It was at length, wasn't it? Sorry, I just felt I had to explain how I got into the weird habit.
You must be right; it happens I just learned that my current credit score, at least until last night, was pretty high. --- Bob Bridges, [email protected], cell 336 382-7313 /* The federal budget deficit continued to worsen, despite the concerted effort of virtually every elected official in Washington -- Republican or Democrat -- to spend more money. -Dave Barry, 2004 in Review */ -----Original Message----- From: IBM Mainframe Discussion List <[email protected]> On Behalf Of Phil Smith III Sent: Sunday, June 19, 2022 13:28 Right, with low interest rates on bank accounts (and you're not prepaying enough to be worth investing) the "borrowing" is insignificant. This is a tried-and-true method of restoring credit. It also "cheats" the system (yay!) by lowering your debt-to-credit ratio: each month when the various folks look at your credit, they see (obviously I'm making up these numbers, and ignoring things like mortgage, which I believe factor in but obviously very differently from unsecured credit card debt): Credit limit: $10K Credit card balance: -$1K That's obviously a VERY positive net debt-to-credit ratio, and works in your favor. I look at my credit rating occasionally, and it varies by a few points. This is often directly dependent on how much I've spent recently, even though I NEVER carry a balance. That's because the various folks who report it (I have a couple of cards that do it for free) look at me at different times. So if they happen to pick a day just after my primary card balance was paid, I look better to them. When we had roof/siding done 10 years ago and put it all on cards (yay points!), it went down noticeably the next month, then back up. Net: I see your approach as a plus for you all 'round. You're getting whatever other benefits the card offers, not having to use debit (which is riskier, since it has less protections both in terms of breach and against the merchant not delivering), and raising your credit score-all at a cost of a buck or two a month in "lost" interest, max! --- Bob Bridges wrote at length, ending with: > ....I simply put a few thousand on the card, as though it was a pre-paid. The > credit limit is back up to a usable level now, but I'm still in the habit: I > keep a negative balance on the card. >Yeah, yeah, I know they're profiting from "borrowing" my money. But I pay the > same either way, so I can't see that it makes a difference to me. Are there > disadvantages I'm missing? ---------------------------------------------------------------------- For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions, send email to [email protected] with the message: INFO IBM-MAIN
