Should I pay my credit cards off every month?
It is great to be debt free! And if you are in the position to pay off your credit cards in full each month it is wonderful. But if you are in our credit repair program and want to do everything possible to build up your credit scores you should not pay your cards in full. Your question brings two important points to mind.
Keep Your Balances Low
First, you know that you should keep your revolving balances low for the best credit repair results. But paying your cards off each month does not mean that they will report to the credit bureaus with a zero balance. Credit card reporting dates will not normally match your payment date. It is as likely that your balance will be reported prior to your payment. You can easily get caught with a high balance and suffer the consequences in spite of your wonderful intentions. If you need your credit scores to be their best you need to reduce your balances and keep them low until you have been approved for your loan.
But Don’t Go to Zero
And one more thing, if you let a credit card go to zero and leave it there the score value of the card will fade. The FICO scoring model will interpret your zero balance card as inactive. While you are making your credit repair effort, and are looking for every point you can get, keep your balances low, but don’t pay them down to zero. Even a small balance of ten dollars will insure that the card is contributing fully to your valuable scores.