i have to make a payment on my credit card...i was wondering if simp1y making the minimum payment on my card wou1d harm my credit score...if so how 1ong do I have to keep making min. payments before it does start serious1y effecting my credit score?
a1so i am an 18 year o1d and this is my first credit card...if that make sa difference....p1ease inc1ude any information that you have on the subject...thank you very much
brad
2007-11-20 04:31:21 · 6 answers · asked by in4parbrad 2 in Business & Finance ➔ Credit
Well Brad I hope you know that making the minimum payment will only keep you in debt. As long as you make your payment you should be fine. My advice is pay the credit card off and get rid of it. If you want something for emergencies create an emergency fund. Think about it the money you are spending to have this credit card could be money to put towards your emergency fund. They only way you will be hurt by just paying the minimum is that the interest continues to accumilate and you may never be able to afford to pay the darn thing off. Try to pay more than the minimum just to stay afloat until you can pay the thing off.
2007-11-20 04:40:44 · answer #1 · answered by C O 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Making the min. payment will not have a neg. effect on your credit. It is actually a GOOD thing. However if you miss a min payment that is bad! The bad part of paying the min payment is that if you are still charging things on the card you are increasing your debt. If you have a lot of debt and not a lot of income then your credit will be shot. This is called your "debt to income ratio".
If you make the min payments on time and you don't charge too much your credit will not suffer.
Another hint....don't get a bunch of cards. When they calc. your credit score they look at how many accounts you have open. For example....if you have 5 accounts and all of them have a zero balance, but a limit of 5,000 each you are in trouble. (unless you are making good money). This means that in one night you could go spent $25,000 on credit cards...banks see this as high risk and therefore are less likely to give you more credit.
2007-11-20 14:25:44 · answer #2 · answered by klskelley 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I do not think making a minimum payment will harm your credit score--as long as you always pay it on time. In fact, credit card companies would probably prefer that you pay the minimum so that they can make more money off of you. Only paying the minimum means you will be paying interest on the balance that carries over into the next month. You might want to check and see how high the interest is. Personally, I try to pay the full balance each month.
2007-11-20 12:43:01 · answer #3 · answered by beloved7 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The minimum payment is the limit your credit card company will accept when payment is due. The company specifically set that limit, anything less would be unacceptable to them. Even if you made $5 more on your payment would be great, in the long run it adds up. So always make the minium payment but never less, unless you discuss that with the company. Also, please don't get more than one card unless you can afford to like the Trumps, Hiltons or Presley's of the world. Your credit is an asset that will help you in the future in terms of mortgages, cars and jobs.
2007-11-20 12:41:59 · answer #4 · answered by notnew2U 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
If your making any payment to your card let it be atleast the minimum although it will not help to reduce your overall debt it will show as a positive point that your making payments.
2007-11-20 13:08:21 · answer #5 · answered by kam727 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
making the minimum payment will not hurt your score what will is the amount you owe compared to the amount you are authorized. In other words if you keep your amount due at or below 30% of the amount available you will increase your credit score, of above that amount it will lower it
2007-11-20 20:36:51 · answer #6 · answered by Pengy 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋