date is due 2 days before the Statement closing date.

(Or am I confusing the Due date and Statement dates? I tend to get that confused alot not sure why)

Re: Whats considered too low

MT936 — Wed, 16 Jul 2014 00:00:25 GMT

statement close date is when the billing cycle is over for the month, due date is when the payment is due by, it is usually 3weeks after statement close date

Re: Whats considered too low

TheFate — Wed, 16 Jul 2014 00:26:15 GMT

@MT936 wrote:
statement close date is when the billing cycle is over for the month, due date is when the payment is due by, it is usually 3weeks after statement close date

Ok I got it down.

How many days do you guys usually start making new purchases after the card has reported and you have PIF already?

Re: Whats considered too low

Bman70 — Wed, 16 Jul 2014 00:35:24 GMT

@TheFate wrote:
Browsing through threads and reading thru a few peoples denials one of the reasons listed were

"Too minimal of a payment made on revolving acct" (Or something along those lines)

But what's considered too min of a payment?

On one card I only have a $500 of a limit so I can only charge max $100 dollars. So I'll charge around $90 and pay half to leave a balance to report 1-9%. But if it's gonna hurt me in the long run I'd prefer to just PIF... I just don't like to let the lender report a $0 balance.

Can someone explain this into more depth?

Utilization for scoring only refers to what the credit bureaus see. So you can charge all the way to your limit, as long as you have it down to 1-9% before the statement cuts.

Re: Whats considered too low

MT936 — Wed, 16 Jul 2014 00:34:37 GMT

I continue charging, it's probably not the best idea but I don't spend much so I tend to always keep under 15%

Re: Whats considered too low

TheFate — Wed, 16 Jul 2014 01:14:10 GMT

@Bman70 wrote:
@TheFate wrote:
Browsing through threads and reading thru a few peoples denials one of the reasons listed were

"Too minimal of a payment made on revolving acct" (Or something along those lines)

But what's considered too min of a payment?

On one card I only have a $500 of a limit so I can only charge max $100 dollars. So I'll charge around $90 and pay half to leave a balance to report 1-9%. But if it's gonna hurt me in the long run I'd prefer to just PIF... I just don't like to let the lender report a $0 balance.

Can someone explain this into more depth?

Utilization for scoring only refers to what the credit bureaus see. So you can charge all the way to your limit, as long as you have it down to 1-9% before the statement cuts.

I don't like charging more than 20% due to the fact when I first got my Capital One Promo no interest for 12 months I almost maxed it out and it reported the highest balance which was $470/$500 (Which is still there till this day on my report). I think lenders could see that even if you do bring your UTI down which doesen't look good in my opinon

Re: Whats considered too low

nachoslibres — Wed, 16 Jul 2014 02:05:43 GMT

@TheFate wrote:
@Bman70 wrote:
@TheFate wrote:
Browsing through threads and reading thru a few peoples denials one of the reasons listed were

"Too minimal of a payment made on revolving acct" (Or something along those lines)

But what's considered too min of a payment?

On one card I only have a $500 of a limit so I can only charge max $100 dollars. So I'll charge around $90 and pay half to leave a balance to report 1-9%. But if it's gonna hurt me in the long run I'd prefer to just PIF... I just don't like to let the lender report a $0 balance.

Can someone explain this into more depth?

Utilization for scoring only refers to what the credit bureaus see. So you can charge all the way to your limit, as long as you have it down to 1-9% before the statement cuts.
I don't like charging more than 20% due to the fact when I first got my Capital One Promo no interest for 12 months I almost maxed it out and it reported the highest balance which was $470/$500 (Which is still there till this day on my report). I think lenders could see that even if you do bring your UTI down which doesen't look good in my opinon

Utilization has no memory. So even though it shows on your report it means nothing for your credit score - the only utilization that counts is the latest one that posted.

Re: Whats considered too low

TheFate — Wed, 16 Jul 2014 02:09:01 GMT

So are you saying you always charge more than 20% on your cards and just PIF?

I was under the impression its a good idea to drop down to 1-9% uti and only let 1 card report BEFORE apping and when not apping to keep your balance under 20% at ALL TIMES?

Re: Whats considered too low

Pat94108 — Wed, 16 Jul 2014 02:47:04 GMT

@TheFate wrote:
@MT936 wrote:
statement close date is when the billing cycle is over for the month, due date is when the payment is due by, it is usually 3weeks after statement close date
Ok I got it down.

How many days do you guys usually start making new purchases after the card has reported and you have PIF already?

I usually stop charging after a certain amount. I don't wait to PIF before charging considering that I usually PIF 3 weeks after the statement closes.

Re: Whats considered too low

nachoslibres — Wed, 16 Jul 2014 03:05:50 GMT

@TheFate wrote:
So are you saying you always charge more than 20% on your cards and just PIF?

I was under the impression its a good idea to drop down to 1-9% uti and only let 1 card report BEFORE apping and when not apping to keep your balance under 20% at ALL TIMES?

The only thing that gets reported to your credit reports are your statement balances. So, you could run up all your credit cards to their limits then pay them all off before the statement closes and your credit report would show that you had 0% utilization. I personally charge every thing I need to on my cards, pay them all off before the statement closes except for my Arrival+, which I usually let report a balance of $1k or so, which is about a 2.8% utilization.

I sometimes run my Arrival+ up to 75-80% of its utilization during the month, but like I said, pay it down to $1k before the statement closes.

Re: Whats considered too low

TheFate — Wed, 16 Jul 2014 03:14:13 GMT

@nachoslibres wrote:
@TheFate wrote:
So are you saying you always charge more than 20% on your cards and just PIF?

I was under the impression its a good idea to drop down to 1-9% uti and only let 1 card report BEFORE apping and when not apping to keep your balance under 20% at ALL TIMES?
The only thing that gets reported to your credit reports are your statement balances. So, you could run up all your credit cards to their limits then pay them all off before the statement closes and your credit report would show that you had 0% utilization. I personally charge every thing I need to on my cards, pay them all off before the statement closes except for my Arrival+, which I usually let report a balance of $1k or so, which is about a 2.8% utilization.

I sometimes run my Arrival+ up to 75-80% of its utilization during the month, but like I said, pay it down to $1k before the statement closes.

I guess I've been missing out on cash back rewards by not doing this.. Do you find yourself getting CLI's alot charging this way?

Re: Whats considered too low

Bman70 — Wed, 16 Jul 2014 05:03:57 GMT

@TheFate wrote:
@nachoslibres wrote:
@TheFate wrote:
So are you saying you always charge more than 20% on your cards and just PIF?

I was under the impression its a good idea to drop down to 1-9% uti and only let 1 card report BEFORE apping and when not apping to keep your balance under 20% at ALL TIMES?
The only thing that gets reported to your credit reports are your statement balances. So, you could run up all your credit cards to their limits then pay them all off before the statement closes and your credit report would show that you had 0% utilization. I personally charge every thing I need to on my cards, pay them all off before the statement closes except for my Arrival+, which I usually let report a balance of $1k or so, which is about a 2.8% utilization.

I sometimes run my Arrival+ up to 75-80% of its utilization during the month, but like I said, pay it down to $1k before the statement closes.
I guess I've been missing out on cash back rewards by not doing this.. Do you find yourself getting CLI's alot charging this way?

Actually that's a good point, I keep hearing about people getting CLIs with heavy use. (And heavy would be lots of use and utilization, paying it off each month.) I got my biggest CLI - up 5k from Cap1 - after using a card like this for months.

Re: Whats considered too low

TheFate — Wed, 16 Jul 2014 05:13:36 GMT

@Bman70 wrote:
@TheFate wrote:
@nachoslibres wrote:
@TheFate wrote:
So are you saying you always charge more than 20% on your cards and just PIF?

I was under the impression its a good idea to drop down to 1-9% uti and only let 1 card report BEFORE apping and when not apping to keep your balance under 20% at ALL TIMES?
The only thing that gets reported to your credit reports are your statement balances. So, you could run up all your credit cards to their limits then pay them all off before the statement closes and your credit report would show that you had 0% utilization. I personally charge every thing I need to on my cards, pay them all off before the statement closes except for my Arrival+, which I usually let report a balance of $1k or so, which is about a 2.8% utilization.

I sometimes run my Arrival+ up to 75-80% of its utilization during the month, but like I said, pay it down to $1k before the statement closes.
I guess I've been missing out on cash back rewards by not doing this.. Do you find yourself getting CLI's alot charging this way?
Actually that's a good point, I keep hearing about people getting CLIs with heavy use. (And heavy would be lots of use and utilization, paying it off each month.) I got my biggest CLI - up 5k from Cap1 - after using a card like this for months.

Thats good to know, do you charge all your cards this way now?

It sounds convincing just the oppisite of everything I read, I guess I could try it then just bring the balance down before the closing statement date and let it report below 10%

Re: Whats considered too low

TheFate — Wed, 16 Jul 2014 05:16:16 GMT

@nachoslibres wrote:
@TheFate wrote:
So are you saying you always charge more than 20% on your cards and just PIF?

I was under the impression its a good idea to drop down to 1-9% uti and only let 1 card report BEFORE apping and when not apping to keep your balance under 20% at ALL TIMES?
The only thing that gets reported to your credit reports are your statement balances. So, you could run up all your credit cards to their limits then pay them all off before the statement closes and your credit report would show that you had 0% utilization. I personally charge every thing I need to on my cards, pay them all off before the statement closes except for my Arrival+, which I usually let report a balance of $1k or so, which is about a 2.8% utilization.

I sometimes run my Arrival+ up to 75-80% of its utilization during the month, but like I said, pay it down to $1k before the statement closes.

Wow so you charge 16k in a month on 1 card? I don't even spend that in 6 months lol

Re: Whats considered too low

takeshi74 — Wed, 16 Jul 2014 13:40:04 GMT

@TheFate wrote:
I was under the impression its a good idea to drop down to 1-9% uti and only let 1 card report BEFORE apping and when not apping to keep your balance under 20% at ALL TIMES?

30% max in general. For optimal scoring reducing utilization to 10% or less with only 1 balance report may help. I don't bother with it but my utilization typically falls around 10% without any maintenance. I have a number of cards reporting balances but my scores are fine even with multiple balances. YMMV.

@TheFate wrote:
I guess I've been missing out on cash back rewards by not doing this.. Do you find yourself getting CLI's alot charging this way?

As always, usage isn't the only factor that matters with CLI's. One's credit and income matter. Heavy usage may help but it doesn't guarantee a CLI.

@TheFate wrote:
It sounds convincing just the oppisite of everything I read,

Most of the utilization threads that I've run across have at least one person indicating that one can use whatever one wants and pay prior to reporting to adjust reported utilization.

Re: Whats considered too low

nachoslibres — Thu, 17 Jul 2014 00:13:54 GMT

@TheFate wrote:
@nachoslibres wrote:
@TheFate wrote:
So are you saying you always charge more than 20% on your cards and just PIF?

I was under the impression its a good idea to drop down to 1-9% uti and only let 1 card report BEFORE apping and when not apping to keep your balance under 20% at ALL TIMES?
The only thing that gets reported to your credit reports are your statement balances. So, you could run up all your credit cards to their limits then pay them all off before the statement closes and your credit report would show that you had 0% utilization. I personally charge every thing I need to on my cards, pay them all off before the statement closes except for my Arrival+, which I usually let report a balance of $1k or so, which is about a 2.8% utilization.

I sometimes run my Arrival+ up to 75-80% of its utilization during the month, but like I said, pay it down to $1k before the statement closes.
Wow so you charge 16k in a month on 1 card? I don't even spend that in 6 months lol

I own a business, I run business expenses on my cards as well.