Exactly! Promotions and sales are the best time to use your credit cards and store cards. If you see promotions, just make sure you divide your payments equally to the deadline before int kicks in. Or if you are doing a sale, stick to a strict payment plan. See how we are learning HJM331? These companies cant mess with us, we are well trained at FG!

Meya is right. Some stores like Best Buy and Circuit City have promotional no interest offers if you use their card. For example, I go to Best Buy over the weekend and see a plasma High Definiton Television (HDTV) that I need for my living room. There's a sign on top of it that says no interest for 18 months. That's a great deal because I have a year and a half to pay that TV before interest kicks in. Now that would be a bargain! Be careful though, those deals are only if you use your Best Buy STORE card.

There's one thing you have to watch out for though. Some companies charge you interest from day one since the transaction posted to your account if you don't pay it off within 18 months or whatever the promotional period is.

There are good deals out there using your credit card if you just where to look and who you get your advice from. Good luck everyone! Feel free to post any questions that you have in mind...

Some people get confused off of the balance thingy. I just put it like this, if you know that you are not out there applying for credit and is satisfied with what you got, then it is ok to use 90% of your credit if you like. If you plan on making larger purchases, then you should sit down with a plan to pay back. For instance, if someone wants to buy a TV that is $1000, and they have a credit card that is $1200, then they should sit down and do a dedicated plan to pay it back.

1. $200 per month for 5 months will be $1000, and interest may be $100 or less, so you are looking at $1100 for the 5 month span. If you pay back earlier, that is even better. Who cares about your cards and the utilization if you are going to pay back. Even if you choose to pay over time, it still does not matter.

What is more important is that we establish a good payment history, where does that come from, carrying a BALANCE. Just do not practice to constantly carrying a balance that you just came seem to get down to zero. Credit cards are BORROWED FUNDS and we have to pay it back. Dont believe the hype about if you do not have the cash to pay for something, then you can not afford it. That is bull crap! If you can not afford anything then why apply for credit? It all about self control over credit, remind yourself that you know this have to be paid off, not just rolling over for month to month to month without no enidng. These are the ones that need help.

In the meantime, I've learned that it's good to carry balances but if you don't have a "no interest promo" on your credit card, keep it at a very low balance such as $10. The reason why lenders love it when consumers carry balances from one statement to the next is because they charge you interest and that is where they make their money. They live off of it. If you carry a balance, please keep it low and don't get sucked into the interest rate hole set by our "friendly neighborhood" credit card lender.

I don't know enough about the FICO scoring to give an opinion but I would just like to say "THANKS!" for this great topic...I am just starting to rebuild my credit and I am learning alot about how to manage credit card balances by reading all the posts.... THANKS!

Your goal from my understanding should be to keep your cards paid and consistently have a minimum of 65% of your credit available as opposed to keeping high balances. I've had both high limits and low balances and vice versa and as long as the minimum is paid it doesn't affect my score.

But, he already has a loan!
: :

As everyone here knows that I pay off my credit cards in full every month. But now, all that will come to a stop because I bought a new truck and I can't pay off my credit cards in full because I have to pay for my new truck.

I will not be applying for anything that has to do with credit for at least 2-3 years so utilization isn't a factor now.

What I want to know is that which will help increase my credit lines? Carrying a balance or paying off in full every month?

I think you should take loan for your truck and pay off the whole bill of credit card.

This is very good idea to do. Unfortunately it does not always help with credit scoring. I think that you have to be able to let some go a little longer and collect interest on your savings or make larger payments without quick payoff in order for your score to go higher and not stay the same.

That is so true and I have been trying to explain this for awhile. I agree with the making larger payments without paying it off in full

This is very good idea to do. Unfortunately it does not always help with credit scoring. I think that you have to be able to let some go a little longer and collect interest on your savings or make larger payments without quick payoff in order for your score to go higher and not stay the same.

I have always paid my bill off every month and watched my score remain dormant. When I purchased a high ticket item ($1000 +) and paid it off in 60 days vs 30 days my score would rise. I live by the rule of keeping my purchases under 10% or $3700 of my total limit so my score is not adversly affected. If you have to carry a balance and you pay more than the minimum every month and your credit to debt ratio continues to decrease over the months your score should rise over that window of time.

From what I've seen on the boards they are saying that carrying a zero balance doesnt boost the score but having a balance on your reports 1 - 9% util will impact.

http://ficoforums.myfico.com/fico/board/message?board.id=ficoscoring&thread.id=2654&jump=true

To PIF or Carry a Balance make no difference to scoring that I have read or even noticed. If you carry a balance make sure your under 35% utilization and if you pay in full each, try rotating usage amungst other cards to show activity. I think I have a pretty well balanced credit file, but I dont have a 650-700 FICO either. Some have mentioned that I have gone about establishing credit, all backwards.

This is where opinions come in and perceptions. No one truly knows how this effects your credit and when and why. I have great credit and lately I have not paid my balances in full on any of my cards, my credit is unchanged.

My scores just stands still when I use my cc's. I have even had them stand still for nearly 2 weeks or more when I had a utilization of 50%. I think that the fico system see that we pay on time every month, know that we will use the card for something, and focus more on new account and inquiries. When my scores took a drop that was because i went on a credit benge. Other than that, I say if you got them you have to use them some way or the other. That is where we get the good cli's from.