Should you pay your credit card off every month?

kittylover4ever

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What do you guys think? Does it hurt your credit to pay it off every month or help it?
 

katiemae1277

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that helps your credit immensely, it's the balances on your cards that hurt it, it adds to your debt to income ratio
 
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kittylover4ever

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But if you pay it off every month, how can creditors judge if your good at making payments on installment loans on time?
 

persi & alley

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There are tricky things you can do. For instance, my wife declared bankruptcy three years ago and never paid any credit cards off. We are buying a new home together in both our names. But I am the only one getting the loan, and got it for 5.75%. This gives you an idea of creative thinking that exists if you only know about them.
 

katiemae1277

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Originally Posted by kittylover4ever

But if you pay it off every month, how can creditors judge if your good at making payments on installment loans on time?
cause you ARE making on time payments every month, but if you have a mortgage or car loan, they will look at that more to determine about installment loans. It also is really a straight matter of your credit score if that is high they will give you the world
 

coolcat

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Originally Posted by katiemae1277

that helps your credit immensely, it's the balances on your cards that hurt it, it adds to your debt to income ratio
I keep that advice always....


In fact this year my bank increasy my credit card in amount of course I use only that I can pay!...
...

Great Question Susie,..
and I wonder for the other answers from other members!
 

twstychik

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Originally Posted by katiemae1277

that helps your credit immensely, it's the balances on your cards that hurt it, it adds to your debt to income ratio
Originally Posted by kittylover4ever

But if you pay it off every month, how can creditors judge if your good at making payments on installment loans on time?
If your paying it OFF every month then you exhibit your ability to make your minimum payments on time plus some. NEVER EVER just pay the minimum. If you can't afford to pay it all try to pay at least half or double your minimum. If you only pay the min. but keep using the card you'll NEVER get OUT of debt. Plus, I LOVE the feeling of paying them off each month... not only does it look great on your credit report and improve your credit score but it makes me feel accomplished and responsible instead of stressed and broke. Of course, part of that is because I now use credit responsibly. That's the key.
 

xlaydeextaniax

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i think you should pay it off more often, if you can afford it. i have two, i wish i never got them to be fair, the amount of debt you get into is unreal. they are good in some ways, & i used mine when i NEEDED to. however, i got charged £33 on purchase's! ouch!
 

yosemite

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I agree - pay it off every month. Some credit card companies (at least here in Canada) can charge as much as 28% interest on unpaid balances and it can also be calculated on a daily basis.
 

EnzoLeya

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Technically though......keeping a balance on your card helps your credit history and builds credit. Paying it off every month doesn't look great to the people who want to loan money to you. If you pay it off early they don't make money, that's why there are loans.....money is made on interest.
 

sharky

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If you are planning to buy a house PAY them down that is where the debt ratio comes in..Trying to use NO more than 60% of Total avail credit also help s , some say no more than 30% of credit.. ACTUALLY you never look like your at zero since your payment date is NOT likely the date the credit buerus check so there is a balence ... it works in you favor to have a small balence on a card ... If you have a car payment or student loans then feel free to pay off every month if you can... YUP pay more than the minimum and OHH if you interest is high CALL the company I got a 3% reduction on a card just by calling and the guy said call back in a few months and they should be able to reduce it again
 

gingersmom

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Originally Posted by katiemae1277

that helps your credit immensely, it's the balances on your cards that hurt it, it adds to your debt to income ratio
That is actually incorrect. If you want to help you credit rating, you need to have revolving balances. The trick is to keep them relatively low.

Creditors LIKE folks that carry balances and do not pay off the balance in full every month (unless it is an Amex card.) This is how they make money off you. If you have a high credit limit but no balance, that means you actually are a credit RISK.
 

white cat lover

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Just watch out for the store cards, the interest rate on them will kill ya!!


My bank loan dude told me to always pay off store credit cards each month, but the "regular" credit cards he told me to carry a small balance on & pay off within 6 months. I've done well with that, as about every 6 months I put a small fortune in Damita's vet bills on my credit card.
 

babyharley

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Originally Posted by white cat lover

Just watch out for the store cards, the interest rate on them will kill ya!!


My bank loan dude told me to always pay off store credit cards each month, but the "regular" credit cards he told me to carry a small balance on & pay off within 6 months. I've done well with that, as about every 6 months I put a small fortune in Damita's vet bills on my credit card.


My Victorias Secret & Best Buy credit card had a 22.95% interest rate on them!
I paid them off, cut them up & threw them OUT!

Now I just have a Visa to keep for emergencies & to boost my credit a bit.
Never again will I have a store card, they are the devil
 

twstychik

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What a great and educational thread!
Originally Posted by babyharley



My Victorias Secret & Best Buy credit card had a 22.95% interest rate on them!
I paid them off, cut them up & threw them OUT!

Now I just have a Visa to keep for emergencies & to boost my credit a bit.
Never again will I have a store card, they are the devil
VS got me... again! This time I re-opened my card for the discounts/coupons. So, I charged my purchase then stood at the register and gave them my debit card to immediately pay it off!
 

yosemite

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Originally Posted by GingersMom

That is actually incorrect. If you want to help you credit rating, you need to have revolving balances. The trick is to keep them relatively low.

Creditors LIKE folks that carry balances and do not pay off the balance in full every month (unless it is an Amex card.) This is how they make money off you. If you have a high credit limit but no balance, that means you actually are a credit RISK.
I can only guess it must be different in Canada as my personal banker told me the opposite.
 

crazyforinfo

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Originally Posted by Yosemite

I can only guess it must be different in Canada as my personal banker told me the opposite.
Yes I was told the opposite also with my credit bureaus. Either way keep your debt to income ration under 17% and you will be fine. Banks are lowering the acceptable rate every year.
 

gailc

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I used to work for a large auto finance company. When we would receive credit apps we would look at the number of CC and what the outstanding balances were. Some people had so much CC debt that financing a vehicle was not going to happen.

We have never carried a CC balance. If we want to make a large purchase we try to time it for just after the cut date for the month so we won't have to pay the balance for an additional cycle. We can earn a bit more interest in our savings acct that way before having to pay it off.

Call your CC companies like stated before to see if they will reduce you interest rate.
And if you have many cards, pay off in full the one with the highest interest rate first.
Then apply those funds to the next highest one etc.....
 

MoochNNoodles

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I've heard that you look like a bigger risk if you have several open cards with nothing on them. That was from something related to buying a home. They said something to the effect of because lets say you get the house, then you use your credit cards to buy furniture and what not, and suddenly your finances are changed. Does that make sense?
 
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