Does carrying a balance on a credit card improve credit score?

Does carrying a balance on credit cards improve credit score? #creditscore #creditcard #frugal #saving
Credit cards do not allow us to realize the expenditure as well as cash does. Expenditures easily cross the budget when we use credit cards. Carrying a balance on credit cards by paying off only the minimum becomes a habit quickly. Minimum payment is frequent among the young generation, especially college students. Some people leave balances on credit cards thinking that the balance will improve their credit score. Many people pay off the minimum monthly payment due to emergency situations. Regardless of the reasons, we need to understand how much we are hurting our financial situation with a balance on our credit cards.

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Is this correct that paying off minimum instead of the full balance improves the credit score?

Nope. Paying off less than the full balance will not benefit the credit rating. Paying off the full balance before the due date will keep the credit record in good standing and increase the credit score in the long run.

[stextbox id=”info2″ caption=”Credit score fact”]The key to good credit score is to pay off the full balance in the monthly statement before the due date.
Reference: Myth Busters: Do You Need to Carry a Balance on a Credit Card to Raise Your Score?
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What is the most common minimum payment amount?

The most common minimum payment amount is 2% to 5% of the credit card balance plus any interest.

How much will minimum monthly payments on a $5000 credit card balance hurt the wallet?

If someone has a credit card debt of $5,000 and the interest rate (APR) is 20%, then the monthly interest will be $83.83 in the first month. With 2% payment of the balance plus the interest, the minimum payment becomes $5,000×0.02+$83.83=$183.83 in the first month. Note that this payment of $183.83 will only reduce the balance by $100 (2% of $5,000).

With the monthly minimum payment, the credit card holder will pay $1,973.43 in a year with a starting balance of $5,000. The balance at the end of the year will be $4,003. That is, cumulative total monthly payments of $1,973.43 will reduce the balance by $997 only in a year. 🙁 Pay credit card debt as early as possible to save the extra payments.

Monthly minimum due calculations for a year with a starting credit card balance of $5,000, 20% yearly interest rate, and 2% of balance payment each month.
Month Balance Interest Minimum amount due/paid
1 5000 83.33333333 183.3333333
2 4900 81.66666667 179.6666667
3 4802 80.03333333 176.0733333
4 4705.96 78.43266667 172.5518667
5 4611.8408 76.86401333 169.1008293
6 4519.603984 75.32673307 165.7188127
7 4429.211904 73.82019841 162.4044365
8 4340.627666 72.34379444 159.1563478
9 4253.815113 70.89691855 155.9732208
10 4168.738811 69.47898018 152.8537564
11 4085.364034 68.08940057 149.7966813
12 4003.656754 66.72761256 146.8007476
Total 897.0136511 1973.430032

What is the best practice?

The best practice is to consider a credit card as a debit card. That is, not to purchase using a credit card any more than we can pay off at the end of the month.

There had been times when I had to pay the minimum instead of a full balance payment but those were emergency situations. Unless I have emergency situations, I set up an automatic payment of the full statement balance before the due date.

Settle in El Paso team





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Comments

2 thoughts on “Does carrying a balance on a credit card improve credit score?

  1. I always pay off the balance on my credit card at the month’s end when I get the bill. Otherwise the interest rate quickly makes it a huge amount that just piles up every month! I’m glad at the end of the post you endorse treating it like a debit card 😉

    1. I completely agree with your strategy. Thank you for visiting and commenting. Have a wonderful weekend ahead.

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