Every month your creditors report to the three bureaus and when they report is the key 🔑 to your best score. How do you time your score to when it’s reporting?

The key to your score is the statement date and playing to the metrics your score is evaluated by as it peaks at the same time. Your credit card statements are the best way to manipulate your score in your favor with this. Your payment due date is not the date you should be paying by. You should be paying by the statement date.

My statement date on my credit cards is usually the 19th or 20th so I make sure all of my payments CLEAR by that date. Every 15th I pay all of my statements off or to under 20% utilization. I have low limit cards, on purpose, so my two cards have $300 and $1000 limits. Total 🟰 $1,300 credit limit available. Multiply your total credit limit across all cards by .2 (20% utilization) to determine what to pay down to. Your total STATEMENT balance should never exceed that 20% amount on your statement date. If they do, before that date you need to pay down the balances and make sure all payments have cleared by the date or it will report your higher balance—which means a lower score. Pending payments that have not cleared or posted yet to your statement will not show and boost your credit.

By your statement date, your total balance should be less than 20% of your total available credit, including your cleared payments otherwise pending payments won’t count to the bureaus yet. Since my statement date is the 19th, I make all of my payments, if I haven’t already, paid down on that date. I constantly pay my cards every week but on the 15th I double check all of my current charges and make sure none of them will be cleared before the statement date. I also make sure all of my payments DO clear before the 19th statement date when I submit them. Pending charges are going to affect your utilization and will show on your report even if they haven’t posted, unlike payments, so I make NO CHARGES between the 15th and 20th until I see my new credit report and the lower balances have already reported. Then I can make another purchase that I need, including groceries and necessities, on that date. If I need to make those purchases during the limbo period, I pay off my cards entirely before the 15th so the charges above utilization clear by then (usually on the 12th) so I can then make the essential purchases without worry my cards will report high utilization (over 20%) by the 19th. When you get your statement, your total owed should be under 20% for the highest credit score. Your statement is your monthly bill so whatever that number is, that is the number that shows to the credit bureaus; even if you have pending payments to cover those charges.

Not only does this boost your credit score faster and easier, you’re saving a lot of money on interest accrued, lowering your bills and DTI, and you’re keeping your spending in check. Credit cards are not free for alls and they should be treated like debit cards. That’s what the credit bureaus and lenders are looking for–your level of responsibility with debt and spending so show them you’re a master of finance and self-control!