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Credit Card Payment - The Correct Way

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ba6412
Established Member

Credit Card Payment - The Correct Way

Hi Everyone,

 

I am in the process of rebuilding my credit.  Part of that means I need new credit.  The best way for myself to build new credit, I believe, is to open more credit cards.  I am not very knowledgable though on the most proper way to use them to build my credit??

 

I have read that I am only supposed to use a certain percentage of my limit.  Is that for each month?  Also, how often should I pay it off? 

 

Can anyone help me with this?  I want to use and pay my credit cards properly to build my scores.

 

Any help is greatly appreciated.

 

Thank you!

 

J

Message 1 of 5
4 REPLIES 4
creditguy
Valued Contributor

Re: Credit Card Payment - The Correct Way

You can use however much of your limit as you want, the key is the balance that is reported. If you want to max out a card it's fine as long as you pay it off before the statement cuts. If you want to carry a balance keep it below 9% utilization when it reports for optimal scoring. 

Message 2 of 5
ba6412
Established Member

Re: Credit Card Payment - The Correct Way

I guess that is where I get confused.  When does the balance get cut or reported to me?

 

Example:  If my OpenSky credit card has a $200 balance, what is the best way to use it?  I charged $64.65 to it on 5/5/16.  On 5/23/16, I had a Total Current Balance of $64.65, but a Statement Balance of $29.65. 

 

Where does the $29.65 come from?  That is over the the usage that I want reported right??

 

Thank you in advance!

Message 3 of 5
creditguy
Valued Contributor

Re: Credit Card Payment - The Correct Way

In this case you wouldn't want more than $20 reporting as a balance but as you get more cards and increase your overall limits you would not want to exceed 9% of your overall limits and it's easier to keep that on one card instead of spread out but it's your call. You should be able to find your statement date on your physical or online statements.
Message 4 of 5
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: Credit Card Payment - The Correct Way


@ba6412 wrote:

I guess that is where I get confused.  When does the balance get cut or reported to me?

 

Example:  If my OpenSky credit card has a $200 balance, what is the best way to use it?  I charged $64.65 to it on 5/5/16.  On 5/23/16, I had a Total Current Balance of $64.65, but a Statement Balance of $29.65. 

 

Where does the $29.65 come from?  That is over the the usage that I want reported right??

 

Thank you in advance!


Look on your statement...There's a statement closing date. That's the date that the statement closes and the balance that shows is usually the one reported to CRAs....That differs from your due date. What I found is your due date is usually within 5 to 7 days before your next statement close date. 

Message 5 of 5
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