Question regarding PIF/reporting

[Anonymous]

Hey all!

I have the cap1 cash rewards card which I use as a daily spender but it has a low limit (1700). I tend to put a hundred bucks or so to it each week and then pay whatever is left of the balance at the end of the month. My question is, will this hurt my score? I'm worried if say, I spend 900 bucks on it one week or something and then it reports as 900/1700 utilized even though I would pay it in full by the due date.

Thanks and sorry if this is a dumb question!

[tcbofade]

It's not a dumb question, but you're not stating your goal very well.

If you want to maximize your FICO score, you want the card to report somewhere between 1 and 9% on the STATEMENT date.

[pizzadude]

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@tcbofade wrote:

It's not a dumb question, but you're not stating your goal very well.

If you want to maximize your FICO score, you want the card to report somewhere between 1 and 9% on the STATEMENT date.

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+1.  Just make note of when your next statment generates and make sure that you have paid it down prior to that date.

[swpopham]

Well, yes and no, it might drop your score a few points but if your not applying for credit its not a big deal, if your going to app just pay it before statement and close it with nothing owed. I believe its experian that keeps record of your balances

[Anonymous]

But I can't keep it between 1 and 9 percent of the CL unless I actually paid back to the card every single purchase I made... if I spent more than 153 dollars I'd have to pay that down immediately. Is that what you guys are saying? If I pay in full say, 3 days before the statement or somethign will that be alright?

[swpopham]

Yes, it would be fine. I would say 99% of the time we wait till the statement cuts then pay the bill. My wifes credit dosent move from 816 even with high balances but mine swings 30-50 points I've seen 610-660 threw out the month.

[Anonymous]

Yes this is not a silly question at all.  I had the same question like 6 months back.  You should pay your card off 2-3 days before the statement date not the due date necessarily they are typcially diffrent dates.  Please dont confuse or misinterperate what I'm saying you still need to ensure your paying what you owe at the very least on the due date but more importantly PIF each month before the statement date that away the zero balance is reported to the credit agency and you have no utilization.

[ceejx]

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@Anonymous wrote:

But I can't keep it between 1 and 9 percent of the CL unless I actually paid back to the card every single purchase I made... if I spent more than 153 dollars I'd have to pay that down immediately. Is that what you guys are saying? If I pay in full say, 3 days before the statement or somethign will that be alright?

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I do the exact same thing, you don't have to pay after each purchase, you just have to pay before the statement date. I'll give you an example from what I do:

On my small card ($300 Cap1) my statement date is the 22ND of the month, due date is the 19th of the next month. so prior to the 22nd of let's say July, I'll put $250 on my credit card paying bills. On around the 18th of the month I'll pay that down to 9% ($27) to make sure it posts before the 22nd. Then on the 22nd the statement is generated and posts to the CRA as credit limit $300, current balance $27 and high limit as $250 (should be the highest amount you had on the card). I immediately pay that last $27 off after the statement is generated and wait till it posts and ensure it's showing a $0 balance. Once it posts then you are free to spend again until the 22nd (statement date) of the next month). Wash, Rince, Repeat.

Hope this helps.

[Anonymous]

I'm a little confused. How do I find out the statement date? I only see due dates.

[Anonymous]

Sometimes I think statement date is refered to as Closeing date so maybe it says that somewhere on your statement?  I'm not 100% sure though it should actually say Statement date most of the time!