Credit card ?

[fasternyou929]

Originally Posted by Porkchop

Quick question on credit cards...

My statement dates run from March 14th - April 13th. My payment date is the 8th of every month. I have always carried a big balance so I never ran into this problem. On March 8th I paid the balance of my card in full, so my statement on March 13th shows $0. Fast forward to today. Today is the 8th of course and my payment day. Since I paid off the card, I have accrued $133.89 to date. I go on to make a payment and the site says I owe $0 because the statement of last month was $0. For the current balance of $133.89 does interest hit at the time of statement (April 13th) or after next month's pay date (May 8th).

So this is all leading to.... should I just pay it off today/before the 13th, or will I not have interest on that balance until next pay date?

Thanks!

You will not receive any interest charges if you do not make a payment this month. Somewhere in your credit card agreement there is a "minimum grace period" for all new purchases and it's usually on the order of 28 days or so.

What that translates to is: "thou shalt not accrue interest charges for at least xx days from the date of purchase." Thus, any charges you make through April 13th will not be subject to interest until you carry the balance beyond your May statement. If you pay your accrued purchases in full then, there will be no interest charges.

The only time you see this prolonged gap in payments on a credit card are 1. when you get a new card and 2. when you have a $0 on a previous billing cycle.

Paying your "statement balance" each month will not result in a $0, you're just paying the charges from previous month to avoid finance charges on them. In that scenario you will start making a payment each month and will not see the extended gaps in payment again.

BTW - congrats on paying off your cards!! Do yourself a favor and get a rewards card that offers you cash back or incestives for purchases you make regularly; you won't believe how much people are willing to give you for simply spending money with them. Now that you know how quickly you can get upside-down with CC's, you'll likely be responsible and will avoid repeating this scenario at all costs. Enjoy the feeling of having a massive weight lifted from your shoulders, and tons of extra discresionary income!