it doesn’t help nor hurt, because it doesn’t show that you’re any more reliable in repayments, which is what credit score is.
Reliable repayment and % utilization are what move credit scores
Utilization has no memory either so that will reset every month. Like for example you have high utilization for 6 months straight and pay it all off, in month 7 your score will look like you’ve always had low utilization.
If it does help, it will make a miniscule difference and not be worth the trouble. Building credit takes years.
If having a credit card changes your spending behavior, then just use your credit card for non-discriminatory stuff, stuff you have to buy, and cut up the card or don’t carry it around.
I am not a creditcardologist, but I believe it’s neutral, since the transaction is effectively canceled, and no balance is meaningfully changed in the long run.
Credit is a measure of your ability to repay. You can get your credit score really high by literally just putting $30 on it each month and paying it off a week before it’s due. Your credit will skyrocket. So returning items has nothing to do with your credit.
That entirely depends on where you are. Credit cards will remove some borrowing power but there is no score attached to borrowing.
It isn’t really buying small things either. It’s buying homes or cars. While small purchases do affect it, they want long term loans.
Your credit score is your willingness to pay interest. While not using too much of your available credit, which is utilization.
Mostly your willingness to pay interest monthly. (Your score does sink when you pay off a loan, by a lot.)
You do not need to pay interest. You need to let statements close out monthly with a balance. Interest on that balance will not accrue until the next cycle closes.
Say your statement closes on the 1st of the month. Buy something on Jan 15th. Let the statement close Feb 1st. Pay it off any time before Mar 1st. You get a benefit to your score by showing utilization without accruing any interest.
Paying off a loan hurts your score because of other things like reducing borrowing power, messing with utilization, and usually lowering the average age of all accounts. Nothing to do with paying interest.
If you can’t jump straight to a car or home loan, collect credit cards if you have the willpower to avoid debt. That’s how I built it up. I got a new card annually for several years. I’d take advantage of intro promos, but once those were up, I’d just assign some small monthly subscription to a card. Gotta spend and close with a balance to look good on paper, but also need to occasionally spend to keep them from canceling the card, too. At peak, my combined credit limit was more than my income, spread across 8 cards. That was double an average car msrp. It worked perfectly fine for a mortgage application despite driving older cars bought with cash.
When my credit score was 725 to 775, I would get daily credit applications. At times when it was 850, I would barely get any.
They target people with just enough credit they assume they will be paying interest.
Getting sent unsolicited applications is a very different thing.
If you have a top credit score you won’t get as much unsolicited crap because someone who is financially healthy is not as profitable to companies as someone who is struggling a little. Sad truth.
But having a top credit score does mean you will generally be approved for the products you yourself search out and choose to apply for.
That’s soliciting. I didn’t get any mortgage solicitation until I started applying. I will now be getting unsolicited refinance offers until the end of time.
They hope you’ll pay interest on credit. They do not require you to pay interest and do not have any way to see if you’ve paid interest with other creditors. They know people only have to slip once before it becomes a profitable spiral for them.
Credit offers target lower scores too, just with more predatory things like higher interest rates or requiring secured deposits. Everyone will have different credit limits, too. While the credit card companies enjoy when you overspend and have to pay interest, they do want you to actually pay it back, so there’s a limit to how much they’ll extend to you. Plus, limits change over time. All but one of my cards has increased over time as they “trust” me (read: they wish I’d use their card more than the others by not worrying about utilization). One card went down due to underutilization, which I found odd, but I guess they were more worried about controlling their own lending promises than enticing their customer.
You CC is like a long term loan. Just using a couple and paying them off every month got me up to an almost perfect score.
Ive had perfect a couple times. Mainly when I have a car loan or something then it drops to like 775 ish, then goes back to 810 and bobs there.
It depends entirely on when your CC reports to credit agencies. Each company reports on a different day, they are required to tell you the day as well. If you bought something before it was reported and returned it afterwards, then it helped your score unless you maxed your card out or something.
I don’t know why you ask so many double questions.
