Does carrying a CC balance effect credit rating?

[mattwolfmatt]

I'm changing jobs soon, and there will be 30 days when I have no paycheck. I'm wondering if not paying off a credit card balance will hurt my credit rating.

For example, lets say I owe $1000 on my credit card, and the minimum payment is $40. If I pay $300, will the $700 balance hurt my rating? We're interested in buying a house soon, too.

I've never not payed off my credit card and am nervous, I guess.

Thanks all.

 

[AnimaLeo]

Don't get yourself into debt over those 30 days. Can't be that difficult to not buy something for $1000.

 

[Dustman]

Not really, as long as you're paying the minimum, it won't hurt your rating. It won't improve it either though. If you want the best answer though, give your CC company a quick call and find out for sure

 

[LethalWolfe]

As long as you at least pay the min amount you are fine but you of course want to pay it off as quickly as you can so you don't waste too much money on interest.

On two occasions in the last 10yrs or so I've racked up over $10k in CC debit, each time it took a couple of years for me to pay it off and my credit rating is around 800.


Lethal

 

[mattwolfmatt]

Don't get yourself into debt over those 30 days. Can't be that difficult to not buy something for $1000.

Do you mean groceries and our storage unit and my phone bill and gas?

I'm not buying a new iMac here.

 

[Nabooly]

Try to keep ur balance at a ~30% utilization. If you have a high utilization im pretty sure that it will effect ur credit rating. Although i don't believe it effects it too much.

 

[Sythas]

Try to keep ur balance at a ~30% utilization. If you have a high utilization im pretty sure that it will effect ur credit rating. Although i don't believe it effects it too much.

You should not use more than 70% of your CC limit and pay at least the minimum every month...

So if you plan to use around 1000$ next month, you should have a 1400$ limit on your credit card...

 

[InvalidUserID]

Difference should be negligible, if at all. We're only talking about 30 days here and as you mentioned, you aren't going to spend needlessly.

I wouldn't even think twice about it. Just make sure you make any payments, in at least the minimum payment and you'll be just fine.

 

[LethalWolfe]

Try to keep ur balance at a ~30% utilization. If you have a high utilization im pretty sure that it will effect ur credit rating. Although i don't believe it effects it too much.

The balance between CC limit and CC debit certainly is a factor but I don't think it's on a card by card basis. I mean, if someone has a CC limit total of $50k (5 cards each w/a $10k limit) and they are carrying $9k in debt I don't think it matters if the $9k is all on one card or if it's spread across multiple cards.

The big thing really is long term trends. If you always are close to maxing out your cards that will negatively impact your credit score but if you just carry a large balance every now and then that's nothing to worry about (again, as long as you don't miss any payments).


Lethal

 

[Sythas]

The balance between CC limit and CC debit certainly is a factor but I don't think it's on a card by card basis. I mean, if someone has a CC limit total of $50k (5 cards each w/a $10k limit) and they are carrying $9k in debt I don't think it matters if the $9k is all on one card or if it's spread across multiple cards.

The big thing really is long term trends. If you always are close to maxing out your cards that will negatively impact your credit score but if you just carry a large balance every now and then that's nothing to worry about (again, as long as you don't miss any payments).


Lethal

it matters if it's on the same card for the score, not a big slap on the wrist tho... Two things that affect your scores a lot with CC is busting your limit or not paying you minimum payment for 3 months......

 

[Surely]

Difference should be negligible, if at all. We're only talking about 30 days here and as you mentioned, you aren't going to spend needlessly.

I wouldn't even think twice about it. Just make sure you make any payments, in at least the minimum payment and you'll be just fine.

This is good advice.

Also, make sure that you don't do anything that would require a credit check during the time you're carrying the balance.