pdxuser wrote:I don't have a CC yet, but I'm wondering when each month I should make payments.
I gather that I get 25 days after using the card before interest rates kick in for that use. Ideally I'd want to pay before then.
But then I assume I get a statement at a fixed time each month. Is that statement merely informational, with the statement date having no bearing on when I need to pay? Or does interest actually start 25 days after I get the statement, so if I use the card the day after the statement is issued, I'll get 30 days until the next statement plus 25 days after that next statement until interest kicks in, for 55 days interest-free?
And then what about the date the CCC reports my status to the CRAs? Is that the same as my statement date? Or do I need to call the CCC and ask when that date is? I assume I want my balance to be 1-9% of my limit on that date?
This seems like it could become a real juggling act with multiple cards, remembering the various statement dates, reporting dates, and interest start dates.
You are correct that the statements should cut on a certain day of the month each month. And yes, THAT is when the grace period time kicks in. The grace period should indicate roughly the amount of time between when the statement posts and when the payment is due.
If you look at the wording of the grace period, that's why it says something like "minimum of x days" - because you're right, if you make a purchase right before the statement cuts, you have just about exactly the grace period time to pay it before interest charges kick in - but if you make a purchase just after the statement cuts you could have about a month longer before interest kicks in for that purchase.
This is assuming that you paid the last statement balance IN FULL, however - if there's a carry-over balance, new purchases will have ZERO grace period and will immediately start accruing interest.
I've only had my first credit cards for 8 months and 6 months each, so I'm pretty new to figuring out how this works as well. One of THE MOST frustrating things I found is that nowhere in the documentation for my new cards OR on the websites with my account information could I find ANY mention of what day of the month the statements would post or when my due dates would be!
I was able to find this information out by calling Customer Service - but I suppose typically one doesn't find out until the first statement actually posts!
As far as what date reports to the CRAs, this seems to vary with some card issuers, but typically they will post the "statement balance" i.e. the balance on the date the statement posts. They may give this info to the CRAs a couple days after the statement posts, but typically at least they will report the statement balance.
This could indeed be tricky to juggle with multiple CCs 
Supposedly some companies will let you change what day of the month your statements or due dates are, but I haven't attempted this so am not sure how feasible it is...
@pdxuser wrote:I just found this old thread that suggests things get posted to the CRA's at all various times. But can I be sure it will definitely be whatever the statement balance was?
Also, now I just realized there's a due date, too. So when is that usually? Let's say my statement is cut on 10/31 with a balance of $100. I'm interest-free till 11/25. When is my due date likely to be? And when would my balance be considered "rolled over"? What if I charge something on 11/1 for $50 (increasing my balance to $150) but then pay $100 (the value of my original statement balance)? Am I then considered to have PIF'd my original balance and now have a fresh balance of $50 that is subject to a 25-day grace period?
I feel like I'm spinning plates.
The amount posted to the CRAs DOES vary with different card issuers it seems. Typically but NOT always it will be the statement balance - but you'd want to check for sure with whatever card you end up getting!
Also, I think I may have caused some confusion about due dates vs. interest. The due date IS EXACTLY the date that you would start accruing interest if the full balance is not paid. The time between the statement date and the due date should be based on your grace period. Grace periods may change though, so the most useful thing to focus on is the actual due date for each statement
And if I'm reading it correctly, your balance description is accurate. If you are paying in full each month, the charges during each billing cycle are treated separately.
For example:
My Discover card's billing cycle runs from the 21st of one month through the 20th of the next month. The Statement Date is always the 20th (though the actual statement may not be viewable online until the 21st or 22nd or so).
The Due Date is always the 15th of the following month. Which is actually pretty generous now that I'm thinking about it... certainly more than the grace period, if I'm remembering right.
Anyway - so in a few days I'll have my October 20 statement which details all charges (& payments) that posted from September 21 through October 20. Then I'll have until November 15 to pay that statement balance. I have things set up so it will auto-pay-in-full on November 10 if I don't pay earlier, just in case.
In the meantime, I will keep charging things to my account, so between October 20 and November 10, my "current balance" will look higher, since I haven't yet paid the October 20 statement balance.
But from what I've seen, Discover posts my statement balance to the CRAs around the 23rd or so of the month. So October 23rd they'll post my October 20 statement balance. So the temporarily higher balance in the few days after that doesn't seem to affect what's reported to the CRAs.
This is what I've noticed, so I don't know for certain this is always how it works