Credit monitoring making me obsess...

[disdreamin]

I usually just pay my bills on the due date or slightly before, but this credit monitoring is really making me want to tweak my payments to optimize my scores.  Does anyone bother with that on a monthly basis, or just when they plan to apply for something like a loan or new cc?

[EW800]

I am right there with you!  

I do not plan on applying for anything for a while (goal of gardening through 2015), however as part of the rebuilding that I have done the last year or two, I do pay all CC balances just before the statement cut, other than one account that I allow to show just a few dollars.  With Util being said to have no memory, I know there is no real reason to do this since I am not going to be applying for anything, however it just makes me feel good as part of the rebuilding to get the maximum scores and be debt free.  

Best wishes!    

 Edit:  You asked about doing this on a monthly basis.  Yes I do.  I have done what I described above for about 9 or 10 months straight now.  

[disdreamin]

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@EW800 wrote:

I am right there with you!  

I do not plan on applying for anything for a while (goal of gardening through 2015), however as part of the rebuilding that I have done the last year or two, I do pay all CC balances just before the statement cut, other than one account that I allow to show just a few dollars.  With Util being said to have no memory, I know there is no real reason to do this since I am not going to be applying for anything, however it just makes me feel good as part of the rebuilding to get the maximum scores and be debt free.  

Best wishes!    

 Edit:  You asked about doing this on a monthly basis.  Yes I do.  I have done what I described above for about 9 or 10 months straight now.  

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I'm relieved it's not just me!  I've never even considered paying before the statement date before, and here I am trying to figure out what they are for each card so I can pay before them and show zeros for most of my accounts.  I don't plan on trying to apply for anything in the near future (two cc's and a new auto loan are quite enough lately, thank you very much) but even so it is tempting to try and optimize my scores.  

Frankly, I'm curious how significant a difference paying that way would make.  I did see my scores go down between two and five points when my new Barclay card posted a balance.

[jbsea]

I am completely obsessive with this.... I don't even know why.  I have enough credit now that I would not go over 9% but because of this form and the monitoring I cant seem to stop.  I might need a intervention

[bdhu2001]

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@disdreamin wrote:

I usually just pay my bills on the due date or slightly before, but this credit monitoring is really making me want to tweak my payments to optimize my scores.  Does anyone bother with that on a monthly basis, or just when they plan to apply for something like a loan or new cc?

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You are not alone and it's not tied to rebuilding.  I think many of us go through it, because the idea is so new to us and we want to play around a little with our own cards and information.  I'm trying to let it go for a while.  Thankfully, I've developed the simulator game, as a distraction, and I dislike spending unnecessary funds.

I paid for my classic EQ FICO score on 1/28/15 and played with the simulator to mark dates that my score should improve. They'll improve in 3, 6, 12, & 18 mos or on 4/28, 7/28/15, 1/26/16 & 7/28/16.

Fortunately, I get my TU score from Discover, my EX from FNBO and an EQ 04 from DCU. Thus, I probably won't pull the EQ score until 7/28.  If you get constant alerts and info like from Score Watch develop a game or check points to distract yourself.  

[Anonymous]

i do the same thing ever since i started on this forum, which is a good thing anyway

[Anonymous]

Once a month is once a month whether before the due date or statement cut. My CU sends mean alert I programmed in 5 days before the statement cuts on 4of my 5 cards. 2 of them are in the safe with small autopays on them anyway, the alerts reminds me to switch which card I using as well so I dont show multiple balances... I adjusted my payment dates so I have 2 that bill 1st week of the month, 2 between 10-15th, and 2 between 20-25. That way I don't get caught by charging something, havingit post right before the statement cuts. Plus it has actually helped my budgeting, I do certain things at set times now, like I wont grocery shop between the 18th and the 20th because my grocery card statement hits on the 21st.

[Anonymous]

I was a little obsessed at first. I subscribed to the myFico monitoring when it first came out, as I was pretty green (still am) and was very eager to learn quickly since I'm pretty late to credit cards. I subscribe to all the FAKO's and get a fico score from my discover, expect amex and chase and boa to follow suite as well. I do my best to optimize my scores, i pay everything that needs to get paid over the weekends, but sometimes an automated payment cuts in on my amex the day my statement cuts and ruins everything. I've seen my score jump around 20 points because I let 2 cards report instead of 1. My reports are pretty thin and fragile still. 

[takeshi74]

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@disdreamin wrote:

Does anyone bother with that on a monthly basis, or just when they plan to apply for something like a loan or new cc?

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Some do, some don't.  You can't just poll to determine how you want to approach it.  You need to decide based on your own preferences, priorities, goals, etc.  FWIW, I don't but my spend and limits tned to place me at about 11%.

[TURNERHOOVER]

Same here.