cancel
Showing results for 
Search instead for 
Did you mean: 

1% Utilization vs 0% Utilization which is better?

tag
arkane
Established Contributor

Re: 1% Utilization vs 0% Utilization which is better?


@Anonymous wrote:

@Anonymous wrote:

@jdbkiang wrote:
Right. So you spend $500, pay off $480 before the statement closes. Your statement balance is now $20, then you pay it off before the due date.

This is assuming you have a need for a good score in the very near future.   If not, pay the $500 close to the due date to maximize the interest on the money that the cc is lending you for free.


Absolutely right but it's an uphill battle on this board where micromanaging at all times rather than putting everything on auto pilot seems to be the trend, I experimented with AZEO, AZE2...AZE6 for a better part of last and this year, have been on auto pilot the last 5 months letting my natural revolving balance collect 4% APY in my rewards checking through grace period, the difference in my FICO is about 3-5 points.

Guilty as charged! Smiley Tongue

 

But since I discovered that 3/4 revolvers reporting vs AZEO amounts to a ONE point difference on EQ and TU, I now just use my cards organically and PIF before the due date to avoid interest charges.

Active:

Closed:


6/8/20:

Message 21 of 23
jdbkiang
Established Contributor

Re: 1% Utilization vs 0% Utilization which is better?

New charges will incur interest after the next statement closes.






[2/2019]
Message 22 of 23
jdbkiang
Established Contributor

Re: 1% Utilization vs 0% Utilization which is better?


@Anonymous wrote:

@jdbkiang wrote:

@Anonymous wrote:

@jdbkiang wrote:
As long as you pay it off before the next statement closes, you won’t be charged interest. To clarify—you spend $500, pay off $480 before the statement closes. Your statement balance is now $20, then you pay it off before the due date (you must make at least a minimum payment to avoid a late payment, but you will NOT be charged interest as long as you pay it off before the next statement closes.

Another example: you spend $100 out of a $1000 CL. Then you pay $50 off before the statement closes. Your utilization reports as 5%. You make a minimum payment of $25 at the due date to avoid late payments. Then before the next statement closes, you pay off the remaining $25. You won’t be charged interest.
Again, that is incorrect, you must pay the full statement balance of $50 by due date to avoid paying interest. If you only pay the minimum of $25 on due date, you are now carrying a balance of $25 and lost your grace period on future new charges, even if you pay the remaining $25 before the next closing date.

Maybe that's your experience, but I've done what I've written above numerous times and I've never paid a penny of interest for any of my credit cards. If the remaining $25 is paid off by the time the next statement closes, the $25 won't be on the statement and neither will you be charged any interest for that non-existent $25. 


@I actually thought about this some more the other night, was going to post clarifications but decided to let it go. Your scenario can be correct only if the residual interest is too small to post and that you didn't make new charges in the new cycle, sorta like the instruction to reset your grace period. Daily interest for $25 @ 20% APR is only 1.36 cents per day, at let's say 20 days (you lose your grace period on the balance you didn't pay off by due date) it's only 27 cents, probably too small to report for most if not all lenders, and since the statement reported $0, the grace period is reset. Had the left over balance been say $400, the daily interest would have been 21.9 cents, at 20 days = $ 4.38, the residual interest would have posted on the new statement. This of course assumes there are no new charges or the statement will not report $0.


I've done this with balances much higher than $25 as well. Several hundred, at times, at even thousands, occasionally. Still never paid interest. 







[2/2019]
Message 23 of 23
Advertiser Disclosure: The offers that appear on this site are from third party advertisers from whom FICO receives compensation.