I just pay my current balance every time so it’s at zero. I don’t like having any lingering charges after I just paid my cc bill. I like to always start from zero.
But doing this doesn’t raise your credit score. It looks like you aren’t using credit to the bureaus. That’s why it’s best to use autopay for the statement balance
I treat my credit cards like debit cards. I use them to make everyday purchases as long as I can afford it and pay them off as soon as possible. My credit has never been better.
That’s what I plan on doing once I turn 18, very soon. Once I learned what credit score is and how to build it, which was like a year ago, I’ve been excited to start building it bc I wouldn’t really do anything differently other than use a different card, but it’ll benefit me in the long run!
Allow for a minimum of three business days excluding statutory holidays to ensure payment is received. This will ensure that your payment is cleared and fully paid.🥰
Check the trend for the company you are paying. Citi let's you pay anytime that due date. Chase might be until 8 pm. It might not be chase for that, I might be mixing it up with another card I have, but still the times aren't all the same.
I’m 30 and recently learned the difference. Pay by the due date and make sure you’re fully paid off by the time of the statement closing date so you’re credit is not negatively affected for carrying a balance. If you are then make sure it’s not more than 30% usage of your credit line. What has helped me is having two different accounts…one to pay bills and one for whatever I wanna spend on. 😊 set up auto pay leave the money in the bills account and it takes care of itself unless I’m gonna be late then you can usually talk to your debtors to extend a few days or change the day your payments go out.
I'm similar to you. I pay off my two credit cards either every Monday or every other Monday. I always pay the full balance. I have cards to get my sky miles on one card and cash back on the other. I also like the purchase protection and zero foreign transaction fees on both cards, which makes praying for things when I travel outside of our country even easier. My credit is deemed excellent.
@@akane8615same. I’m about to turn 18 and am getting a credit card solely for building credit. I too like to pay it off INSTANTLY. I hate debts and deadlines, even though I always meet them.
These days I pay my entire balance off every week on all my cards. Since I started doing this, my credit score quickly rose from around 805 to around 860 and I guess it's because my debt to credit limit ratio is now consistently much lower, but not 100% sure. I recommend to do this if you have the ability to, seems to improve your credit score rapidly.
It actually took me like a decade to figure this out and life is so much easier now! Before I would just always be nervous I was going to get charged interest and would pay at random times and try to get by balance to zero but it was so all over the place a couple of times I did wind up paying interest even though I was able to pay, I was just getting confused about how much and when. It’s so obvious and easy once you realize you literally just wait for the bill to come out then pay it in full by the due date. It never gets to zero and that’s fine.
@@blackice7408 that would end up costing you a lot in interest payments. You need to pay your bill in full, not just the minimum payment. But it's about paying your *bill* not your *balance*. Your balance is constantly changing based on what you charge to the card and what you pay back. But your bill is the full amount shown on your monthly statement, which your card produces for you once a month. Hope that helps!
@@BusterDarcy so what black ice said is correct. You pay yoir bill. If your bill says 50.00 due for a card that has 500.00 spent on it then you are ok or are you saying pay the full 500.00?
Yes indeed!!! I had to watch this 3 time to get the message cuz on viewing 1, I saw them..on viewing 2...I was like starring trying to see what they're made of!!.. Mind 🤯🥰
I just pay off my balance everytime I get paid. I so scared of debt that I make two to three payments every month, but hey, that has really helped my credit score.
I use credit cards for everything. Very rarely do I spend cash or my debit card. I like cash back, I pay em off every week, and I would rather spend the banks money first before my own. And I'm building a long on time payment history.
Just an addendum to her advice. If you CAN'T pay off your balance BY the statement date, pay SOMETHING, even if it's the min BY the statement date to help improve your credit score. Remember, good credit is NOT from paying off balances in full BUT BY paying bills ON TIME!
Good advice. I wonder how much someone can save over a lifetime by paying their credit card bill right on the payment due date instead of paying early.
Paying before the statement closing date will stop the balance from being on your credit report. Where it can effect your score by showing a balance and also utilization percentage
Correct! Some people are understanding this incorrectly. You are not suppose to pay immediately after a purchase. How are they going to know that you are responsible if you are stopping the credit utilization. If you pay right away it will show as if you’ve never used the credit.
If you're like me and have attention deficit issues, it's nice to be able to pay in small increments through the bank's online bill pay service. That way I don't have to wait for the credit card bill to come to pay things off. I can just log into my bank account when I have money, pay what I can, and by the time the statement comes in I've usually paid it off in advance. I haven't had to pay late fees for a very long time.
Another date that is important is the date that the creditor reports to the credit bureau. Some creditors will tell you when they report after your statement closing date. Don’t be afraid to call your CC company so they can give you all the deets on the best ways and timeframes you have for paying your CC and helping your credit😊
@@hitzoneproductions7858 From what I gather, your credit card will have a "posted date" and a "due date" to pay whatever is incurred from your posted date. In other words, you don't have to keep paying off your most recent purchases cause it's "due". You just need to make sure you pay off all of the balance from the "posted date". Hope I understood this correctly and I explained it accurately.
Idk how it's like in the US, but the bank just takes my credit card bill from my debit account every due date for me 😅 All I have to do is make sure my account has enough money
I couldn't disagree with this advice more. The goal of credit cards is not to avoid paying interest on your purchases for a month or two. The goal is building a higher credit score so you can get a lower interest rate on bigger loans. To do this, you need a high credit limit from many different cards and banks that you aren't using that much. Therefore, you pay off a credit card right before it reports to the credit bureaus, or even better, pay off all but a penny of the balance to force them to say that you are using the card but you have a low utilization.
Her strategy only makes you a few pennies, and it has the potential of huge interest if you can't pay it off one month. Building a higher credit score will make you more in the future.
To help with your credit score, you should also wait until your statement date to pay off that statement balance. Don’t pay in advance and end up with a statement balance of 0$ - it’s a missed opportunity to show creditors that you can borrow money and pay it all back every month.
Wait, I thought you paid it off by the statement closing date. My due date is the 11th. Which if you pay the minimum you don't receive a fee. My closing date is the 18th. I have to be zero on the 18th for no interest
If you only make the minimum payment you will pay interest charges. The goal is to click “statement balance” and pay that. As long as the statement balance is paid off they can’t charge interest. Paying the “current balance” works the same the only difference is that account is now at zero rather than having a balance for the next billing cycle. Basically, never make minimum payments because they will charge interest (unless you have a 15 mo promo) and always pay the statement balance off to avoid fees.
You're making this much more complicated than it needs to be. 1. Receive bill. 2. Pay the amount indicated in full by the date specified on the bill, earlier if you're paying the bill by check and mailing it. 3. End of story.
Yes, and you take advantage of the 'float', instead of the bank. I usually pay a few day before the payment due date, rarely paying over time. I get points so the bank is paying me to use their credit cards. I have a 800+ credit rating, so get low interest rate, last year I got a 0% loan on part of the price of a new car in part due to paying bills on time.
Lol, my credit card amount that I paid yesterday was 183. I actually said that my statement amount was 186.00 like yours. I was happy to keep the three dollars.
Even if you understand it, you should still pay everything off. Stop playing these games where you keep floating these lingering balances. Just zero it out and be done with it.
See, I didn't realize that I had to let my bill go to a statement before paying it off inorder to get my credit score to raise. I use my credit card like a debit card and only buy what I know I have the budget to pay for. I've literally never let my statement get to a due date,it gets paid as soon as my statement is ready.
@@Thezuule1 no, there was a direct correlation to my score going up and letting it to go to balance, and paying it immediately after. Otherwise my balance statement would be zero and it wouldn't flag that i was using any line of credit.
@@Thezuule1 you don't officially have "credit utilization" unless your account goes to balance. I paid off my card for an entire year before it ever even came out with a statement and my score didn't move. Started letting it go to blance, yes under the 10%, and paid it off immediately after the statement came out (way before it ever was due) and my score has climbed over 100 points in the last year. I don't understand why your arguing with me on this. There is a significant difference between the blance statement and balance due (which is part of why people ruin their score and struggle with credit card debt), but there is also a significant difference between what is recognized utilization of a line of credit (letting the balance go to a statement), and paying off the card as soon as you pay for something like its a debit card, and have a $0 balance statement.
I get paid every two weeks and pay my credit card every time I get paid. The statement balances are paid before the due date and have an excellent credit score. As long as you’re paid in full before the statement due date, you’re fine
I pay off the balance every Sunday. I have my cc for a long time and never paid a cent for interest. I think this way is less intimidating than having to pay a bigger balance at the end off the month.
This is an example of late stage capitalism. Everything in the US is more complicated, intentionally. Businesses hope consumers are uninformed and therefore more vulnerable to exploitation. This attitude is the norm and Americans are accustomed to an adversarial relationship with businesses. The result is a robust legal ecosystem that keeps so many lawyers busy. But that’s another story.
@@commentator1984 and much more especially in the legalese which is printed in fine print - a well-designed piece of obfuscation. It’s worse with medical bills. Americans are inured to these deliberate attempts at confusion. Blame lawyers and the sacred cow called free enterprise. Crazy!
I pay 2x a month. By the time the cycle goes thru the next month minimum is $0.00. If I don't pay off the card my interest 8s between $4.00 or $5.00. Just pay 2x a nonth don't use the card for a year and pay ut off when u get your tax refund. My score now is 748. Do it. It works.
I love all the comments that see this short and conclude "I'm going to do it wrong anyway" instead of earning interest on your money for an extra month before paying on the due date. Do y'all pay your taxes early too if you're not getting a refund? Silly to give interest free loans to entities far wealthier than you.
I have the same card. I use it to pay for everything. Then I have it on auto pay to pay entire balance, though I usually manually pay it off once or twice a month. Good way to build up credit. They keep increasing my limit too. Debit cards are useless to build credit
Also, I want to STRESS, that if you plan on paying your card off completely, or not use your card for a while after wanting to pay it off, pleeease ask for your pay in full amount. If you pay off your statement balance thinking you completely paid it off, you will have that daily accrued interest from the next billing cycle, possible purchases overlooked, possible late fees, and can report as past due to the credit bureau’s if you don’t notice it within the next statement. This can also happen especially if a check is being sent that can take days to receive from a loan or just a mailed in payment. If this happens, call to ask if the interest can be waived and that you thought you paid it off. Most the time they will if it’s received. But if months went by without you noticing and you already reported late, it can be too late.
I mean I just pay what my credit card says is my statement balance. If it's 50 dollars...I'm paying 50 dollars. I dont look too deep in it I just know I pay in full on-time...you're confusing me but I'm pretty sure I got it cause my score keeps going up...
Woah the credit limit on this card is what I hope for 😅. Not that I would spend unwisely..just that I can spend with out worrying about crossing the utilization ratio
I didn't see what it was, but you can get your credit limit up pretty quickly IF you can pay off your card in full. In addition it actually improves your credit score to have as much credit as possible (and not be defaulting obviously) So you need to at least pay off the entire statement each month, but I have heard that paying of the balance weekly can be better. Then after a 6 months ask for a credit increase and take whatever they offer you. Then every 6 months ask for a credit increase, don't wait for them to offer it to you.
Yey! I knew this for a long time and the only time I got interest charged was when I forgot to pay on time but the bank is considerate when I called and didn't charged me
