So, I'm an idiot. Help!

[Anonymous]

How much difference is there between carrying a balance of <1% vs 0 balance?

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:
How much difference is there between carrying a balance of <1% vs 0 balance?

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It's not a choice, for you to regain your grace period privilege after having carried a balance, you must have the statement post $0, or else you'll always be paying interest on future charges even if you PIF before due date. After that, you can start implementing advice given in this thread, unless of course you don't care about paying interest on every charge.

[Revelate]

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@Anonymous wrote:

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@Anonymous wrote:
How much difference is there between carrying a balance of <1% vs 0 balance?

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It's not a choice, for you to regain your grace period privilege after having carried a balance, you must have the statement post $0, or else you'll always be paying interest on future charges even if you PIF before due date. After that, you can start implementing advice given in this thread, unless of course you don't care about paying interest on every charge.

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Hmmm, you can zero out a credit card at any time, doesn't need to get a statement cut to restart the grace period in my experience?

There's often something like "xxxx.xx to pay off" or "current balance" on the pay options screen for most lenders, and that will sort it right quick. 

[Anonymous]

That's my understanding as well. Plus, the way I've planned this 1 cc will be at zero before my next statement then put to pasture. No interest potential. The 2nd will go into the next statement w/ less than 8% utilization. Yes I'll get hit w/ interest on roughly $30, it's worth paying since everything I'm reading suggests leaving a small balance gives a better bump than $0.

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@Revelate wrote:

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@Anonymous wrote:

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@Anonymous wrote:
How much difference is there between carrying a balance of <1% vs 0 balance?

---

It's not a choice, for you to regain your grace period privilege after having carried a balance, you must have the statement post $0, or else you'll always be paying interest on future charges even if you PIF before due date. After that, you can start implementing advice given in this thread, unless of course you don't care about paying interest on every charge.

---

Hmmm, you can zero out a credit card at any time, doesn't need to get a statement cut to restart the grace period in my experience?

There's often something like "xxxx.xx to pay off" or "current balance" on the pay options screen for most lenders, and that will sort it right quick. 

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@Revelate wrote:

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@Anonymous wrote:

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@Anonymous wrote:
How much difference is there between carrying a balance of <1% vs 0 balance?

---

It's not a choice, for you to regain your grace period privilege after having carried a balance, you must have the statement post $0, or else you'll always be paying interest on future charges even if you PIF before due date. After that, you can start implementing advice given in this thread, unless of course you don't care about paying interest on every charge.

---

Hmmm, you can zero out a credit card at any time, doesn't need to get a statement cut to restart the grace period in my experience?

There's often something like "xxxx.xx to pay off" or "current balance" on the pay options screen for most lenders, and that will sort it right quick. 

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[Anonymous]

Good advice by Oldman.  Also worth observing is that most CC issuers will allow you to pay more than the current balance, creating a negative balance.  And it is not hard usually to estimate how much the interest will be.  If your APR is 23%, for example, make that 24% which is 2% per month.  Pay an extra 2% (beyond paying to zero) and you should be fine.  Thus if you have had a steady balance of about $100, pay an extra $2.

A negative balance will not hurt your score.  It will be reported as if it were $0.

[HeavenOhio]

If you have to take the "all cards at zero" ding to make interest stop, take the ding. You can start reporting a positive balance on one card once grace periods are reset.

If you have an important app coming up and need to avoid the "all cards at zero" ding, keep one card reporting a tiny balance and pay the microscopic amount of interest over the short term. Zero it out and reset the grace period once you can report a small balance on a different card or when you're able to take the ding without consequence.

In your case, you'll probably want to take the temporary ding if the alternative is to purchase something from Fingerhut that you don't want.

[Anonymous]

There are 2 apps coming up for me. First Ian's most important is a "new" vehicle. Mine is on its last legs and since I've recently returned to work plus have a young child in a school I have to drop off and pick up I can not be without.

My initial thought was to add an additional CC and gain 6+ months of history but being stupid on my balance my score stagnated. I've got to correct this ASAP. A tad bit of interest is better than paying UBER 4 times a day.

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@HeavenOhio wrote:

If you have to take the "all cards at zero" ding to make interest stop, take the ding. You can start reporting a positive balance on one card once grace periods are reset.

If you have an important app coming up and need to avoid the "all cards at zero" ding, keep one card reporting a tiny balance and pay the microscopic amount of interest over the short term. Zero it out and reset the grace period once you can report a small balance on a different card or when you're able to take the ding without consequence.

In your case, you'll probably want to take the temporary ding if the alternative is to purchase something from Fingerhut that you don't want.

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[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

Good advice by Oldman.  Also worth observing is that most CC issuers will allow you to pay more than the current balance, creating a negative balance.  And it is not hard usually to estimate how much the interest will be.  If your APR is 23%, for example, make that 24% which is 2% per month.  Pay an extra 2% (beyond paying to zero) and you should be fine.  Thus if you have had a steady balance of about $100, pay an extra $2.

A negative balance will not hurt your score.  It will be reported as if it were $0.

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You can also call in on the day you plan to PIF and ask for the amount of residual interest up to that day and add it to your PIF. However some banks will not allow you to pay more than the total balance, you will need to push the payment from an external account in those cases.

[Anonymous]

I spoke to Fingerhut earlier today and asked exactly what my balance will be tomorrow for me to pay to zero. I'd planned on paying it in full over two weeks but my statement cut-off won't allow for it. I'll pay in full tomorrow and more on Cap1 in two weeks. It still works out the same in the end with switching the order.