topic Re: How do you make your payments? in General Credit Topics

How do you make your payments?

MakingProgress — Wed, 07 Mar 2018 21:12:54 GMT

Just curious how everyone makes their CC payments.

Pull from CC online account?

Push from your checking account's billpay?

Write a check and mail it? I think thats still an option.

Other?

How often do you pay?

For me I prefer to push from my checking account and pay weekly.

I keep track of all financial accounts in Microsoft Money. Yes I know its wayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy outdated, but I have used it for at least 20 years and I'm not changing. I stub all purchases in my cc account and have a transfer from checking to cc sitting there that I just add my current purchases to and then actuall send the payment on Mondays.

Re: How do you make your payments?

Anonymous — Wed, 07 Mar 2018 21:16:37 GMT

I typically pay from the cc online acct. Weekly or monthly depending on the card and my spend.

Re: How do you make your payments?

Anonymous — Thu, 08 Mar 2018 01:19:38 GMT

From CC autopay to pay the full statement balance on or few days before due day if the CC account allows it, I will however make an extra payment to prevent individual UTI of > 29% after a large purchase. IMO, unless you have super toy limits or is about to apply for a major loan, micromanaging UTI or AZEO is an exercise in futility, you're wasting time, effort and money for no good reason, put your credit and money to work by taking full advantage of the grace period and keep your money in a high yield savings for an extra 25-55 days depending on the time of charge.

Re: How do you make your payments?

Anonymous — Thu, 08 Mar 2018 01:50:09 GMT

Most of the time I do a pull from the cc's online account. Nowadays I do the payment at or a few days before the due date, no autopay setup.

Re: How do you make your payments?

Gmood1 — Thu, 08 Mar 2018 01:55:12 GMT

Every account that allows auto pay, is setup to do so a day or two before due date. The oldman87 gives good advice!

Re: How do you make your payments?

MakingProgress — Thu, 08 Mar 2018 13:54:02 GMT

@Anonymouswrote:
From CC autopay to pay the full statement balance on or few days before due day if the CC account allows it, I will however make an extra payment to prevent individual UTI of > 29% after a large purchase. IMO, unless you have super toy limits or is about to apply for a major loan, micromanaging UTI or AZEO is an exercise in futility, you're wasting time, effort and money for no good reason, put your credit and money to work by taking full advantage of the grace period and keep your money in a high yield savings for an extra 25-55 days depending on the time of charge.

For the most part I agree with what you have said. For me not having toy limits is very very new so I still make my weekly payments. I am a control freak. As far as using the the grace period 99.9% of my charges are for everyday purchases such as groceries and gas which I would have previously used my debit card to pay. Any purchase for everyday expenses I will continue to pay weekly from my checking account that only earns .05%. For larger purchases that I would transfer the cash from my money market to pay I will take advantage of the grace period. i.e. I just purchased appliances for $1000 and I will leave that on my new discover card taking advantage of the 14 months at 0%. I can pay it off durring that time and keep that 1K in my money market account.

Re: How do you make your payments?

Anonymous — Thu, 08 Mar 2018 14:22:25 GMT

I only have credit cards and a student loan payment to make each month, and make them from the issuer's site.

I log all of my financial activity on a phone app that is basically an old school checkbook register. I have accounts set up for my credit cards and log all of those transactions and keep tabs on my balance. I realized I was spending too much on credit cards and logging each transaction as if it were a checking account helps keep me in check. If I see the credit card bill running up too high, I put the brakes on my spending. I also then have all of my account balances at a glance at any time.

I log into all of my accounts every payday and pay anything that is due before the next payday. This habit has stuck with me from my younger days, even though I keep enough in my checking now to set everything on autopay and let it ride. I am working on some 0% debt now and use this biweekly analysis to determine how much $ to throw at that. When it's gone, I'll probably set everything on autopay to pay statement balances in full each month.

Re: How do you make your payments?

Anonymous — Thu, 08 Mar 2018 14:31:40 GMT

I set up an autopsy from the cc account to pay 2-3 days before payment is “due.” That is actually my back-up, because I typically pay each card 2x a month and ensure they are PIF with the exception of one card with a very small balance. The one with a balance somewhat rotated depending on what is easiest and most convenient for me at that moment.

WHATEVER WORKS BEST FOR YOU IS THE BEST PLAN!

Re: How do you make your payments?

DaveInAZ — Thu, 08 Mar 2018 18:11:49 GMT

I almost always pull from the CC side, when I log in to get my statement I schedule my payment then. The CC pull always pulls the payment on the date I schedule, banks bill pay can vary by a day or 2.
If you think MS Money is outdated, I still use Quicken 2003! I'm stuck with it, newer Quicken versions can't convert data from that old a version and I don't want to start over.

Re: How do you make your payments?

AverageJoesCredit — Thu, 08 Mar 2018 18:34:36 GMT

I just go to my creditors website and pay with my linked account. Easy breezy coverl girl. Make sure i have the funds in my checking andenter amount and press send I like Amex and Citi as the credit is instant to see

Re: How do you make your payments?

iced — Thu, 08 Mar 2018 20:09:09 GMT

I log in to mobile app 3-4 days before due date and pay the statement balance from whatever account makes sense that month.I have my cards configured to remind me 5 days before due date though after a while you get into the habit of logging in monthly. I only pay once per month; no reason to pay more often than that.

I do not use billpay from any account, checking or otherwise.

I don't use any application to keep track of financial accounts.

Re: How do you make your payments?

Anonymous — Fri, 09 Mar 2018 02:23:31 GMT

I just use their web pay and if one is slow with posting, I use my bank's bill pay. Each one of my credit cards is different with processing and posting payments. I honestly have no checks in my house. I haven't had to use one in so long lol

Re: How do you make your payments?

Anonymous — Fri, 09 Mar 2018 16:08:53 GMT

Hello all,

i have my auto pay set up to 15 days after closing date. I’m paying off a 0% interest intro deal but I charge my Netflix and Hulu and I add the additional charges to my auto paymemt. Now today I noticed that I had a Hulu charge AFTER my auto pay paid the statement.

My question is, do I get charged interest on that charge or is it added to my next statement?

thanks in advance,

i May ask a lot of questions in the future. I have a good score and history but I haven’t had anyone to teach me about credit. I’ve mostly just learned from the mistakes my family’s and friends have made. I’m glad to have found this place.

Re: How do you make your payments?

Anonymous — Fri, 09 Mar 2018 18:41:04 GMT

I get paid once a month on the 3rd. I pay all my credit cards on that day. Pull from their pay site. Easy as can be. I PIF all cards except one where I leave a small balance for AZERO. For me it’s easy to do AZERO every month without fail. No extra work for me. So I’m always good to apply for something if I so choose.

Re: How do you make your payments?

expatCanuck — Mon, 12 Mar 2018 02:55:28 GMT

I typically push from my checking account bank's website -- except for issuers that give me immediate credit for the payment on their site (e.g. - Citi).

When I was in rebuild mode, I tried to strategically pay what I had, when I had it, with an eye towards lowering individual card utilization. I paid as frequently as five times a cycle.

Now that I'm in (what I'll call) 'strengthening' mode, I typically pay once a month, in full, either prior to or just after the statement cutting, to maintain AZEO status.

Once I'm in maintenance mode (and I'm getting close), I expect that I'll pay (in full) 2-3 days before the due date (i.e. - let the balance report, 'cause I really won't care what my score is, as long as it's above, say, 775).

I've never been comfortable with autopay, and don't use it for credit cards. (I will use if for utilities whose amount is predictable.) All you need is for there to be insufficient funds once, and you're tagged by both the card issuer and the bank.

Re: How do you make your payments?

MakingProgress — Fri, 09 Mar 2018 20:09:25 GMT

@expatCanuckwrote:
I typically push from my checking account bank's website -- except for issuers that give me immediate credit for the payment on their site (e.g. - Citi).

When I was in rebuild mode, I tried to strategically pay what I had, when I it, with an eye towards lowering individual card utilization. I paid as frequently as five times a cycle.

Now that I'm in (what I'll call) 'strengthening' mode, I typically pay once a month, in full, either prior to or just after the statement cutting, to maintain AZEO status.

Once I'm in maintenance mode (and I'm getting close), I expect that I'll pay (in full) 2-3 days before the due date (i.e. - let the balance report, 'cause I really won't care what my score is, as long as it's above, say, 775).

I've never been comfortable with autopay, and don't use it for credit cards. (I will use if for utilities whose amount is predictable.)

Since when are utilities predictable? Winter gas bill is high and electric is lower. Summer gas is a few dollars, and electric is through the roof.

Re: How do you make your payments?

iced — Sat, 10 Mar 2018 01:51:50 GMT

@MakingProgresswrote:
@expatCanuckwrote:
I typically push from my checking account bank's website -- except for issuers that give me immediate credit for the payment on their site (e.g. - Citi).

When I was in rebuild mode, I tried to strategically pay what I had, when I it, with an eye towards lowering individual card utilization. I paid as frequently as five times a cycle.

Now that I'm in (what I'll call) 'strengthening' mode, I typically pay once a month, in full, either prior to or just after the statement cutting, to maintain AZEO status.

Once I'm in maintenance mode (and I'm getting close), I expect that I'll pay (in full) 2-3 days before the due date (i.e. - let the balance report, 'cause I really won't care what my score is, as long as it's above, say, 775).

I've never been comfortable with autopay, and don't use it for credit cards. (I will use if for utilities whose amount is predictable.)
Since when are utilities predictable? Winter gas bill is high and electric is lower. Summer gas is a few dollars, and electric is through the roof.

Depends on where you live. Some parts of the country have mild weather year-round, for example. I've lived in condos where heat was included as part of the HOA payment, so my electric/gas bills stayed pretty predictable. Some areas don't have gas for heat, so electric is high in the winter for heat and high in the summer for AC - also predictable.

Re: How do you make your payments?

iv — Sat, 10 Mar 2018 03:12:35 GMT

@DaveInAZwrote:
I almost always pull from the CC side, when I log in to get my statement I schedule my payment then. The CC pull always pulls the payment on the date I schedule, banks bill pay can vary by a day or 2.
If you think MS Money is outdated, I still use Quicken 2003! I'm stuck with it, newer Quicken versions can't convert data from that old a version and I don't want to start over.

There's technically an upgrade path - 2004 -> 2013 -> current. Does work, even though it's not encouraged or supported.

I also pull payments - don't really trust a bank push, too many prior experiences with bank billpay sending (delayed) paper checks rather than ACH. (It's probably a lot better these days, true. But once burned...)

Re: How do you make your payments?

Sneakytiki — Sat, 10 Mar 2018 04:04:18 GMT

I set up autopay through the credit card apps on my phone/computer. Not doing this a couple years ago is the sole reason I am not in the 700's right now. Cards I use rarely are payed off once a month if I use them. Heavy use cards that I use for rewards are payed off weekly from the same bank account. Every supplemental payment is made from the credit card app or site.

If I am in damage control I put small balances on all my cards and set up autopay so I get tons of payments reporting to improve payment history.

I only use AZEO if I am about to finance a large purchase but I will sometimes let large balances ride for a month or two as I move money around or pay off a bunch of cards. I have large balances on two cards right now but those will be gone in a month or two. I try to use each card at least once every 6 months or so.

Re: How do you make your payments?

Anonymous — Sat, 10 Mar 2018 17:28:43 GMT

I pay from the cc online account. Pay each one a few days before the statement closes.