I want to keep statement balance at ZERO

[Anonymous]

I was looking for some advise on how to keep my statement balances at zero.  My Capital One QuicksilverOne due date is on the 4th of every month.  I would prefer to pay my balance in full so they report my balance at ZERO.  When should i make my payment?  And when should i resume using my credit card?

Example:

Payment due date 8/4/2015

I should make my payment by 7/30/2015 ???

I shouldn't make my next charge until 8/5/2015 ???

[DrZoidberg]

Reporting a balance of zero is bad. That means you have 0% utilization and optimal utilization is 1-7%.

[SouthJamaica]

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@Anonymous wrote:

I was looking for some advise on how to keep my statement balances at zero.  My Capital One QuicksilverOne due date is on the 4th of every month.  I would prefer to pay my balance in full so they report my balance at ZERO.  When should i make my payment?  And when should i resume using my credit card?

Example:

Payment due date 8/4/2015

I should make my payment by 7/30/2015 ???

I shouldn't make my next charge until 8/5/2015 ???

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The statement date is 3 days after the payment due date.

So you can safely start making charges on 8/8.

As to payment it depends how you make the payment. If you're making the payment electronically on their site you can do it the day before the statement date.

But it's not always possible to get it to zero. E.g., you have a pending charge for $17.95. You try to pay that on the site before the statement cuts, they won't accept your payment if there's no balance. Then the statement cuts and the $17.95 shows up. Also if there's an interest charge or something, that might not show up until the statement cuts.

[SouthJamaica]

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@DrZoidberg wrote:

Reporting a balance of zero is bad. That means you have 0% utilization and optimal utilization is 1-7%.

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I disagree.

[DrZoidberg]

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@SouthJamaica wrote:

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@DrZoidberg wrote:

Reporting a balance of zero is bad. That means you have 0% utilization and optimal utilization is 1-7%.

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I disagree.

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And that's your call. But reporting agencies say 0% utilization holders have lower scores than 1-7% with all else equal. The reason being having to do with risk calculation and 0% isn't computable. All I know is 1-7% is the optimal number. And I'm over 800 for sticks to it.

[kdm31091]

Regardless of whether 0 across the board is good or bad (and I agree it can hurt your score), its just not worth optimizing.

You will see minimal change in your score from it (a small handful of points or less). Youll drive yourself crazy in the process trying to get it to report perfectly. Whats the gain for the time and effort? Even before a major app like a car loan, a few points is unlikely to make a major difference. The point is there are better things to expend effort on IMO.

[DrZoidberg]

I was just saying in general a balance and reporting a utilization is better than 0. As long as it's under 30%. But based on your posts you seem to be in the mood to not-pick everything today.

[Anonymous]

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@DrZoidberg wrote:

Reporting a balance of zero is bad. That means you have 0% utilization and optimal utilization is 1-7%.

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I carry a small balance on another card.

[Anonymous]

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@SouthJamaica wrote:

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@Anonymous wrote:

I was looking for some advise on how to keep my statement balances at zero.  My Capital One QuicksilverOne due date is on the 4th of every month.  I would prefer to pay my balance in full so they report my balance at ZERO.  When should i make my payment?  And when should i resume using my credit card?

Example:

Payment due date 8/4/2015

I should make my payment by 7/30/2015 ???

I shouldn't make my next charge until 8/5/2015 ???

---

The statement date is 3 days after the payment due date.

So you can safely start making charges on 8/8.

As to payment it depends how you make the payment. If you're making the payment electronically on their site you can do it the day before the statement date.

But it's not always possible to get it to zero. E.g., you have a pending charge for $17.95. You try to pay that on the site before the statement cuts, they won't accept your payment if there's no balance. Then the statement cuts and the $17.95 shows up. Also if there's an interest charge or something, that might not show up until the statement cuts.

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Thanks.  I'll just make a ZERO balance blackout from 8/2/2015 to 8/8/2015.

[takeshi74]

The due date is irrelevant.  Whatever your current balance is on report date is what is reported.  Since your due date falls after the report date paying by the due date will not change the reported balance.  Most cards report on statement date.

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@DrZoidberg wrote:

Reporting a balance of zero is bad. That means you have 0% utilization and optimal utilization is 1-7%.

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There's a hit for having all zeros report.  You're assuming that the OP only has one card.  Don't assume.