Severe Allergy to Interest Charges

[Anonymous]

Who else always pays in full and never carries a balance? 

An interesting aside -- as most of you know, I currently only have secured credit cards -- I've noticed that there is NO option to pay a minimum balance that is less than the full balance of what has been charged.  That's fine with me! I never want to see any interest charges.

How about you? 

[RobertEG]

To help FICO scoring, do you allow a balance to report before paying?

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

Who else always pays in full and never carries a balance? 

An interesting aside -- as most of you know, I currently only have secured credit cards -- I've noticed that there is NO option to pay a minimum balance that is less than the full balance of what has been charged.  That's fine with me! I never want to see any interest charges.

How about you? 

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I have 7 cards total (8 once Discover comes in), but I only try to carry a balance on one. Even with that one, it's a low balance, and get paid off soon after it reports. I just do that for the fico score.

I don't have a problem paying interest charges - within reason. My main reason for not wanting to carry a balance is that it'll hurt my fico score. Since I'm self-employed and had a few slow months over the summer, I ended up having high util% and ended up paying interest charges for a few months, but it's something I don't do often.

As far as the minimum payment goes, it might just be the terms of your account. For example, if your balance is over $35, your minimum payment is at least $35. If it's under $35, you have to pay whatever your balance is.

[MarineVietVet]

I try and follow the advice I give others about not paying interest but in the real world it does happen from time to time. A few months ago I did a BT on my CITI card to buy my son a car. The rate is 1% and I figured this wasn't a bad deal considering I didn't have to apply for a new loan and all that involves.

Paying cash would be better of course but I'll take a 1% loan on a used car anytime. And I'll have it paid off in less than a year so the interest is minimal. You do what you have to do.

I still advise to try to never pay interest if at all possible but don't lose any sleep if it does happen. 

From a BK years ago to:
EX - 3/11 pulled by lender- 835, EQ - 2/11-816, TU - 2/11-782

"Some people spend an entire lifetime wondering if they've made a difference. The Marines don't have that problem".

[Anonymous]

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@RobertEG wrote:

To help FICO scoring, do you allow a balance to report before paying?

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Not right now because we don't have a FICO score!  When we near that 6th month mark, we can do this.  I know what the statement closing dates are on our cards and will play the utilitzation game at that time.  

[IOBA]

I'm allergic to debt!   So nice to see someone else with "bank allergies"!  

[AndySoCal]

I always pay in full each month and I do not worry about the balance that reports. Why? I am not apping for anything anytime soon.

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

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@RobertEG wrote:

To help FICO scoring, do you allow a balance to report before paying?

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Not right now because we don't have a FICO score!  When we near that 6th month mark, we can do this.  I know what the statement closing dates are on our cards and will play the utilitzation game at that time.  

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You may not have a score, but if you look at your full report they still track Balances, Minimum Payment, Actual Payment, ect.  They may use that information in giving you your intial FICO Score.  (Take this with a grain of salt, I'm not sure..)

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:
You may not have a score, but if you look at your full report they still track Balances, Minimum Payment, Actual Payment, ect.  They may use that information in giving you your intial FICO Score.  (Take this with a grain of salt, I'm not sure..)

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Looking at my full report today, I currently see 2 credit cards reporting a zero balance and one reporting a balance -- not a utilization game balance between 1-9%, but rather, an approximate 50% balance that got paid in full after the statement's closing date, but, before the statement's due date.  I rotate the 3 cards -- one time its the Mastercard showing the balance, one time its the VISA showing the balance, and, the next time its the AMEX. 

I'm not sure if this is good or bad one way or the other.  It shows usage on all cards.  The full balance being paid each time reflects the positive "pays as agreed" language on the reports.  As I said, once the 6-month mark nears, I will use the utilization game to hopefully spike an elevated score.  We'll see what happens! 

[IOBA]

Discernment - call your cc and ask them  what date they report to the credit bureaus.   They should know.   Then you can make sure your balance is down (for reporting purposes) by that day.