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Timing of Bill Payments???

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Anonymous
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Timing of Bill Payments???

I pay all my bills (credit cards etc) on the 10th of each month in full.... Also my mortgage payment on the 10th..... Does this slightly hurt my FICO score? Should I change my timing from the the 10th to say the 1st of each month? (my bills are due oh the 15th of each month).... my FICO score is 799....

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Anonymous
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Re: Timing of Bill Payments???

Hi poolshark444,

 

Welcome to the forums.  Nice FICO score!

 

What you are doing is working great for you - IMO, it's perfect for your situation.

 

Some folks run into high utilization reporting unless they are careful to pay down accounts - some to a zero balance - before the account reports to the CRA's (usually but not always the statement date).  WIth a 799 FICO score, you're not being damaged by this.  If you ever find a concern with what utilization is reporting, then adjust your payment schedule accordingly - paying down before the balance is reported to the CRA's.

 

But no need in complicating your life!  And, btw, anything over a 760 FICO is considered primo!  Smiley Wink

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Anonymous
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Re: Timing of Bill Payments???


@Anonymous wrote:
I pay all my bills (credit cards etc) on the 10th of each month in full.... Also my mortgage payment on the 10th..... Does this slightly hurt my FICO score? Should I change my timing from the the 10th to say the 1st of each month? (my bills are due oh the 15th of each month).... my FICO score is 799....



I've been asking myself a similar question since it's important to pay down your balance before it gets reported to the CRA but also to have a small balance on your credit cards (not $0) so you have something reported to the CRA.  Obviously you're doing something - probably a lot of things - right with your 799 FICO though.  I don't think you need to change anything about your payment schedule just based on your amazing score.

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Anonymous
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Re: Timing of Bill Payments???


@ptrutkowski wrote:
I've been asking myself a similar question since it's important to pay down your balance before it gets reported to the CRA but also to have a small balance on your credit cards (not $0) so you have something reported to the CRA.  
Just to clarify, having credit cards report a zero balance is fine - For best FICO scoring, most folks will do better if one card reports a small balance (less than 9%), the remaining cards are fine reporting zero.   Probably exactly what you are saying - just wanted to clarify.  Smiley Wink

 

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Anonymous
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Re: Timing of Bill Payments???


@Anonymous wrote:

@ptrutkowski wrote:
I've been asking myself a similar question since it's important to pay down your balance before it gets reported to the CRA but also to have a small balance on your credit cards (not $0) so you have something reported to the CRA.  
Just to clarify, having credit cards report a zero balance is fine - For best FICO scoring, most folks will do better if one card reports a small balance (less than 9%), the remaining cards are fine reporting zero.   Probably exactly what you are saying - just wanted to clarify.  Smiley Wink

 


Oh I see.  That's what I thought before I came here, but I read somewhere that leaving a card(s) in your sock drawer doesn't necessarily show CRA that you are managing your credit, just that you aren't using it, or even "hiding" it so you don't abuse it.  I've got 4 cards, 1 of which is my everyday use card (AMEX Clear), and I was going to start trying to get the other 3 to report a small balance every month.  But if keeping zero is just as good, it's definitely much easier than trying to time the payment dates Smiley Happy

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Anonymous
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Re: Timing of Bill Payments???


@ptrutkowski wrote:

Oh I see.  That's what I thought before I came here, but I read somewhere that leaving a card(s) in your sock drawer doesn't necessarily show CRA that you are managing your credit, just that you aren't using it, or even "hiding" it so you don't abuse it.  I've got 4 cards, 1 of which is my everyday use card (AMEX Clear), and I was going to start trying to get the other 3 to report a small balance every month.  But if keeping zero is just as good, it's definitely much easier than trying to time the payment dates Smiley Happy


You don't have to report a balance for the OC (and FICO) to see usage on the card.  That's why lots of folks put an ongoing bill on cards to maintain usage, even if they PIF and report no balance (a good practice!)

 

Remember that FICO does care how many of your cards report a balance.  If 100% of your cards report balances, most folks see a FICO hit.  The general mantra for best FICO scores is to have less than half of your accounts report a balance.  Letting one account report a small balance seems to work for most folks, and you can experiment to see if you can do as well with an additional one or two cards reporting a small balance - it's definitely a YMMV thing.

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Anonymous
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Re: Timing of Bill Payments???

^That sounds good, thanks for clarifying!  I can definitely keep 3/4 cards at 0 balance and the 4th one reporting <9%!

Message 7 of 8
Anonymous
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Re: Timing of Bill Payments???

Sure thing!  And just to clarify further, you'll want to be using the cards along the way.  OC's can and do close cards or reduce CL's if you're not using them on a fairly regular basis (bank cards need more frequent usage than merchant cards, it seems).

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