Quick utilization question - UPDATED QUESTION

[Purrpoze]

I'm a little confused about something...I just got a Capitol one secured card with a 200 limit...they're going to charge the 29 dollar annual fee to my card and it will be on the first statement..because of this I don't plan on using it the first month

1. Do I pay off the full 29 dollars? Is that keeping a low utilization or is paying off 20 dollars of the balance keeping low utilization because the balance showing would be 9 of 200? Thana

[cyberone28]

i think the minimun payment would be $25 or the balance wich is $29. if i were you i would pay  minimun payment of $25 and leave $4 as a utilization wich will be  around 2  to 2.5 %  if the minimun payment is  $35  i would charge it to $40 and pay $35 so that will leave a $5 balance

[Purrpoze]

Thank you! So it does refer to the balance you have after you've made your monthly payment

[cyberone28]

you mean the utilization?

[Purrpoze]

Yeah

[cyberone28]

yes keep it below 9% so in your case  leave less than  $20 before the statement cuts.. if i were you i would leave it at $5- $10  before the statement cut day 

GOOD LUCK TO YOU!  for your own good dont over use it, all the luck

[Purrpoze]

Okay so I payed 25 dollars a week ago so I have a balance of 4 dollars

the statement posted today with a due date for 11/08

This means that my reported balance will be 4 dollars right?

And the minimum payment is 4 dollars, should I pay this in a week or so? 

I guess I'm just still a little confuseed about what will be reported as my balance and when to pay off that balance

[Nstark]

Since it is your first statement, the account will report on your credit after a few days with the statement balance which is $4 now. So it will report $4/200 in terms of utilization which is 2%.

You must pay that $4 by your due date in order to remain in good standing.

You now know the date your statement is issued so if you want to keep ensuring the account continues to report with low utilization, you need to ensure that the balance on the account is paid down before the day each month the statement is issued.

The due date will always been a few days before the day your statement is issued. They will for the most part always be on the same day each month with Capital One.

[Purrpoze]

thank you so mcuh! I understand now

[themizlyne]

You can pay the $4 now - then use the card and pay all but what you want to report before the statement date next month. You could also just use the card for say $15 each month then pay after the statement date each month.