Utilisation Game Plan ????

[dawnm72174]

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@Anonymous wrote:

I am sorry I still don't get it.

Give an example with amount ?

For example like I said my statement balance due for 4/16  is $ 90  , the minimum due is $ 25.00  on 4/16, but my total balance I own on the card $ 130.00   so you saying I should pay the $ 90.00 which is the statement balance due before or on the 4/16 ?

If I pay the statement due balance than they credit card company they should report $ 0 balance is that correct ?

Thanks again

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Pay the total balance of $130 down to $0. If that's done before next statement then the CCC will report your balance as $0. If you pay just the statement balance, then your next statement will show a $40 balance plus any interest.

[Anonymous]

Ok, now that mean I have to wait until the due date and pay the whole balance because If I pay the balance off now and I buy something later than that mean I will have balance again and they will report the new balance  also is this mean that i have to stopping using my card couple days before the due date and couple days after the due date ?

The due date every month it on the 17  and the closing date it saying 4/22  so what is mean basically ?

Those it mean that I pay the balance off before due date and than stop using the card until after closing date on 4/22   so I don't have a balance to report ?

Why is the closing date after the due date payment ?

I am sorry I just want to understand more because I want $ 0 to be reported .

Thanks again

[Anonymous]

Here is what it it all means.  We'll start with two pieces of information that you've given us: that your closing date is the 22nd and the due date is the 17th.  Then we'll flesh out what these and other concepts mean.

Your credit card has a monthly billing cycle that lasts about 30 days.  (Some months it lasts 31 days, some 30, some as short as 28.)  The cycle ends on roughly the same day each month.  For you that appears to be the 22nd.  (Give or take a day.)

When the billing cycle ends, the credit card company (CCC) produces a statement.  The CCC looks at what your balance is on that closing day.  Your balance is the sum of all charges that you have not paid off yet.  The CCC then takes that balance, and adds to it any fees and interest you might owe.  That total number (balance, fees, and interest) is the Amount Owed for that statement.  You will see that very prominently displayed on the top of that monthly statement.

You now have about 25 days pay that Amount Owed before it is due.  The date on which it is due is called the Due Date.  It's really important to make sure you understand that the due date in this month is always refering to the statement from last month.

Let's pause for a second and look at an example you already gave us.  Based on what you have told us so far, it sounds like your billing cycle closed on March 22 and produced a statement within the next day or two..  That statement gave an Amount Owed of $90.  You have about 25 days (roughly) to make a payment on that $90 -- this would be April 16 in this case.

So again, the balance on your card was $90 as of March 22.  But since then, you have made more charges on your card, so that the total balance on the card is now (today) $130.

Stop for a moment and read back through everything I've written so far.  Make sure you really understand the idea of a 30-day billing cycle, how it ends on a certain day (most often the 22nd in your case), how when it ends a statement is produced, and how that statement will have an Amount Owed at the top that you then have 25 days before it becomes due -- which is the Due Date.  Pull out previous statements from before and use them as examples.  It is  really REALLY important to understand that in full.

Now you are ready to move on.

The due date, for the purposes of what you are concerned with, is  not important.  What I will say about that is that you want to get in the habit of paying the entire Amount Owed that was printed on the statement in the 2-3 weeks after the statement prints.  If you pay the entire amount, then you will be paying in full of PIF.  When you PIF, it means that the card issuer can't charge you any interest.  That's good because it saves you money.  It's good for other reasons too.

Now that we have said that, however, you can forget about the due date.  Focus instead on the statement date.  Your statements typically are being generated on around the 22nd.  That's the same thing as saying that this is when your billing cycle closes.

All credit card companies send a report to the three bureas each month saying what you currently owe on your credit cards.  MOST of the CCCs choose to send this report a few days after the statement prints and the amount they report is the Amount Owed at the top of of the statement.

When this thread began, you wanted to know how to optimize your FICO score from the perspective of credit card balances.  What many of us told you is that you needed to make sure that most of your cards were reporting $0.  Think through what I have just explained.  Do you see that this means that you have to pay all the current balances down to $0 and to do so BEFORE the statement prints?

Again, we are not talkng about what your balances might have been on past statements.  We are saying that the CURRENT daily amount you owe on the card has got to be reduced to $0, and you need to do that before the statement closes.  Why before?  Because you need the AMOUNT OWED on the statement to read $0, since it is the amount on the statement that the CCC will report to the credit bureaus.

You want most of your cards to report $0 and exactly one card to report a small balance, compared to your total credit limit.  In your case, your Amex reporting at <  under $600 is fine.

Finally, remember what we said earlier in the thread,  You don't have to enforce this rule (All Cards at Zero Except One With A Small Balance) every month.  You can if you like, but it won't help you long term.  All the extra points you get from doing this you can get by doing it in the 1-2 months before an important credit need.

[Anonymous]

Ok, her is my statement for March what looks like :

Closing Date 03/24/16        Next Closing Date  04/22/16      

New Balance : $ 89.80
Minimum Payment Due : $ 25

Payment Due Date :  04/18/16

Account Ending 000000000

As you can see there is 2 different closing date   3/24 for this month    and next month is   4/22

Now  wich one do I pay is it the $ 89.80   because when I loging to my account like today it saying my total balance as for today it is $ 137.00  ?

[Anonymous]

So you can increase you credit score even further by keeping utilization under 5% and just on one card?

[Anonymous]

Ok, her is my statement for March what looks like :

Closing Date 03/24/16        Next Closing Date  04/22/16      

New Balance : $ 89.80
Minimum Payment Due : $ 25

Payment Due Date :  04/18/16

Account Ending 000000000

 As you can see there is 2 different closing date   3/24 for this month    and next month is   4/22

Now  wich one do I pay is it the $ 89.80   because when I loging to my account like today it saying my total balance as for today it is $ 137.00  ? I want them to report $ 0  to the credit repot.

Thans

[Anonymous]

You pay your current balance of $137.00 then don't make any new charges until after the 4/22 statement (or until it reports, just to be safe).

[Thomas_Thumb]

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@Anonymous wrote:

Ok, here is my statement for March what looks like :

 Closing Date 03/24/16        Next Closing Date  04/22/16      

New Balance : $ 89.80
Minimum Payment Due : $ 25

Payment Due Date :  04/18/16

Account Ending 000000000

As you can see there is 2 different closing date   3/24 for this month    and next month is   4/22

Now  wich one do I pay is it the $ 89.80   because when I loging to my account like today it saying my total balance as for today it is $ 137.00? I want them to report $ 0  to the credit repot.

Thanks

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OK, you missed paying off your balance BEFORE the last statement close date of 3/24/16. What should you do now? As a minimum you need to pay the minimum due by the due date of 4/18/16.

You could pay $25, $89.80 or $137.00 today - my recommendation is either:

1)  Use a 2 step payment process - pay off the $89.80 now to show a PIF for the last credit cycle obligation and then make a 2nd payment to bring balance down to zero on the 20th or the 21st [at least one day prior to the next close date of 4/22]. If you take this approach, stop using your card a few days before close date (say 4/17) then check your balance a couple days later (say 4/19) and pay the full balance that day or the next (4/19 or 4/20).. When the statement cuts a "$0" balance will report to the CRAs

2) Use a one step payment process - Stop putting any charges on the card NLT 4/12 for the next month. Check balance on 4/14. Pay entire balance on 4/15 (at least 2 days before the 4/18 due date). Now don't use the card again until one day after the close date of 4/22. With this approach you avoid any interest penalty, report a "$0" balance on your next statement and only make one payment. The only drawback is an added week of non use for the card.

Once things are in sync, get in a routine of not using your card 5 to 7 days prior to close date, checking balance the next day or two and then paying the entire balance a day or 2 before statement closes.

Side note: Allowing multiple cards to report balances has no negative implications relating to building credit history. 

[Anonymous]

I'm going to suggest a simplified approach. This will get you the same scores that as what everyone else is suggesting and will be a little easier.

So forget about everything above, and do this:

1. Start by paying off all of your card balances.

2. Choose ONE card (either the Capital One Card or the American Express with the $7000 limit).

3. Use only that card and never let the balance go over $1500. (If you ever need to charge more than $1500, pay it down below $1500 immediately).

4. Pay off the entire balance every month before the due date (if you only use one card, and you keep it below $1500, you don't need to worry about paying it early -- just pay it by the due date).

5. Every six months, switch cards (use Capital One for six months and then the Amex/7000 for six months and then back to the Capital One).

6. If you ever use the store card, pay it off immediately (within a few days, as soon as the charge posts).

If you do this, you will accomplish the things the posters in this thread are trying to explain, but it should be relatively easy.

[Anonymous]

Thank you all for all the help.

Now I get it how this credit card game work to report zero and not paying to much interest. I will try this process on the next payment and see if they report zero.

Thanks again everybody

Let me ask you one more thing so I got my report from Experian .com and my FICO score it was in the range 816 and than I went and pulled my credit report and score from MyFico.com  and my Fico score it was in the range  816 also.  

When I pulled my  TU  from MyFico.com  My Fico score it was in the range 808  SO IS  IT NORMAL TO HAVE THE SCORES  8 point different from my EX  and TU  ?

Thanks again