@Anonymous wrote:
Is it best to have balance show up on my credit card or pay it off in full before a balance is ever paid so $0 is reported?
"Best" is always highly subjective and depends on context so be very clear with what you mean whenever you use the word "best" on any topic. Best for what specific goals? What are you looking to accomplish? The information in your OP isn't sufficient to answer your question so here are some general answers:
Best for me is to not bother with micromanaging my balances and revolving utilization since my spend and limits are roughly at about 8% and my FICO 8's are in the 800's even with most cards reporting balances.
Unless you're looking to apply for new credit it really doesn't matter aside from keeping your revolving utilization under 30%. You revolving utilization is determined by the currently reported balances in limits in your reports. Prior utilization does not impact your current utilization.
If you are appplying for new credit and looking to eke out as many points as possible then you may want to optimize revolving utilization and number of reporting balances by allowing only one balance to report at 10% or less -- maybe 1% if you're wanting to squeeze blood from a turnip.
That said, there are those that micromanage balances/utilization all the time so it's really your call to make as to how you approach this.
@Anonymous wrote:
So if my statement shows a balance Of x amount of $ when its cut, but i paid in full on the due date. Am i helping my self or not??
This is also too vague to provide meaningful answers. Context is needed to answer the question. Odds are in most cases that it really doesn't matter but, again, it depends on the specifics of the situation. With the information that provided it could go either way. It's not just a matter of the one card and whether it reports a balance or not. It's a matter of your credit profile. It's a matter of your revolving utilization and how significant the change to it would be if you paid a balance prior to report date or not. It's a matter of whether you're applying for new credit or not.
You cannot rely on oversimplifcations like "paying before report date good", "paying after report date bad", etc. It's not so cut and dry.
