@JayRizzo wrote:First, I'd like to welcome you over here in the cc forum from the mortgage-side where you HAVE been doing some research on the site -- Good Deal! There are a few factors to consider when posters are suggesting leaving a small balance to carry over. What most fail to inform you is that you will pay interest on that balance if you don't have a zero percent interest rate -- it won't be much as you have a low-limit card, but keep that in mind if you're going to play the Statement End Date game.
Next, use this method ONLY if you are planning a major purchase such as a house or car where you want your utilization to remain below the suggested threshold of about 10%. Keep in mind, they are assuming you have other cards with balances. In your case, you're in good shape by using the card throughout the month for whatever purchases you'd like to make, even above $100, since you don't seem to have any problems making payments or frequently going over your limit. Just be prepared to pay it off before your statement end date -- then the day AFTER your statement date, you can continue to use your card. The snapshot of what's going to appear on your report happens on that Statement End Date. Now you have a better idea of how to control what appears on your report.
The purpose of rolling a small balance is to show the account is still active if it's NOT USED for several months and appear stale (unused). You score will always increase as the balance history will always update monthly which shows current payment activity for the prior month -- so you're cool with hotels, rental cars, etc. throughout the month.
Sorry if I gave you the long version... just want to provide as much detail as possible to get you on your way.
Jay, perhaps I'm misreading your post, but it sounds like you are saying that in order to manipulate utilization by playing the "statement end game" you have to pay interest. Letting a small balance report and then paying in full will not result in interest if the balance is paid of during the grace period. If he pays off all of his charges except say $25 right before the statement cuts, then pays off the $25 after the statement cuts, provided he wasn't revolving a balance before, he isn't going to pay interest on that $25. Am I missing something?
ETA: Agree with the overall principle that this is a waste of time worrying about this unless you are getting ready to apply for new credit and need to squeeze out every last point possible in your credit score. If that is the case, you need to start doing it enough in advance to give your reports time to update.
Starting Score: ~500 (12/01/2008)I guess I play the "statement end date game". 
It's just the way I've set up my budget.
I have never paid interest doing this, however. Not a penny.
I generally keep all my CC's reporting a zero balance, except one. I allow that one to report less than 9%. I then pay that one account as soon as the statement generates.
I find it easy to do this all the time. And it's paid off - our CR's are always ready to take on new action and you don't always have 30-60 days to put things in order. Life happens and it's worked well for us to be prepared by always doing this.
I'm not freudian anal about it. On occasion, I've let two balances report; and sometimes I wind up with zero accounts reporting a balance - but both of those scenarios are better than most/all of my accounts reporting a balance; and/or reporting high utilization.
Hope that's helpful!
@vish1 wrote:below 10% is considered the best. You can some amount before the statement cuts to keep the util on the statement low.
Yep. 1-9% is ideal from a FICO score standpoint. You will want all but one of your cards to report a $0 balance each month. On the card, that doesn't report $0 balance, let that one report a balance of 1-9% of that card limit. That way, your total utilization between all accounts will be between 1-9% and you won't have any individual card greater than 9%. It is important to only let one of the cards show a balance--FICO likes seeing those $0 balances.
Once the card reports each month, you can pay off the rest of the balance to avoid interest if you would like. Once paid, you can then charge another small item or two to set up a small balance to report for the next month. For best results, rinse and repeat