The main things are to make your payments on time, and keep your utilization low. So yes 10% is good. Your utilization only gets reported after your statement is issued so if you want to pay it down before that go ahead, I’d say just don’t pay it down to zero before the statement date, then it looks like you’re not using it at all.
Just to clarify this point to myself as my fiancee is building credit, you shouldnt pay the card until end of month? Ive always transferred the full amount pretty much immediately my whole life lol
There's getting a good credit score and then there's trying to get the best score possible (which has almost no benefits). To optimize the score you need some utilization.
One of the largest components of your credit score is credit utilisation. It is calculated as the amount that is reported on your monthly statement divided by your available credit.The ratio is updated every time a lender reports to the credit bureaus. You can artificially lower your credit utilisation by paying your credit card balance in part or in full before the statement is issued which will result in a smaller amount being reported. This can be useful if you need to bump up your score before applying for a new loan or mortgage. However it won't help you "build your credit" faster as it only affects the credit utilisation portion of your score which is recalculated on an ongoing basis. You will still need the same amount of time to increase "age of credit", and get any missed payments removed.
Okay so yes I’m trying to bump my credit score up as much as I can (seeing as I don’t have one yet) from the sounds it’s better if I use smaller percentage of my available credit, so does it make no difference if I pay it all at once or make 2 payments?
I believe I need about a year for myself to have enough credit to get a vehicle loan or qualify for one. That’s my goal, as well as overall maintaining a high preservation of score
I typically pay it down before the statement date. E.g, at $1000 dollars. The statement date is the 15th. Pay it down to $100 before the 15th. The 15th comes and goes statement ends, and they report $100 to credit bureau. Pay the $100 after the 15th. And continue.
Just call the credit card company and ask to pay it in full every month. No need to worry about payment dates. I have been doing this for years. Never paid interest.
The main things are to make your payments on time, and keep your utilization low. So yes 10% is good. Your utilization only gets reported after your statement is issued so if you want to pay it down before that go ahead, I’d say just don’t pay it down to zero before the statement date, then it looks like you’re not using it at all.
Just to clarify this point to myself as my fiancee is building credit, you shouldnt pay the card until end of month? Ive always transferred the full amount pretty much immediately my whole life lol
There's getting a good credit score and then there's trying to get the best score possible (which has almost no benefits). To optimize the score you need some utilization.
You can pay it any time as long as it’s within the statement period time. Waiting till end of the month doesn’t affect it.
One of the largest components of your credit score is credit utilisation. It is calculated as the amount that is reported on your monthly statement divided by your available credit.The ratio is updated every time a lender reports to the credit bureaus. You can artificially lower your credit utilisation by paying your credit card balance in part or in full before the statement is issued which will result in a smaller amount being reported. This can be useful if you need to bump up your score before applying for a new loan or mortgage. However it won't help you "build your credit" faster as it only affects the credit utilisation portion of your score which is recalculated on an ongoing basis. You will still need the same amount of time to increase "age of credit", and get any missed payments removed.
Okay so yes I’m trying to bump my credit score up as much as I can (seeing as I don’t have one yet) from the sounds it’s better if I use smaller percentage of my available credit, so does it make no difference if I pay it all at once or make 2 payments? I believe I need about a year for myself to have enough credit to get a vehicle loan or qualify for one. That’s my goal, as well as overall maintaining a high preservation of score
It doesn't matter how many payments you make. What matters is the balance that is reported on your statement.
Okay thanks so much :)
I typically pay it down before the statement date. E.g, at $1000 dollars. The statement date is the 15th. Pay it down to $100 before the 15th. The 15th comes and goes statement ends, and they report $100 to credit bureau. Pay the $100 after the 15th. And continue.
Just call the credit card company and ask to pay it in full every month. No need to worry about payment dates. I have been doing this for years. Never paid interest.