Proper Use of Credit Cards for Rebuild

[Anonymous]

Somehow, I was approved for a Cap1 QS One card.  They actually approved me twice and sent 2 different cards with a $500 CL on each.  My main question is how do I use these so I can reap the credit benefits properly while still accumulating rewards?  I'd like to get the maximum benefit from the cards to help build my credit.  Do I use and pay immediately leaving only a 20% or less utilization at statement time?  Do I use one and drawer the other?  Do I ask Cap1 to combine the CLs and close one out?  Please help me out as I don't want to ruin what I've been working so hard to accomplish!

Thanks in advance.

[gdale6]

You can use both to the limit if you want or even push much more thru with multi payments in a month. I used to shove 2.5K thru a 500 CL Cap-1 each month. You just want to be sure only 1 card reports a balance of no more than 9% of its CL to the CRAs each month, all others at 0.

[Anonymous]

Exactly like Gdale said - charge it up, pay multiple times each month. Make sure its paid down before the statement close date, pay one in full, the other let $20 or so carry past the statement date. With Cap One the Statements close three days after the Payment Dues date. Register online and link both accounts along with your checking account so you can do online payments right from the website.

AFAIK, Cap One will not combine two accounts into one.

[Anonymous]

So is it safe to just drawer one of them or do I have to use each one at least once a month?  I don't mind only using one of them and leaving the other in the house.  I am mostly interested in getting the credit benefits for now.

[Anonymous]

I'm in the same predicament. I don't have the income to charge - pay - charge - pay. I'm going to leave the one with an intro APR with a minimum payment for a few months and charge Netflix to it monthly (just to have activity), and use the other for gas purchases and pay biweekly.

You get better results from following the suggestions above, but if your income doesn't allow it, it won't do much good for rebuilding.

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:
I'm in the same predicament. I don't have the income to charge - pay - charge - pay. I'm going to leave the one with an intro APR with a minimum payment for a few months and charge Netflix to it monthly (just to have activity), and use the other for gas purchases and pay biweekly.

You get better results from following the suggestions above, but if your income doesn't allow it, it won't do much good for rebuilding.

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Rule number one of credit card use: if you can't afford it, don't buy it. My issue isn't with affordability - it's with making sure I get the most out of the card from a credit perspective.  If you have a card, use it for something you would normally use your debit card/cash for and pay it off ASAP leaving only a small balance at reporting time (9% from what I've been reading).  The two cards is what is throwing me off.  I'm trying to figure out if I need to use both in order to get the credit bumps from it.

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

Rule number one of credit card use: if you can't afford it, don't buy it. My issue isn't with affordability - it's with making sure I get the most out of the card from a credit perspective.  If you have a card, use it for something you would normally use your debit card/cash for and pay it off ASAP leaving only a small balance at reporting time (9% from what I've been reading).  The two cards is what is throwing me off.  I'm trying to figure out if I need to use both in order to get the credit bumps from it.

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To get the maximum return on your cards, you need to keep them both active and in heavy use (with little reporting on one, and none on the other). Heavy use seems to give many creditors an incentive to give a CLI. 

The advice to charge-pay is often repeated as dogma, though, so I was simply chiming in that there are other ways to approach it and still reap benefits.

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

To get the maximum return on your cards, you need to keep them both active and in heavy use (with little reporting on one, and none on the other). Heavy use seems to give many creditors an incentive to give a CLI. 

The advice to charge-pay is often repeated as dogma, though, so I was simply chiming in that there are other ways to approach it and still reap benefits.

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Thanks for the input.  CLIs are only important to me from a UTI standpoint.  I am working on my "fiscal responsibility" so I'm not sure I want a huge CLI out there which equates to nothing more than a rope with which to hang myself!  A mortgage in the next 18 months is my ultimate goal...

[Anonymous]

You can do that, you'll just get better CLI's if you use the card a lot. Do they have staggered due dates, or the same due date? I pretty much put all of my household expenses through my credit cards, with the exception of my rent.

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

You can do that, you'll just get better CLI's if you use the card a lot. Do they have staggered due dates, or the same due date? I pretty much put all of my household expenses through my credit cards, with the exception of my rent.

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I just got them both yesterday, so I am not sure about the due dates yet.  I imagine they would be the same if they were issued on the same day, but I could be wrong.