I'm a happy deadbeat, and my banks and credit unions don't seem to mind.
They ARE making money off of me via the transaction fees that they collect every time I put my Quizno's cobb salad on my plastic and other usage.
The CCC's don't care about paying before the statement date. In fact, many CSR's that I've talked to are baffled by this, mainly because they pretty much don't know how credit works, other than the misinformation that they get in their training.
I try to let only one card report a balance, and since one usually slips through by accident, I don't have to double pay.
To make an account report $0, stop using your card 5-7 days before the statement date (or last business day of the month for US Bank and HSBC/ Orchard bank cards), wait 3-4 days to let all the charges post, and then pay online before the statement date (or last of the month.) Be sure to select the current date for the payment to post. Some banks default to the due date, and if you don't change this, the $0 reporting won't happen.
To let an account report a small balance, as in 9% of the credit limit or less, go online with the same timing as described above, and pay enough of the displayed balance to get it down to that 8% or 3% or whatever you're going with. Wait until it updates (usually on the statement date, except for US Bank and HSBC/ Orchard as above), and then don't forget to pay it off before the due date. Not paying off that remnant is a super-easy way to get a late charge from the bank, although it shouldn't report as a 30-day late if you scramble and pay it off a few days late. But you'll probably be rate-jacked, etc. So stay on your toes if you allow a balance to report, and either devise a method to remember to pay the remainder, or set up an automatic payment on the CC's website to make sure that at least the minimum is paid.
This sounds hideously complicated, but it's not. You just have to learn to think of the statement date (or last business day for US Bank etc etc) as your due date, and pay your balance off accordingly.
eta: good golly Moses, MVV out-typed me BAD this time.
They ARE making money off of me via the transaction fees that they collect every time I put my Quizno's cobb salad on my plastic and other usage.
The CCC's don't care about paying before the statement date. In fact, many CSR's that I've talked to are baffled by this, mainly because they pretty much don't know how credit works, other than the misinformation that they get in their training.
I try to let only one card report a balance, and since one usually slips through by accident, I don't have to double pay.
To make an account report $0, stop using your card 5-7 days before the statement date (or last business day of the month for US Bank and HSBC/ Orchard bank cards), wait 3-4 days to let all the charges post, and then pay online before the statement date (or last of the month.) Be sure to select the current date for the payment to post. Some banks default to the due date, and if you don't change this, the $0 reporting won't happen.
To let an account report a small balance, as in 9% of the credit limit or less, go online with the same timing as described above, and pay enough of the displayed balance to get it down to that 8% or 3% or whatever you're going with. Wait until it updates (usually on the statement date, except for US Bank and HSBC/ Orchard as above), and then don't forget to pay it off before the due date. Not paying off that remnant is a super-easy way to get a late charge from the bank, although it shouldn't report as a 30-day late if you scramble and pay it off a few days late. But you'll probably be rate-jacked, etc. So stay on your toes if you allow a balance to report, and either devise a method to remember to pay the remainder, or set up an automatic payment on the CC's website to make sure that at least the minimum is paid.
This sounds hideously complicated, but it's not. You just have to learn to think of the statement date (or last business day for US Bank etc etc) as your due date, and pay your balance off accordingly.
eta: good golly Moses, MVV out-typed me BAD this time.
@haulingthescoreup wrote:
eta: good golly Moses, MVV out-typed me BAD this time.
And your concession speech was beautiful!!!
I made this up one day to keep track of my statement dates and due dates as info changes I update really easy to keep track of when to pay gotta luv excel I know some use quicken etc this works for me simple and quick. PIF all the way
