CC Statements and Util

[Uniqua]

I called HFCU to ask about the 6/11 statement date. I was told that I did not need to worry about that statement or the date due of 7/6 since I hadn't even received or activated the card at that time. It does show a balance due of $0. The CSR told me that my transactions from date of activation (6/12) will be reported on my 7/11 statement, and I would need to pay that balance by 8/6 to avoid FCs. So, I'll make sure to pay any new charges by 7/11 so that it will report a $0 bal on my CRs.

My AEFCU CC is the only card I think I'll let report a small balance, since that CC is my lowest CL. I should do this for FICO computation of util, correct? Reporting zero util each month will not help my score since FICO will have no amounts to configure? If this is correct, I wonder if I can hit the 700 club by Sept. 1. My current FICOs are:

TU 666
EQ 666
EX 677 (don't know how that jumped from 609, but thank God it did!)

[Anonymous]

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Uniqua wrote:
So, I'll make sure to pay any new charges by 7/11 so that it will report a $0 bal on my CRs.

My AEFCU CC is the only card I think I'll let report a small balance, since that CC is my lowest CL. I should do this for FICO computation of util, correct? Reporting zero util each month will not help my score since FICO will have no amounts to configure?

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That's correct.  FICO will ding you as many as 20 points or so if you have $0 in revolving balances reporting.

Since this is your only card, instead of paying ot to $0 before 7/11, pay it down so that the balance that reports is 1% of the card's CL.  That will get you the max FICO points you can get for that card reporting.

[Uniqua]

Ding me as much as 20 POINTS? Oh heck no! I better learn this util stuff QUICK!

Actually, I have my WaMu card too (3 CCs in total). I received and activated that card on 6/14. Today I find out that my statement cut on 6/25. Huh? Sooooooo, even though I had already made a payment, the balance I left will be reported on my CRs (if WaMu even reports this early?). That DEFINITELY threw me for a loop as I was not expecting a statement from WaMu so soon. My WaMu CL is $2k, the balance is $68.79. I have until 7/22 to pay in full. WaMu is one card I DO NOT want to carry a balance on. Their billling cycles scare me!

[techgirl]

Okay, now I am confused. If you have more than one, it is okay to leave a couple of them at $0 for a while - right?

[Anonymous]

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techgirl wrote:

Okay, now I am confused. If you have more than one, it is okay to leave a couple of them at $0 for a while - right?

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Yes, but try not to let them all report $0 at the same time.

[marty56]

good news that if you only have a $1 on a card it will report at 1% regardless of what you total available credit is so it doesnt take much to show some util.  In my score bucket 1% seems to be  as good as 9%.