Credit monitoring stressing me out!

[disdreamin]

The alerts keep stressing me out!  I watch my score drop 6 points and it scares the crud out of me.  I know it will likely rebound, but why-oh-why does it seem to drop faster than it climbs?  I do PIF every month, but I keep missing the statement cut dates so I now have four CCCs reporting balances.  Apparently TU think it's the end of the worl and slashes my score.  Ugh.

So, what do all of you do - keep a spread sheet with statement cut dates, put a reminder in your phone, what?  How do I tackle this so my score isn't all over the place?

You know, I think ignorance might be bliss.  I think the monitoring will need to go.  I'd just really, REALLY like to get the scores way up there first, just to see what they'll do. 

[gdale6]

I disregard all score changes that are -+ 20 points, your Fico is a fluid number and is always changing depending on whats in your reports and that info is constantly changing. You need to get into a mindset that minor score changes are common and that they really dont matter in the long run. If you dont you will drive yourself nuts....

[Erusidhion]

    I check every single credit card plus bank accounts once a day. It takes about 20 minutes or less. I double check balances against what I recorded the day before, plus still check due date/statement closing dates and also the credit limits to see if I got any auto CLIs. If you turn this into a habit you will be on top of your game. I keep a spreadsheet that I made myself with all this information. It will also help you find any unauthorized charges/fraud.

    You can also setup each credit card to autopay the balance when your statement cuts. I don't do it because I'm on top of everything 24/7 but it's another thing that could guarantee that you don't get a balance reported. Remember that you want to keep a 1-9% balance on one of the cards though for max scoring. I wouldn't worry about minor point fluctuations.

    I charge everyday things once a month to each card that I have just to show activity. After it goes from pending to posted on each credit card's activity through the website I just pay it down. Anyways, if you get into the habits of doing the above you'll have no worries at all.

[Anonymous]

If you have online access, you can get statement date by email.

[lg8302ch]

I let my balances report on the cards as I use them and like this my score does not do much jumping around because the balances are reported constantly.  Whenever I get ready to apply for something I pay down most of the accounts to 0 so my report would look a little better to the lenders. But honestly it is not needed to stress for the rest of the year as score changes with util changes are perfectly normal.  Not worth sleepless nights

[Anonymous]

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@lg8302ch wrote:

I let my balances report on the cards as I use them and like this my score does not do much jumping around because the balances are reported constantly.  Whenever I get ready to apply for something I pay down most of the accounts to 0 so my report would look a little better to the lenders. But honestly it is not needed to stress for the rest of the year as score changes with util changes are perfectly normal.  Not worth sleepless nights

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I have saved this to remind myself of this as I feel pressure to pay everything off ASAP. Thank you. 

[Anonymous]

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@disdreamin wrote:

The alerts keep stressing me out!  I watch my score drop 6 points and it scares the crud out of me.  I know it will likely rebound, but why-oh-why does it seem to drop faster than it climbs?  I do PIF every month, but I keep missing the statement cut dates so I now have four CCCs reporting balances.  Apparently TU think it's the end of the worl and slashes my score.  Ugh.

So, what do all of you do - keep a spread sheet with statement cut dates, put a reminder in your phone, what?  How do I tackle this so my score isn't all over the place?

You know, I think ignorance might be bliss.  I think the monitoring will need to go.  I'd just really, REALLY like to get the scores way up there first, just to see what they'll do. 

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I wait until I get a bill then I pay it before the due date. I've rarely, if ever, paid before the statement closing date.