Credit card to improve rating, when is best to pay off?

[itusedtobeverydifferent]

I've just taken delivery of a new credit card. I'll be using it for small purchases and paying it off, in full, every month.

To improve my credit score does anyone know if it's best to pay after a statement or straight away? I'd like to use it one day, pay it off the next ideally, so it doesn't get missed.

Would that method still improve my credit rating?

Thanks!

Wait until you get the statement and then pay it in full.

Unfortunately the thieving bastards prefer what they call "revolvers", people who never pay in full and end up paying £££££s in credit throughout their lives. Those of us who do pay the bill in full are called "dead beats" by the credit industry, just not publicly.

So you may not find that your credit rating improves by paying the bill in full. Personally I would pay in full when the bill arrives and keep an eye on the credit rating.

I'll await the statements then, thank you. I really was hoping to use it for a few purchases a month (petrol for example) and just pay it off when I got home! Clearly that isn't the best option, then.

Having a credit card I'm convinced helped me getting a mortgage and the amount of credit I can have has gone up from £500 to a stupid amount.

I pay it off almost as soon as it appears on the credit card, it's rare that I wait until late the DD pays it off in full and I have done from the start.

Be careful though some credit cards take the full statement amount by DD debit, regardless of how much you have paid off in the meantime. This can leave you seriously short until they sort it out

Do you not trust yourself not to overspend? Normally, it's easy just to set up a direct debit so the full amount gets paid after the statement.

Yes I trust myself, JoJo. I wouldn't have in the past, now I do. I don't 'need' a credit card, the money we have is sufficient.

It's staying in a drawer other than the small planned spends.

I would set up a direct debit for the outstanding balance that means you won’t forget

Many credit cards now only offer email as opposed to paper statements so means you are not reliant on receding & remembering to pay when you receive the statement

Just set up a direct debit to pay the balance each month, I don't see the point of making individual payments each month