So, AZEO is killing me! I've been paying the Discover down to zero and using the AmEx for the small balance at statement close and then PIF before the end of the billing period. So, I decided to flip everything and use the AmEx as my zero card beginning this month since I met my SUB last month. Problem is, AmEx always has some weird floating amounts and no matter how many times I comb the statement and do the math, it never adds up. So, two days ago I added up all of the transactions that posted and the pending ones after my last payment to get a total. Then I tried to see how different it would be by subtracting the total CL from the available credit. I then decided to pay the amount that was higher which happened to be subtracting the total CL from the available credit. This resulted in a credit on the account that I figured would resolve itself a day or two after statement close, except that today I ended up with $.33 on my statement ... arrrgghhhh! And the weird thing is the max custom amount I can pay is $140.32 (so crazy) but the pending charge is for more than that. So, I'm going to have to do the $0 on the Disco again this month.
Anyone have any recommendations for how to do this in an efficient manner so that I'm not knocking my head against the wall? I was thinking I might need to stop the auto payments to fix the issue since the timing of them could be the issue, but I'm afraid I'll miss something and end up with something being canceled because I missed a payment. My college aged kid is home for the summer, so I can't miss payment on any of the streaming services, grocery services, etc. b/c it would be considered the end of the world! LMBO! Or I might just have to continue letting AmEx be the card that posts a balance.
Thanks for any helpful tips!
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Best way is pay the auto pays as well, you can push as much as you want from your bank account creating a credit big enough to cover anything that may post before the cut off. The other thing is to request a change in the date the statement cycles so all the unknowns are posted prior to the close of the statement.
@tnhomestead wrote:If your not planning on getting credit soon, why bother? AZEO is great if you need credit soon, ie mortgage etc, but otherwise I see no point in it. Remember, there is no memory on utilization.
Thank you for the response. I am planning to apply for credit in about 4 months time and was using AZEO to get the most increase on my scores possible within that timeframe and had planned to continuing to use this method to help reach my goal score and keep my overall CR looking attractive.
It is my understanding from reading these boards that low utilization and showing a balance less with than 10% utilization on 1 card are two actions that will help improve my CR and scores. I am rebuilding and have come to understand that on time payments, credit mix, DTI, and age of accounts are also a part of the calculation of scores, but can you please clarify if you are advising the only reason I need to use the AZEO method is right before I'm seeking new credit? If that is what you are conveying, can you please advise the logic behind this and the appropriate time to begin the AZEO process before applying for credit so that I can fully understand? I am doing my best to learn and want to have a full comprehension of how to go about choosing the best path for my rebuild. TIA!
@gdale6 wrote:Best way is pay the auto pays as well, you can push as much as you want from your bank account creating a credit big enough to cover anything that may post before the cut off. The other thing is to request a change in the date the statement cycles so all the unknowns are posted prior to the close of the statement.
Thanks for that tip! I had a feeeling I needed to get a more firm handle on the auto-pays, but didn't know the best way to do it. I will set up some auto billpay payments from my bank account to handle the close to statement stuff to ensure I have adequate coverage. Also, I didn't know I could request a change in my statement cut date. So thanks so much for the tips and help!! This forum is so awesome!
@Binbinimiwi wrote:
@tnhomestead wrote:If your not planning on getting credit soon, why bother? AZEO is great if you need credit soon, ie mortgage etc, but otherwise I see no point in it. Remember, there is no memory on utilization.
Thank you for the response. I am planning to apply for credit in about 4 months time and was using AZEO to get the most increase on my scores possible within that timeframe and had planned to continuing to use this method to help reach my goal score and keep my overall CR looking attractive.
It is my understanding from reading these boards that low utilization and showing a balance less with than 10% utilization on 1 card are two actions that will help improve my CR and scores. I am rebuilding and have come to understand that on time payments, credit mix, DTI, and age of accounts are also a part of the calculation of scores, but can you please clarify if you are advising the only reason I need to use the AZEO method is right before I'm seeking new credit? If that is what you are conveying, can you please advise the logic behind this and the appropriate time to begin the AZEO process before applying for credit so that I can fully understand? I am doing my best to learn and want to have a full comprehension of how to go about choosing the best path for my rebuild. TIA!
About your AZEO question, I'll give you a for example.
in case this is TL;dr You only need AZEO on the month you are going to be applying for credit. Be it applying for a CLI, new CC, a Loan or a mortgage. The balances on your CCs from the months before will not affect your score, you get all points back for the previous month once AZEO kicks in.
For example, last
month I accidentally let my VS account report at 98%(end of the world, right?). I was ready to pay before the statement cut but had to wait for the pending charge to post and it didn't post till the 1st(statement cut date is the 2nd). I fell asleep at 3:30 and awoke at 5:08pm, 8 minutes past payment cutoff time oof. Long story long I had AZEO ready and my VS card needed to be paid to have AZEO report. Anyways since VS reported I had to wait a whole month before being able to have my best score with AZEO. I went through all month making sure all credit cards were paid before the statement date besides my one AZEO card which had a $10 balance. Once I paid VS off this month my score shot up 21 points on EQ, 20 points on EX and 13 points on TU(I have a dirty scorecard on TU till next month).
Anyways not having AZEO(not to mention having one card at 98%, oof 
) didn't affect anything(besides temporary score drop) last month or this month because I wasn't applying for anything.
I wanted AZEO this month because I am applying for my 61 day CLI with AMEX as soon as my one derogatory falls off TU(yes Amex pulls Ex but in my case the HPd EX and TU for approval so just in case I want TU at its max). I am also reapplying for the Apple Card in the hopes having a clean report and a 50 point higher score will net me a higher starting credit line and a lower percentage rate.
Hope this helps! Also, just wanted to say that everything I have learned about credit(the major important stuff) I learned here at the MyFico Forums through the collective knowledge of all the amazing people here. Thank you all and thank you OP for letting me help answer your question!
Starting Score:Early 2021 Mid 400s
@Binbinimiwi wrote:
@tnhomestead wrote:If your not planning on getting credit soon, why bother? AZEO is great if you need credit soon, ie mortgage etc, but otherwise I see no point in it. Remember, there is no memory on utilization.
Thank you for the response. I am planning to apply for credit in about 4 months time and was using AZEO to get the most increase on my scores possible within that timeframe and had planned to continuing to use this method to help reach my goal score and keep my overall CR looking attractive.
It is my understanding from reading these boards that low utilization and showing a balance less with than 10% utilization on 1 card are two actions that will help improve my CR and scores. I am rebuilding and have come to understand that on time payments, credit mix, DTI, and age of accounts are also a part of the calculation of scores, but can you please clarify if you are advising the only reason I need to use the AZEO method is right before I'm seeking new credit? If that is what you are conveying, can you please advise the logic behind this and the appropriate time to begin the AZEO process before applying for credit so that I can fully understand? I am doing my best to learn and want to have a full comprehension of how to go about choosing the best path for my rebuild. TIA!
Its 8.99% or less on 1 card. Everyone is different. My sweet spot is 5% after yrs of playing around with it. And I've been AZEO since the 3rd card ever since.
@Miikawaadizi Thank you so much for rolling that out to me in such a simple way. I really appreciate it as I'm still fairly new and am on a HUGE learning curve. So, what I see is there are a couple of schools of thought on AZEO; those who use it as you described and those who use it to help boost scores during rebuild and to reach their goal. Since I'm trying to increase my scores to reach the low 700's before I apply for my next card in 4 months time (looking for a good SL), I will keep using it to see if I can make the gains I need before my next cc app. I also have a medical collection that should be falling off TU & EQ that will help b/c I recently paid it. I'm crossing my fingers my scores will make the leap I'm hoping for.
Again, I sincerely appreciate the detailed explanation; it was very helpful. Have a great week!
@FireMedic1 Thank you! I'm thinking this is the right approach for me at this time. We will see what it nets me in the way of points ... gotta make the 700 club by the time I go for my next card because I thinks it's going to be the CSP, so I need a good SL in order to make use of it the way I need.
Have a great day!
@Binbinimiwi Just remember that utilization has no memory. Remember this and know if you flub up and one of your cards that isn't your "azeo" card reports with a balance, it's not the end of the world and you can fix it next cycle!
I don't think doing AZEO every month gets you extra points either. So if you do AZEO one month and then not the next month and do AZEO again the third month, you aren't leaving points on the table by having one month without AZEO. FICO literally has no memory when it comes to utilization.
I will say after all that, that you will find people here with amazing scores that don't practice AZEO every month. There are also people here with amazing scores that practice AZEO every month. It's a personal choice.
Personally, I do TRY to practice AZEO every month but I'm just getting my bearings in this new credit world. I went from low 400s in 2021 to mid 700s the last few months(except for the month I went to 98% utilization on a $350 CC 
ouch, no more Victoria Secret for me). The mid 700s came right back strong as ever after it was paid off.
Sorry for the novel, again.
Hope that helps!
Alicia