How to AZEO?

[RonM21]

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@Remedios wrote:

In my opinion, AZEO is more of a philosophy versus credit management, however, everybody is different, and should do whatever works for them. 

         Remedios I agree with you completely.  It is somewhat like a philosophy, but everyone does need to do what is best for them.  Also on your earlier post, I was just trying to explain ways that AZEO could be useful for some people, but your point is well taken.

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[UpperNwGuy]

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@Remedios wrote:

Are you planning an important app? 

Because if you're not, you're wasting your time and money 

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@I agree with @Remedios.

[Anonymous]

Personally I like AZEO and tend to stick that way just for simplicity honestly. I don’t like having things auto pay out of my account so I generally pay everything when I get paid in the first week of the month - I only get paid once so this is a bit easier for me than for others - but as someone who used to struggle with high utilization, implementing AZEO on my own actually taught me responsible credit use patterns and now if I ever have more credit taken out than I can PIF, I did it on purpose in my budget. 

I dont micro-manage my AZEO to a couple bucks though, I just let one card report less than 8.9% and pay the rest off before the statement cuts. It’s definitely good financial discipline but if you already have that, I can see how it would be seen as an annoyance more than anything. 

[Anonymous]

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@Remedios wrote:

Are you planning an important app? 

Because if you're not, you're wasting your time and money 

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Not necessarily.  AZEO doesn't need to cost anyone a cent nor does it take any time really.  What matters most here is whether or not it's worthwhile on the profile of the OP based on where his scores currently sit.  Since he does have somewhat "on the cusp" type scores that likely border on the best tier verses second best tier, AZEO could potentially be a positive thing for him.  Someone with an 800 score?  For them, AZEO would be a waste.

[longtimelurker]

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@Anonymous wrote:

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@Remedios wrote:

Are you planning an important app? 

Because if you're not, you're wasting your time and money 

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Not necessarily.  AZEO doesn't need to cost anyone a cent 

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Well, it sort of does cost, compared to the alternative strategy.   If you pay every card in full on due date (via autopay) or just before (manually) you have your money longer and it can be earning interest in, e.g. a high yield savings account with APR currently above 2%

If people count up how many days and how much they are paying early over the course of a year, it's going to be quite a bit more than a cent!   Paying before statement cuts generally means three weeks or more of float loss.   On nearly all your active cards.  Every month.

I encourage AZEO advocates to really run their figures.   This "good financial discipline" costs real money.   Which doesn't mean it may not be worthwhile, but be aware of the costs vs benefits.

[ridgebackpilot]

Wow, thanks for all these thoughts! I may try an experiment first: Pay all my cards down below 8.9% and see what happens to my scores. No doubt they'll go up, but by how much?

Then, once those scores have stabilized, try AZEO for a couple of months to see if it makes a material difference. It will be interesting to see whether zero balances on most cards result in materially higher scores than all cards below 8.9%...

[NRB525]

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@ridgebackpilot wrote:

Wow, thanks for all these thoughts! I may try an experiment first: Pay all my cards down below 8.9% and see what happens to my scores. No doubt they'll go up, but by how much?

Then, once those scores have stabilized, try AZEO for a couple of months to see if it makes a material difference. It will be interesting to see whether zero balances on most cards result in materially higher scores than all cards below 8.9%...

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This ^^^. Do this. 

Everyone can agree that getting balances on each and every card below 8% will help scores. If one is also paying interest, getting those balances down saves interest cost, real cash.  

Once you get all cards below 8%, take note of your scores. Then you can take the next step of reducing more cards so they report zero on the statement, making sure at least one has a reported balance at any given moment.  

At at that point, you can start monitoring whether number of cards is further improving your score, and make the choice whether you want to continue with AZEO, or whether low utilization in general, with cards reporting balances is sufficient   

For particular types of apps apps such as a mortgage, reducing number of reporting card balances has benefits but it is not often we apply for a mortgage.  

Let us know your progress and results.