utilization question

[Anonymous]

I have an AMEX card.  I plan to pay certain bills with it every month.  The statement date is the 7th of the month.  If I pay the same bills every month before the 7th and then pay the card off each month won't it show the same utilazation because of the same bills every month?  Should I move some of the payments dates to after the 7th?  

I am thinking that if I am paying the same bills at the same time every month it will never show PIF.  

This is all new to me and I apprecaite whatever insight you can give me!

Thanks.

Linda

[tufa4311]

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@Anonymous wrote:

I have an AMEX card.  I plan to pay certain bills with it every month.  The statement date is the 7th of the month.  If I pay the same bills every month before the 7th and then pay the card off each month won't it show the same utilazation because of the same bills every month?  Should I move some of the payments dates to after the 7th?  

I am thinking that if I am paying the same bills at the same time every month it will never show PIF.  

This is all new to me and I apprecaite whatever insight you can give me!

Thanks.

Linda

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July 6 (or whatever date before the 7th): pay bills

July 6: review your UTIL, if it is higher than 9% then pay your balance the necassary amount to ensure your UTIL is less than 10% (also ensure that the payment you make that brings your UTIL to below 10% is posted to your account immediatly - whatever means you use to make this payment may have a 24-48 hr waiting period, if so, make the payment well before that waititng period) 

July 7: statement cuts and balance of less than 10% is reported to CRA's

July 8: pay balance in full

Next month, rinse and repeat

[takeshi74]

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@Anonymous wrote:

I am thinking that if I am paying the same bills at the same time every month it will never show PIF.  

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So how are you expecting changing the due dates on your bills to change this?  Even with different dates you're still paying the same bills at the same time every month.  I'm just trying to understand your line of thinking here.

The bill due dates don't really matter.  The exception would be if  a charge would post too close to the statement date and you want to ensure that a 0 balance reports as you not only need the charge to post but you also need to ensure that your payment clears and zeroes out your balance.  If that's not a concern and you want a 0 balance to report then you just need to pay down the balance to 0 by the statement date.  If you're just trying to pay in full and not worried about the reported balance then you just need to pay in full by the due date.

Keep in mind that paying in full and having a 0 balance report are two different things -- even though you PIF by the statement date to have a 0 balance report.  What, specifically, are you trying to accomplish?

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@Anonymous wrote:

Should I move some of the payments dates to after the 7th?  

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Shifting the bill due dates just changes where they fall within a cycle.  If it makes it easier for you then you can certainly change the due dates on the bills.  You can also pay prior to a bill's due date if that helps.

[Existentialist]

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@takeshi74 wrote:

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@Anonymous wrote:

I am thinking that if I am paying the same bills at the same time every month it will never show PIF.  

---

So how are you expecting changing the due dates on your bills to change this?  Even with different dates you're still paying the same bills at the same time every month.  I'm just trying to understand your line of thinking here.

The bill due dates don't really matter.  The exception would be if  a charge would post too close to the statement date and you want to ensure that a 0 balance reports as you not only need the charge to post but you also need to ensure that your payment clears and zeroes out your balance.  If that's not a concern and you want a 0 balance to report then you just need to pay down the balance to 0 by the statement date.  If you're just trying to pay in full and not worried about the reported balance then you just need to pay in full by the due date.

Keep in mind that paying in full and having a 0 balance report are two different things -- even though you PIF by the statement date to have a 0 balance report.  What, specifically, are you trying to accomplish?

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@Anonymous wrote:

Should I move some of the payments dates to after the 7th?  

---

Shifting the bill due dates just changes where they fall within a cycle.  If it makes it easier for you then you can certainly change the due dates on the bills.  You can also pay prior to a bill's due date if that helps.

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When I first read OPs post b4 scrolling, that was my exact thought.