How long should I wait to pay the balance on my credit card?

Your friend is wrong in just about every way a person could be wrong about this topic.
Pay it off immediately.

The longer you wait, the more you pay in interest in the long-run.
Pay as soon as you can.

Thank you upon thank yous.

Your friend may be under the impression your credit card doesn’t charge interest on the balance if it’s paid off before the minimum payment date is due, that’s hardly ever the case. If it were then everyone would be keeping their money in the bank acruing interest until bill time came around.

The finance charges on credit cards are astronomical compared to the interest you may receive in a savings account. Finance charges accrue on previous unpaid balances everyday. The only way to completely avoid any finance charge is to pay the total balance by the due date. If you make this a practice, you can hold off payment until the due date, but you will be gaining little, if anything, by doing so. Don’t risk a delay that will cost you both finance charges and possible late payment penalties….pay off the entire balance comfortably ahead of the due date. See ya….Gary/wtf

Credit card companies don’t charge interest as soon as you make the purchase. Generally speaking interest is not charged to the amount that you used until after the “minimum payment date”. I would bet the reason he is telling you to wait is because the longer it sits in your bank account the more interest you are going to earn on that money. Of course, I am assuming we are only talking about something less than a few thousand dollars. The amount of interest you are going to earn on this money in your bank account is extremely low, so if there is a risk you might spend this money and not have enough to pay off your credit card then pay it off now. Otherwise it doesn’t really matter but if you leave it in your account you may earn a couple cents of interest on it.

I usually don’t pay mine off until the due date, however I know I will have enough to pay it off and I go online about 10 days in advance to set up the payoff every month.

@whatthefluther is right. Waiting until the last moment runs the risk of being a day or two overdue, when some of them will sock you with a $25.00 late fee, which is way more than you’d be likely to pay in interest. Some of the sleaze operations, I swear, will drag on posting your payment just so they can do this. Then you’ll spend two days listening to their music-on-hold while you try to get an adjustment. They don’t want you to like phoning their customer service departments. Any company that treats you that way, run away as fast as you can. It isn’t going to get better.

If you are paying off the full balance every month, pay promptly and forget about the pennies that your bank would pay you in interest by keeping the money in your own account for those few days. If you are paying against a balance, pay just as soon as you receive the bill because, as wtf says, interest compounds daily and so for every single day that passes, you owe more.

If you have more than one credit card, always pay off the one with the highest interest rate first, no matter what the balances are.

i am uncomfortable with the “new math” of paying off credit. i hear the logic you speak of all the time these economic-conscious days.

best advice: pay the amount or more when it is due “religiously.” your dedication and faithfulness will rid debt and cancel it forever with patience and determination. it takes time, but you’ll get there. your credit score will rise and you will be the envy of all because you now can pay for stuff in cash and even LEND money to those who need it.

you should be the lender and not the borrower.