@The_Banker wrote:
I just prefer to have Zero balances reporting on the Robinhood card. I stop using it when it's PIF as there seems to be issue with transactions not posting in timely manner. Whether it's the bank RH uses or it's the merchants I use not settling in a timely manner I cannot tell but I am not spending time investigating that. My payment and usage pattern works for me so that I max out cash rewards as much as I possibly can.
Do you think reporting $0 balances on your RH card has impacted CLIs with them or other banks? At the end of last year I did some FICO scoring testing out of curiosity to see what impact certain things had on my profile. I wanted to see what the All Zero penalty was worth, what my optimized AZEO scores were, and how different accounts with balances percentages impacted my scores. When I was testing the accounts with balances percentages, I kept reported balances low to avoid total balance dollars from contributing to score changes. For November through February, my reported total balances were below $100. In March, one of my card was eligible for a CLI but I was denied for the following reasons:
- High unutilized credit line amount on your credit card
- High unutilized credit line(s) on your other credit card(s) according to your bureau information
The first reason made sense but I was surprised by the second reason. Granted, I didn't need the CLI because I have a high enough limit where my typical spend stays under 10% utilization because I only put gas on that card, but I don't think I'm close to the maximum limit that issuer is willing to extend and it was interesting to see they care about reported balances on other cards. I also found trying to control reported balances to be a chore for the reasons you described. Some reoccurring subscription transactions didn't even post on the same day every month. I was planning on letting balances report naturally after I was done testing and seeing that denial reason reaffirmed my decision. Now I pay all of my accounts the day before the due date which allows me to hold onto my money in a HYSA longer to earn interest. I'm not worried about card issuers taking adverse action because anyone that soft pulls my credit is able to tell that I pay my statement balances in full versus carrying balances month to month when they analyze my credit reports. Since you can't spend a credit score, I've decided to let my natural balances report to maximize cash back and interest earned in the HYSA. The only time I'll do AZEO in the future is when I'm applying for something where score may influence the interest rate, like an auto loan.
@The_Banker wrote:
I have no plans to ever apply for a mortgage of any kind. I have never had one as I luckily inherited a fully paid off home that I have worked tirelessly to keep in great condition -which it is-even in the crap Pittsburgh suburb that I live in. Nobody with kids will buy houses in my town (unless that kid is a great football player) as the school district is not great for academics but we have a GREAT High School Football program. Unless the school system improves and the town itself brings new businesses in along with tearing down all of the abandonded properties we have, I'll likely never be able to sell the home for a price that I want so I'll likely die in it. I have nobody other than my sister to leave it to should I proceed her in death (the home was our childhood home and my dad left it to me only-there were reasons -and she did not object).
You are very lucky to have a paid off house! I've come to accept that I'll never buy a house in my area. I make a decent salary but it is well below the salary needed to afford a house when the median home price is well over $1M. If I had a paid off house I wouldn't ever move either! And you never know... the housing market in your area could turn around as people are priced out of surrounding areas.
P.S. Go Steelers! I became a fan many years ago by proxy (the area I grew up in didn't have any NFL teams). Can't say I'm looking forward to the McCarthy era...
