Credit Card Rewards and Recommendations

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Ask/Tell > Business, Finance, and Careers > Credit Card Rewards and Recommendations

Revitalized: Sep 13, 2007; A free custom title is a free custom title; Lipstick Apathy

THF13 posted:

Frequently asked questions

I have bad or no credit.
Try a student card if you're a student, a secured card if you're not. Check the nerdwallet recommendations link at the top of the thread.

Should I keep a balance to build up credit?
NEVER. Pay the full statement balance every month before the due date. If you are unable to pay the full statement balance you shouldn�t be using the cards recommended in this thread as they typically have very high APRs.

I just got my first credit card from my bank today. I have a 0% APR for 6 months. A friend of mine told me that he built credit by paying 90% of his monthly balance and letting a bit of it carry over, then right before his 0% intro offer expired, he paid the entire thing off.

Should I try doing that for 6 months?

I have no debt and of course, no credit score at the moment, and I can pay off within my credit limit as well.

# ¿ Nov 16, 2014 07:13

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# ¿ Apr 29, 2024 07:01

Revitalized: Sep 13, 2007; A free custom title is a free custom title; Lipstick Apathy

Space Gopher posted:

No. You're not the exception, because there are no exceptions.

Yes, the credit card company would like you to carry a balance, so they can squeeze as much money as possible from you. But, "balance carried" isn't tracked on your credit report, and it's not used to calculate credit scores. All the credit agencies see about your credit card balance is the bottom-line number on the statement. It doesn't matter if you paid the whole thing off thirty seconds after the last statement went out and then racked up that amount in new charges this cycle, or only made the minimum payment last time and carried every cent you could.

Never carry a balance, and never take a cash advance. Not even once.

100 HOGS AGREE posted:

Yeah they're looking at utilization, not if there's a month to month balance. A ton of people in America don't actually understand how their credit score is calculated. Paying the full statement balance instead of everything you owe is going to leave money on there anyway because purchases this month come due next month.

Even that can get you in trouble if you're not careful though. Don't put something on a card unless you already have money waiting to pay for it, and you are confident you can then not touch that money until you send it to the credit card company.

Your credit score is not the score in a game, nor does it matter unless you're looking for a loan or another credit card. Just use your credit responsibly and that score will go up by itself and don't worry about it.

I see, thanks guys.

One more question: does spending 30% or 70% of your credit limit have any difference at all?

# ¿ Nov 17, 2014 00:27

Revitalized: Sep 13, 2007; A free custom title is a free custom title; Lipstick Apathy

THF13 posted:

Frequently asked questions

Should I keep a balance to build up credit?
NEVER. Pay the full statement balance every month before the due date. If you are unable to pay the full statement balance you shouldn�t be using the cards recommended in this thread as they typically have very high APRs.

Should I pay off the full balance or the full statement balance?
Does not really matter. There is no reason to pay more than the full statement balance, but no real downside to paying the full balance either.

Newbie here, made up some numbers:

Payment Amount
Next Minimum Payment: $30.00
Last Statement Balance: $400.00
Current Balance: $600.00

When you say full statement balance, does that mean "Last Statement Balance" ?

Paying the "Next Minimum Payment" is basically the "Should I keep a balance to build up credit" train of thought right?

# ¿ Jan 14, 2015 12:34

Revitalized: Sep 13, 2007; A free custom title is a free custom title; Lipstick Apathy

asur posted:

Yes, if you the pay the Last Statement Balance before the due date you won't be charged interest.

Okay I understand now. Whoops, I think I messed up my first month.... (I paid a little less than the statement balance but more than the minimum) but at least I've got 0% APR for like six months. Time to make a statement balance payment! Thanks for the clarification.

# ¿ Jan 14, 2015 14:53

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Ask/Tell > Business, Finance, and Careers > Credit Card Rewards and Recommendations