This is just an example say you have 90% utilization on your credit card. Your statement closes the 5th of the month so the 2nd or third you would want to pay it down to 1% to 9% utilization so that payment posts when statement closes for best credit scoring on your credit score. If the payment is due the 30th you would want to pay statement balance by due date to avoid interest. Current balance is also listed that includes new charges added after statement closed. The new charges can be paid on the next statement. That is why you pay statement balance unless you want to pay the total current balance.
Discover IT $17k / US Bank Ace (VSig) $13.5K / US Bank Cash+ (VSig) $13.5k
@CoreyGSHS wrote:Okay, so you are saying that since my Bank America Cash Rewards card currently holds a balance of $220.93 and I was approved with a $700 CL, I should pay $198 on the due date which is on the 2nd, then pay the rest (10%) off on the evening of the 3rd whenever my statement ends? I dont have any interest until a year, but i still dont want it to show up that im not paying my bills on time.
I'm sorry, haha. I know I am probably making this more complicated.
You've got it all correct! Just if you pay that much, you'll actually be at ~3% since $22.93 (what your remaining balance would be if you paid $198) of $700 is 3.27%. To get exactly 5% (I post between 5% and 8%, I've found that's ideal), you'd want to pay $185.93 to leave a balance of $35.
Though you don't have to wait until the day before the due date either, you can pay whenever you want and I would advise that you do since payments can sometimes take a couple days to process. Just be sure to pay off the remaning $35 (or whatever you go with) as soon as the statement cuts and you're all set =]
May 2013
@CoreyGSHS wrote:I see what you are saying, I believe!
So I am going to pay my full balance of $213.38 on my due date on July 2. Let's say I go ahead and do that and then immediately go out and buy like $10-$15 dollars in gasoline or food so that the next day when the statement closes (July 3), it will still show that there is that utilization percent on the card?
If you wait until the due date to pay, then odds are good the payment won't process in time and you'll post the entire balance. And if you are going to depend on purchases made the day before the statement closing date to post a balance, they absolutely will not post to your balance in time (they'll just be pending charges) and no utilization will report.
Yeah as Diego said, give yourself more time for charges and payments to post.. With BofA, several days in my experience.
So, pay everything but $35 now or several days before the due date. Then let the statement post (usually the day after it says it will).
Then you'll have reported 5% util, and can either pay the rest of the $35 off or leave it and charge more, repeating the cycle next time. 
@CoreyGSHS wrote:Alright, so July 2 passed and I paid $219.83 of my $236.32 balance on my $700 credit limit card before the statement cut, leaving it to report at least some percent of utilization to the bureaus (2.5% of 700, but going to try to make around 5% next payment). I still have questions in the back of my mind that are worrying me, for some odd reason.
Since I didn't pay my balance in full on my due date and let a small percent roll over the statement closing date, this won't report as a "late payment" on my credit reports in the future, right? The cool thing with my BankAmericard is that I don't have any interest for one year, but I still don't want it to show up as "late!" :/
Is it smart to go ahead and pay off my $16.49 statement balance now that it is closed and has reported? Or should I just worry about it next payment and pay it off then, along with leaving a small percent to report?
Thank you all for being there and helping this newbie here! I'm definitely going to look back and say thanks to each of you guys, I have great credit!
You made a payment on time so your payment won't show up as later so you have nothing to worry about. You can pay off the rest of the balance or just carry it over to next month repeating the same cycle, leaving 5% utilization. As long as you make at least the minimum payment each month you won't have a late payment so you don't need to worry about that.
@takeshi74 wrote:
@Bman70 wrote:No because they want to see if you paid the minimum/balance before they cut the statement..
Incorrect. Statement always closes before the due date. Bills can't be generated for an open statement.
My BofA "payment due date" is 7/5/2014. The "next closing date" is 7/9/2014. Hence, due date before closing. Maybe you're referring to the previous statement, I'm referring to the next one. I wouldn't assume OP's payment due on 7/2 was generated by the 7/3 statement. Although anything's possible. OP, did your 7/3 statement generate a new due date, perhaps 8/2?