AZravens wrote:
Someone explain:
$1000 CC with no balance
I want to have 10% utilization
I charge $100 AND:
1. Keep the $100 balance steady every month?
2. ???????
I read a lot about the statement date, cut date, post date, PIF, Pay every week.
Does utilization take the average monthly balance, or the util on the statement date?
Util is calculated based on your reported balance vs. your credit limit, so most folks seem to get max FICO points by gearing their cc paying habits to their statement dates and/or account reporting dates (usually one and the same, but different in a few cases such as AmEx, US Bank and 1 or 2 others) to control the reported balances on their CR's and therefore their utiliization (debt-to-available credit ratio), since low util (1-9%) makes for happy FICO scores.
Most CCCs report your account balance as of your statement date, and most do the actual reporting to the credit bureaus ON your statement date as well (again - a few exceptions).
So, in general, the trick is to either PIF before your statement/reporting date every month or to pay down to a tiny percentage of your overall credit limit (all zero balances can actually hurt your scores, so it pays to let at least one report a balance, unless you only have 1 or 2 cc's), let that tiny percentage report, then PIF once your statement cuts to avoid paying any interest. How many cc's you have and on your ability to PIF on all accounts will determine whether or not (and how many, if any) you should let a cc report a balance for max points. All zeroes reporting actually can hurt your score.
FICO scores love to see what appear to be minimally-used credit cards!
If you haven't done so already, you might want to have a quick read of Credit Scoring 101 (at least the first post or two) and Veni, Vidi, Vici, or How to Master Your MasterCard. These will give you a lot of background info you'll need to best manage your credit and scores.
Hope this helps!
