Quick Question: Paying CC

[braznyc]

Okay I'm still trying to grasp how this works so pardon me for my ignorance. I just want to know when I should make another payment (PIF). On one of my cards payment is due 4/17, I figured I'd PIF on the 10th of April, is this enough time so it doesn't report? This is my WAMU card. I've already made a payment on Thursday for half of the what I used, and I plan on PIF, or maybe leaving a very small balance like $20 on it. My CL is 1K, this is my secured card.

Thanks (in advance) for any and all replies.

[Anonymous]

If your statement says your due on 4/17 then the balance statement is what's going to report.  The time to adjust your util is BEFORE the statement drops.

Thats a general statement, a few of the different cards do report differently but they are the exception to the rule.  Wamu will report your statement balance to your CR's.

Van

[braznyc]

Darnit! Then I'm going to see a score drop arghhh. I am still going to pay in full but I should've read some more and understood it's pay before the statement drops. I'm guessing this means that next month I should pay all before the 22nd of each month, since I saw it online (I checked daily, and today it showed the due date), the due date I mean. I haven't received a statement yet. This really makes me peeved with myself for not asking this question sooner!

Two steps forward and back arghhh. Thankfully no other account has a balance as I've yet to use them, but then again NONE are reporting yet. I'm going to watch to see what my score does, since I had no revolving (open) when I started rebuilding. Although my concern is more longterm as I plan to get a mortage in 2010.

Message Edited by braznyc on 03-22-2008 11:05 AM

[Anonymous]

The good news is that you'll recover the loss in 30 days or so, so you haven't done any real permanant damage  :-)

Van

[braznyc]

Thanks Van, you've been a great help. I'm going to do a spreadsheet pop these important tidbits in there so I'm alerted. Have a nice weekend!

[haulingthescoreup]

Pull up your WaMu account on line and click the statements button. Look at all your statements over the last several months and see what date of each month shows. So it might be 11/25, 12/27, 1/29, 2/28. That means that your statement generally posts (drops, etc.) between the 25th and 29th of each month.

So if your statement dates were like those above, you would go online somewhere around the 22nd, make sure that there aren't any pending payments that haven't posted yet, and pay the balance off. As long as no additional charges hit between when you pay and when the statement posts, WaMu will report $0 to the credit bureaus. Same goes if you want it to report under 10% or whatever.

You just have to get a feel for when your cards report, stop using them a week before, wait until 4-5 days before, pay, do a quick check again right before you think it will post, let it post, and then start using the card again. It sounds horrible, but if you're only doing it with three cards or so, it gets pretty automatic.


edit: sheesh, I'm going to have to start typing faster! You do want to have at least one CC show a balance each month on your credit reports (doesn't matter which one.) Most people lose points for having $0 across the board, although TU liked it when mine were all PIF'd. (My weird score bucket.)

Message Edited by haulingthescoreup on 03-22-2008 08:12 AM

[braznyc]

Gotcha @ HTSU! Thanks so much for all the help, love this board always someone who sets you on the right path lol.