Hi and welcome to the forums!
You pay your balance down before the statement closing date. Whatever amount is remaining will be the amount due once your statement is generated - this will also be the amount reported to the credit bureaus. You will then need to pay this remaining balance by the due date noted on your statement.
And yes, your reporting balance should be less than 28.9% of its limit.
@813guy wrote:I apologize as I'm fairly new to this, but my question/s is that you want to let your cc statement report a balance and then pay said balance off before the due date or leave a small balance correct? However, the balance you do let report should be <28% of your CL correct? I currently only have one card until a new one arrives next week sometime. I'm in the rebuilding phase and I don't want to mess things up thinking I know what to do. I've been reading the boards for a week and think I understand, just want some confirmation. Thanks in advance!
The truth of the matter is that few of us have experience with a 1-credit-card profile. I'm guessing that it's best to let your card report a small balance. But I'm just guessing.
Once you have 2 cards, then definitely yes it's best for your scores to let 1 of the 2 cards -- preferably a bank card -- report a small balance while the other reports zero. By "small" I mean at least $10 but not more than 28% of the limit. And by "report" I mean let it report, but pay it off after it reports.
The reporting date is usually the statement date. But I would need to know the lender to be sure.
