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So I just got a new credit card. I am going to activate it tomorrow. Its been at least 20 years since I have opened a new card. How do I find out the date that I need to pay my balance off in order to avoid interest charges? I am assuming it will somehow be connected to the date I activate the card?
You can call the credit card company and ask. You want to know two things: The billing cycle date where credit card transactions after that date appear on the next monthly bill. And the date the payment is due. On my cards, the previous payment is typically due about 4 days before the billing cycle date. If the payment is due on the 3rd of the month, the billing cycle ends on the 6th or 7th.
Most credit card companies will let you change the date at least once. I get paid on the 15th and last day of the month with direct deposit. All my credit cards have a payment due date of the 3rd of the month.
My credit cards generally have a 20-day grace period, from the date that I receive the bill to when the payment is due. To make sure I don't miss a payment or incur a late fee, I set up all my cards to auto-pay the minimum. In addition, I keep an Excel spreadsheet that lists my liabilities on the left (credit cards, mortgage, utilities, insurance, investment accounts, store cards, & student loans with balances due, due dates, date of scheduled payment, and a box to indicate whether or not the payment is accounted for.
On the right of the spreadsheet, I list my assets in separate tables (savings, checking, MMA, and FSB) with their balances. I then created formulas to create a ledger for my prospective monthly expenses. This makes sure I have enough money in my checking to pay all my bills, while keeping as much of our savings in a .90% interest FSB. On the far right, I record how much money is liquid, the date, and a note of why that figure is either higher or lower than the previous month (such as property taxes, home repair, vacation, bonus, etc). I update my worksheet every 3-7 days to make verify everything is working for me.
As a savvy credit card user, forgetting a payment has got to be the worst thing. Not paying a balance in full is a close second.
I call the card companies and ask them to set my credit card to come due at or around the 1st of the month, so if they come due the 25th to the 2nd, I still pay them all around the 3rd of the month, that way I always remember to pay them and I am always early.
I suggest you set up your card online, that way they will send you and email when the card closes. With little interest being earned nowadays for cash on hand, I find that it is usually best to pay the card bill when it arrives, setting the date for before it is due, I set them all for the 3rd since my pension is in on the 1st and I would rather pay earlier than worry about if a mistake may happen and I end up late.
BTW to add, doing things my way has gotten me an over 800 credit score at least since 1999, which was the first year I had my score checked that I knew of, to lease a car.
Most cards will also allow you to set an automatic draft of the minimum from your bank account, so you don't incur any late fees if you are ill or on vacation and forget to pay.
Most cards will also allow you to set an automatic draft of the minimum from your bank account, so you don't incur any late fees if you are ill or on vacation and forget to pay.
I never have any company draft my account. I hear too many stories where the companies "forget" to stop drafting. You then have to fight to get your money back.
So I just got a new credit card. I am going to activate it tomorrow. Its been at least 20 years since I have opened a new card. How do I find out the date that I need to pay my balance off in order to avoid interest charges? I am assuming it will somehow be connected to the date I activate the card?
TIA
I do all my banking online, including credit cards. I just go to the credit card page where it tells me how much I owe, what I have charged and when a payment is due. Then I go into bill pay, set up the payment and forget about it. I generally set them to pay about 5 days before they are actually due because it does take a few days to go through. I don't know how it worked out but all three of them are due the 22nd of the month.
Automatic payment from your account before the interest kicks in.
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