Is it better to pay off the complete balance on a card each month or should I leave a small balance?
83682
Its better to pay the full balance, because the unpaid portion would have the following impact:\n- unpaid balance will attract penal interest (ie higher charges)\n- the unpid balance can affect your overall credit profile and even get you in blacklisted...\n\nso pay the full balance...never leave any baalnce unpaid...
490127
I think both would help you build your credit history and your credit score. You need to be carefull about how much you spend from the available credit. You should keep your spending below 30% of the total available credit as your credit score highly depends on your debt ratio (Available credit/Credit Remaining on the credit card).
938914
First find out what the interest rate is on the card.  Compare it to what you can get for a bank loan.  You know you can also close the card while you pay it off so you can't make more purchases.  Becareful doing this though becuase it could hurt your credit score.\n\nI would keep the card as I pay it off and not use it.  I would also take the card from her for sure or else you will never pay it.
873049
6 months to a year with no late payments should set you up credit wise, but that is only the beginning. Learn how to manage your credit card! You don't know enough about how they work and could find yourself in a bind pretty easy.\n\nIf you are smart, you will use the card sparingly and pay it off each month. \nEach month that you owe a balance you will be charged interest... sometimes a fairly large amount, maybe nearly as much at the payment. \nFor instance: If you have a $500 balance, pay the minimum payment of say $20 and and if the monthly interest is $12... you are only paying $8 against the total each month. \nAt the end of One Year, with no new charges, you would Still owe $404 of the original $500 and the credit card company would have made $144 off of you in interest!\nWorse yet, if you go over your credit limit, you get dinged around $29 to $39 usually. If you hit your maximum and interest is attached before your payment gets processed, you can get hit with the "over limit" charge of $29+ then too. Pay late and it is another $29+... Think about it! It can add up really fast!\n\nIf you pay $300 on a $700 maxed out limit you will have $300 less any due or accruing interest payments in available credit. Probably around $250 is all, if you want to play it safe and not risk going over your limit and being charged extra.\n\nTake the time to look up some credit management information and learn how personal credit works and the do's and don'ts. You will save yourself worlds of trouble in the future if you do that now.\n\nI didn't and sure wish I had! I got sick and couldn't make the payments and now, I am Still paying off what is mostly interest and penalties.... It sucks and so does my credit rating!
210030
well a responsible use of credit would be were you dont max out your credit cards as soon as you activate them and only charge or finance what you can afford to pay back...when selecting a credit card look into annual fees, aprs (annual precentage rates), whether or not it is a fixed apr (fixed meaning it won't change unless you default on the account),and whether or not you have to pay the complete balance of the card off every month...as far as inappropriate uses of credit well maybe financing something for a friend, taking out a loan you know you cant afford to pay back, and taking out multiple credit cards to live above your financial means.
184321
NOrmally, your credit card will have the following interests. One for purchases. One for cash advance. One for balance transfers.\n\nPurchases can have a promotional rate like 0% for the first 6 months of the card then it goes to Prime + xx%. Cash advances are normally 22% Balance transfers can be as low as 3% for the life of the balance depending on your credit history (both usage and payment) with your card company. You are correct, do not average them as it will only confuse you further. Treat them individually. The reason for the different rates is to "lure" you into spending much on the lowest interest segment, usually, balance transfers. While it is in your cardmember agreement in very fine print, all your payments will first be applied to the LOWEST INTEREST charges. When that is completely paid off then and only then will it apply to the second lowest and so on. Imagine you made a cash advance of $500 at 22% but have purchases of $700 at 17% and a balance transfer of $5000 at 3%. Until you are able to pay off completely the $5000, the $700 will continue to earn interest upon interest plus the $500 cash advance will rake in 22% month after month.\n\nMy advice to all is when you have a credit card with a low balance transfer rate, by all means use it for balance transfers only. Use another card to purchase goods. Or pay the balance off before doing a balance transfer.
815852
Perhaps she should take out a bank loan for £3,000 and repay the card.  The interest on teh loan will be less and she will see the balance go down each month if she just pays as much as she is paying now.  It might be even cheaper if you, if you wanted to, took out the loan
1180190
pay month to month\nthe finance charge is already figured into your monthly payments...it would be silly to pay it all off with savings
498013
While it will negatively affect your credit it is better than having a charge off or a bankruptcy.  One thing you can do is to pay extra, so that you get out of the program faster.  Once you have completed the payment plan, you should use a credit card with a good history once a month and pay the balance off.  This will show a good use of credit.
479278
I agree with each of the responses ahead of me in part.  Of course you want to pay off balances quickly, particularly if they are large balances with high interest rates.  The finance chargees you're paying are just money out the window. \n\nFirst things first, hopefully your balances are not so high that you can't, at the very least, pay 50% more than the minimum required payment.  Next, look at the card generating the highest actual finance charges and increase the amount you pay on that card to double the minimum.  Start reducing other payments to 25% above the minimum, starting with the card generating the LOWEST ACTUAL finance charges.  Follow this system until your credit balances are paid.\n\nAs you go along it's good to evaluate what you're spending your money on each month.  Credit cards should only be used in emergency situations.  Personally, we use our cards for life essentials and pay off the balance each month, with some limited exceptions.\n\nOnce you've paid off your balances cut up the cards with the highest finance charge rates but do not cancel them yet.  Once you cancel a card you also lose allof the history which goes along with it but cutting up the cards limits your ability to use them.  Don't cut them all.  Save one with a low rate for use in emergencies.\n\nThe trick to minimizing credit card debt is discipline in spending and knowing what it is you're buying each time you use the card.  For every month you leave an open balance that loaf of bread, tank of gas or round of drinks gets more and more expensive.\n\nGood luck.
30187
Pay off those charges, especially if your interest rate is over 10%.  It's always good to have some money in savings, but if you want your money to go further, get rid of those charges, it's like paying a middleman for an item purchased for YEARS!!!
584538
hmm.. i am unaware of credit cards charge you really, so I will make some assumtions here...\n@17.5 % pa, you pay 1.4583% per month interest\nyou are paying off the sum at the rate of 2.75% per month\nThat means that you pay off 1.2912% of the sum per month\n\nSo after every month you are left 98.7083% of what you started that month with.\n\nI wrote a program to calculate how long it takes what you owe to the credit card company to something about 1 cent\nAnd if my program is right, you need about 907 months to get there.\n\nHope this helps!
279991
I'm not sure, but you should check the fine print on the credit card application/disclosure. It will state what the minimum payment is. Normally around 3-5% of your balance.
895744
The more available credit you have vs. the amount you owe actually helps you.\n\nMost mortgage companies/banks look at your visa/mc/discover/american express and not your store cards.\n\nI would close the store cards, and keep the rest, just don't use them.\n\nAnd you never know when you might need them and not be able to get them back.
442305
Strangely enough, it is better for your credit rating if you don't close it.  Buy something small once a year with it to keep it active and pay it off quickly.
376699
I would suggest that you consolidate your credit card balance to the card with the lowest interest rate.  At least pay the minimum (but pay more if you can), if you stay current on your payment, you won't ruin your credit score.  If you file bankruptcy, that will stay on your credit report for 7 years.
1107340
paying off the credit card.