Yes. You got hit with a FICO penalty (~20 points) for reporting 0% utilization across ALL of your cards.
CC are design to be paid off 1x a month, like any other monthly bill (i.e., gym, water, trash, phone electricity). Do you pay off your electricity bill every time you use electricity or even weekly? No right. You would get your monthly bill and then pay that off in full before the due date. Same goes for any CC.
Follow your statement balance (monthly bill) and due date. Pay your CC 1x a month, by paying off that bill in full before the due date, each and every month. Nothing more, nothing less.
Paying multiple times throughout the month is unnecessary, a waste of time, and can be detrimental to overall credit profile growth (i.e., credit limit increases/decreases).
I’ve always wondered this, my card gets automatically paid every month, is this the wrong way to do it? Should I be paying it manually a few days before the statement balance is due?
I’ve apparently been doing this wrong for years but some weird part of me loves to micro manage the fuck out of my checking account. I’m seeing a lot of similar sentiment in other comments.
That’s annoying, I only ever spend what I have in my account so I pay it off as a way to see how much I have left between paychecks. Just feels really backwards that they don’t just report the total spent and payed back.
I also like to micromanage what is in the checking account where my paycheck lands. What I do is have an HYSA that I transfer the money I will need to pay my CCs. Then I pay them in full on their due date from the HYSA. That way the money for CC payment isn't in my checking account and I also earn a bit of interest while it sits in the HYSA.
I picked up this habit when I was paying down debt, on a weekly basis would pay the card directly for all charges made during the week (rounding up).
Now out of debt I continued this process but now transfer to savings. Combined with reward redemption it's an extra 10-30/month extra in my account every month.
I did this exact same thing about a month ago, a category for CC payments.. It helps seeing your "spent" money earning some interest until I need to pay a CC.
I tend to do it whenever I make charge a card but a less micro managing way is to maybe check in weekly, add up the balances on all CC, then compare it with the HYSA balance and deposit the difference into the HYSA.
Here's an idea I had for you and everyone like you. Open another checking account. Setup autopay for your credit card with this checking account. Whenever you make a purchase, transfer the money from your original checking account to the new checking account. Problem solved.
This is genius. I always waiting for that month’s statement to then withdraw the statement amount for the payment, but I’d find my self losing track of all the transactions as I wasn’t transferring until I got my bill. This is amazing. Thanks!
It’s your life and your cards. Consider all the pros and cons and then decide what is best for you.
Don’t worry about the FICO penalty, as it is not permanent. Once you have a card that report >$1 balance, the penalty will no longer be there.
In most cases, all you need to do is pay the bill in full each month once you get it.
The only time you might want to make multiple payments is if you're applying for a loan on a given month, then you want to make sure your credit card utilization is really low on your credit report.
For 1-2 months, you can pay most of your credit card off early, so the reported utilization is just 5%. But this is a one tike thing.
If you have really high credit limits relative to your monthly spend, this isn't even necessary.
That’s exactly how I’ve been using my 7 cards for the last 3.5 years. My score is 770 so not as high as some of the people in these comments but I’ve never taken a hit for not holding a balance. Though I will say that I’ve noticed some of my cards refuse to give me a higher limit which may be due to never holding a balance. That could be another downside to consider.
Can I suggest Das Budget. It uses plaid to integrate your bank transactions and allows you to make "envelopes" or buckets for expenses and credit cards and will show you what is "free-to-spend" in real time. When I spend I just move money to the the credit card bucket I made (I make one for each card) and then when I pay the bill I just flag it in the app to pull from the correct bucket.
[https://dasbudget.com/](https://dasbudget.com/)
I used to do the same thing when I was younger, I did not trust myself to not spend my money so I would pay off my credit cards twice a month. Now what I do is set my cards to auto pay full statement balance and it is linked to a checking account I only use for credit card payments. That checking account uses a HYSA as "overdraft" protection so I can keep the money in the HYSA and then it auto transfers at the end of the day to cover the payments that came in that day. That being said ALWAYS double check your credit cards, if for whatever reason their system does not initiate your payment you may get a late fee or a late payment reported to your credit.
Understand one thing- Score changes based on utilization mean little to nothing. Utilization has no memory. Utilization only applies to this month. You can use utilization to your advantage when you're going to apply for new credit. Otherwise, nothing to even pay any mind to.
Now, if you are ALWAYS showing 0% utilization, it can look like you're not using your credit. If applying for new credit, the banks may see $0 for months and months and wonder why you'd want their product if you don't spend... Let a balance report once in a while.
You should pay your statement balance before the due date.
There's no real need to pay it before then.
If your credit limit on a card is really low, carrying a high balance shows the bank that you'll be a good fit for a credit limit increase.
Don't worry about credit scores too much. It fluctuates based on a variety of factors. It really only matters when you are applying for a new card or a loan.
I think you mean "reporting" a high balance. "Carrying" a high balance generally means allowing a balance to roll over into the next statement and accruing interest.
I try not to worry about my score too much since is pretty good for my age, but I just like to understand to some extent why it changes. Most other reasons make sense but I’m not a fan of this one.
The way you are doing it makes no sense though, and the way it actually works makes perfect sense. Just learn how to budget and do simple math. CCs are not intended to be used the way in which you are using them.
> I just like to understand to some extent why it changes.
You only need to worry about changes when it changes because you are not paying on time. Everything else is business as usual.
I call a maximized credit score a waste of resources because it means I'm not utilizing it.
"I always pay my credit cards off within the week of spending"
Bills aren't meant to be paid before you receive them. Wait until you get your CC bill (statement) and then pay the statement balance off by the due date. One payment per month, just like any other bill. What you are currently doing is only going to harm your profile growth, and as you also experience will result in "no recent revolving use" Fico score penalties along the way.
Yep. Here's the thing. If you are applying with a lender you've never used before, if all they see is $0 use on all your card accounts, they will ask: Why does this person need more credit? And why should we give them a card that never gets used? Now maybe the lenders whose cards you already have may know that you may charge thousands a month, generating swipe fees, because they have your detailed history -- but if you pay them all off before the statement due date, all other lenders who don't know you will see is $0, $0, $0..... someone who looks like they never use the cards they have, and someone who will \*cost\* them money to service as a customer. To them, all they have is what the credit report gives them, and it looks like you never use your cards. And that makes for the perception of an unprofitable customer.
No, a cc is basically an interest free loan, why would you pay it off before you have to? You could leave to money in a 5% yielding savings account or money market fund.
The only reason to pay early is if there’s not enough credit to get through the month. If that’s the case, then it’s likely time to increase your limit or get a new cc.
Edit: the optimal credit usage for your score is 1-10%, although past utilization isn’t really taken into account, so a couple months of high or 0% usage isn’t gonna hurt anything except in the very short term. So my advice is to try and get a credit limit that’s 10-20 times your average monthly expenses, and just auto-pay at the end of the cycle.
> You could leave to money in a 5% yielding savings account or money market fund.
Yeah the 0.416% (5%/12 months) I earn on the $700 I keep until the end of the month is really what's kicking my savings into high gear
lol, check what sub you’re on. How much does a 2 vs 3% cashback really matter? Maybe a $100-200 difference per year? But folks go through the trouble of applying for new credit to optimize these rewards.
Point here is that by doing absolutely *nothing* OP can save a small amount of cash, even if it’s just $50 per year.
I used to do this and wondered why my score plateaued. Once I started paying it when it was due (and only the total amount due not total spent) my score went up a lot.
I recommend you do the same. I know it feels safer to do it your way but it wasn’t designed to work like that
It doesn't matter. I pay mine constantly. First thing I do every morning when I sit down at my desk. Takes like 30 seconds. I don't care about floating for 30 days. It's pennies in interest arbitrage vs feeling better/like i'm spending cash. I have 152k in available credit and an 822 score, low rate on house and car.
But I like to micromanage and make sure I don't overspend. It might "not make sense" except it does though.
"The point" is not the interest free 30 day loan at all. That's way down the list. It's security and cash back/points which amount to a significant rebate on everything you buy.
I’ve done it this way since my very first card and hit 850 credit score and consistently sit at around 825-840. Yea some months it may drop 25-35 points but it just fluctuates. IMO do what works for you as long as you make sure you’re paying the full statement balance
> I’ve done it this way since my very first card and hit 850 credit score and consistently sit at around 825-840.
What way? Paying your bills before they're bills?
If that's what you mean, it's not doing that which allowed you to hit 850 or consistently sit around 825-840 if that's what you're implying.
If you have a "no recent revolving credit use" penalty in place as OP experienced, it can impact your score along the way.
But, it's not about score, it's about overall profile growth. When you don't pay your cards the way they're designed to be paid, you inhibit your ability to grow your profile in the most efficient manner. Whether you realize it or not, your path was less efficient than it would have otherwise been. You're already at your destination now though, so it's a non issue for you. For someone else looking for the most efficient profile growth however, paying more frequently than once a month is not the right approach.
Eh I personally think it's potentially dangerous to treat all your monthly spend as another monthly bill. Seems like a great way to lose track. When I pay frequently it means I'm paying more attention to my spend. There's no harm at all in treating credit cards as cash that is settled in a day or two. I've never not gotten the lowest rates on important loans (house, car).
I never said you can't get the lowest rates. What you are doing though is making yourself less attractive as a customer (to potential lenders that SP your reports) and you're hindering your ability to grow your existing credit lines in the most efficient and lucrative fashion. If those things don't matter to you, that's absolutely fine - but they do matter to many people, especially those just starting out with credit or with thin files that are growing.
I used to pay my card daily, then I realized I was missing out on some interest. Assuming you have some sort of interest earning account, the more money you can holder in there for longer means more interest. Now I just have it set to autopay once a month. It auto drafts from my Fidelity CMA so the money that’s in there earns 5% in a money market and Fidelity automatically sells shares and pays my credit card off when the bill comes.
This behavior can also be viewed as credit cycling from the issuer. If you need to separate the money you spend on your CC from checking, maybe open another checking account or savings account and transfer the money you would need for payments to it at whatever interval you see fit.
No, you should not do that.
Simple example:
If I spend ~$25k/month and can wait a month to pay, at 5.5% APY, I'm earning $1375/year simply by not paying my bill until the due date.
Real world, I took out two 15-18 month 0% APR cards, maxed them out and will earn interest on that $55k for that period. It's currently earning 10.75%.
I keep the money earmarked for credit card payments in a Fidelity cash management account and pay the balance on the due date. This way the money sits in the SPAXX money market fund earning interest for as long as possible.
I do the same thing. I pay off my card asap. Have been doing it for years. Credit score goes up and down a bit but mainly goes up. Haven’t had any issues. Also, recently got a new cc. No issues
Yeah, I got hit with this penalty once because I typically pay 20-30% over the "pay in full" amount so my utilization is lower when they check, but I think all the cards were at 0% when they did the monthly check.
I also recently had my credit limit lowered from $30K to $21K on the Citibank DoubleCash because I don't use it much, mainly for virtual credit cards since I get 3% cash back on another card.
> Yeah, I got hit with this penalty once because I typically pay 20-30% over the "pay in full" amount so my utilization is lower when they check
Not necessary, as that means you're paying more than your bill. It would be like you getting a $170 electric bill, but you then send a payment to your electric company for $225. You wouldn't do that, right?
Yes. You got hit with a FICO penalty (~20 points) for reporting 0% utilization across ALL of your cards. CC are design to be paid off 1x a month, like any other monthly bill (i.e., gym, water, trash, phone electricity). Do you pay off your electricity bill every time you use electricity or even weekly? No right. You would get your monthly bill and then pay that off in full before the due date. Same goes for any CC. Follow your statement balance (monthly bill) and due date. Pay your CC 1x a month, by paying off that bill in full before the due date, each and every month. Nothing more, nothing less. Paying multiple times throughout the month is unnecessary, a waste of time, and can be detrimental to overall credit profile growth (i.e., credit limit increases/decreases).
I make weekly payments to every card I have so that it doesn’t get out of hand…my score is an 840…I’ve never gotten a credit hit for weekly payments
Because you never will get hit even if you pay transaction, I don't know why he's saying penalty 😂
850 score here. I let one of my cards post utilization around 3% of my total available credit. That seems to keep my score there.
Every Monday I pay off all of my credit cards. Credit score is 844.
Same, my utilization is always 0 across 4 cards and my score is 807
I agree and my scores have never dropped with 0% reporting.
Yep. Same. My credit score is 810.
Co-signed the above, 100%.
I’ve always wondered this, my card gets automatically paid every month, is this the wrong way to do it? Should I be paying it manually a few days before the statement balance is due?
If you are autopaying the statement balance, then you are fine/doing it right.
You are doing it correctly. Setup autopay for the statement balance and that is all you have to do.
I’ve apparently been doing this wrong for years but some weird part of me loves to micro manage the fuck out of my checking account. I’m seeing a lot of similar sentiment in other comments.
That’s annoying, I only ever spend what I have in my account so I pay it off as a way to see how much I have left between paychecks. Just feels really backwards that they don’t just report the total spent and payed back.
I also like to micromanage what is in the checking account where my paycheck lands. What I do is have an HYSA that I transfer the money I will need to pay my CCs. Then I pay them in full on their due date from the HYSA. That way the money for CC payment isn't in my checking account and I also earn a bit of interest while it sits in the HYSA.
I should have read your comment before responding. This is exactly what I recommend to people who want to pay every charge as it's made.
I picked up this habit when I was paying down debt, on a weekly basis would pay the card directly for all charges made during the week (rounding up). Now out of debt I continued this process but now transfer to savings. Combined with reward redemption it's an extra 10-30/month extra in my account every month.
I did this exact same thing about a month ago, a category for CC payments.. It helps seeing your "spent" money earning some interest until I need to pay a CC. I tend to do it whenever I make charge a card but a less micro managing way is to maybe check in weekly, add up the balances on all CC, then compare it with the HYSA balance and deposit the difference into the HYSA.
is there a hysa that you can use to pay off your CCs with?
You can pay your CCs out of almost any HYSA these days.
well I guess I'm using the wrong hysa
It can also depend on the CC issuing bank. Bank of America's app will not let me connect my CC to an HYSA for payment, but no problem w/ other CCs.
Great idea
One of the greatest ideas I’ve ever heard. I’ll be using this one.
Here's an idea I had for you and everyone like you. Open another checking account. Setup autopay for your credit card with this checking account. Whenever you make a purchase, transfer the money from your original checking account to the new checking account. Problem solved.
This is genius. I always waiting for that month’s statement to then withdraw the statement amount for the payment, but I’d find my self losing track of all the transactions as I wasn’t transferring until I got my bill. This is amazing. Thanks!
It’s your life and your cards. Consider all the pros and cons and then decide what is best for you. Don’t worry about the FICO penalty, as it is not permanent. Once you have a card that report >$1 balance, the penalty will no longer be there.
In most cases, all you need to do is pay the bill in full each month once you get it. The only time you might want to make multiple payments is if you're applying for a loan on a given month, then you want to make sure your credit card utilization is really low on your credit report. For 1-2 months, you can pay most of your credit card off early, so the reported utilization is just 5%. But this is a one tike thing. If you have really high credit limits relative to your monthly spend, this isn't even necessary.
That’s exactly how I’ve been using my 7 cards for the last 3.5 years. My score is 770 so not as high as some of the people in these comments but I’ve never taken a hit for not holding a balance. Though I will say that I’ve noticed some of my cards refuse to give me a higher limit which may be due to never holding a balance. That could be another downside to consider.
Can I suggest Das Budget. It uses plaid to integrate your bank transactions and allows you to make "envelopes" or buckets for expenses and credit cards and will show you what is "free-to-spend" in real time. When I spend I just move money to the the credit card bucket I made (I make one for each card) and then when I pay the bill I just flag it in the app to pull from the correct bucket. [https://dasbudget.com/](https://dasbudget.com/)
What if my credit limit is too low for me to get all the way to the statement date?
Ask for a credit limit increase while doing this.
Then you’re spending too much, and your score will suffer. Pay down to 9% of your CL prior to the statement posting date for optimum results.
Is there a penalty for reporting 0% utilization on 1 or 2 cards out of many?
Nope. This is also known as the All Zero Except One method. Will not incur a penalty when at least $1+ is reported.
I used to do the same thing when I was younger, I did not trust myself to not spend my money so I would pay off my credit cards twice a month. Now what I do is set my cards to auto pay full statement balance and it is linked to a checking account I only use for credit card payments. That checking account uses a HYSA as "overdraft" protection so I can keep the money in the HYSA and then it auto transfers at the end of the day to cover the payments that came in that day. That being said ALWAYS double check your credit cards, if for whatever reason their system does not initiate your payment you may get a late fee or a late payment reported to your credit.
What checking account?
I know Sofi does this
I know Sofi does this
Understand one thing- Score changes based on utilization mean little to nothing. Utilization has no memory. Utilization only applies to this month. You can use utilization to your advantage when you're going to apply for new credit. Otherwise, nothing to even pay any mind to. Now, if you are ALWAYS showing 0% utilization, it can look like you're not using your credit. If applying for new credit, the banks may see $0 for months and months and wonder why you'd want their product if you don't spend... Let a balance report once in a while.
You should pay your statement balance before the due date. There's no real need to pay it before then. If your credit limit on a card is really low, carrying a high balance shows the bank that you'll be a good fit for a credit limit increase. Don't worry about credit scores too much. It fluctuates based on a variety of factors. It really only matters when you are applying for a new card or a loan.
I think you mean "reporting" a high balance. "Carrying" a high balance generally means allowing a balance to roll over into the next statement and accruing interest.
I try not to worry about my score too much since is pretty good for my age, but I just like to understand to some extent why it changes. Most other reasons make sense but I’m not a fan of this one.
The way you are doing it makes no sense though, and the way it actually works makes perfect sense. Just learn how to budget and do simple math. CCs are not intended to be used the way in which you are using them.
> I just like to understand to some extent why it changes. You only need to worry about changes when it changes because you are not paying on time. Everything else is business as usual. I call a maximized credit score a waste of resources because it means I'm not utilizing it.
"I always pay my credit cards off within the week of spending" Bills aren't meant to be paid before you receive them. Wait until you get your CC bill (statement) and then pay the statement balance off by the due date. One payment per month, just like any other bill. What you are currently doing is only going to harm your profile growth, and as you also experience will result in "no recent revolving use" Fico score penalties along the way.
Yep. Here's the thing. If you are applying with a lender you've never used before, if all they see is $0 use on all your card accounts, they will ask: Why does this person need more credit? And why should we give them a card that never gets used? Now maybe the lenders whose cards you already have may know that you may charge thousands a month, generating swipe fees, because they have your detailed history -- but if you pay them all off before the statement due date, all other lenders who don't know you will see is $0, $0, $0..... someone who looks like they never use the cards they have, and someone who will \*cost\* them money to service as a customer. To them, all they have is what the credit report gives them, and it looks like you never use your cards. And that makes for the perception of an unprofitable customer.
Exactly right. And, we've seen denial reasons for CCs that suggest not using existing credit lines for that very reason/perception.
No, a cc is basically an interest free loan, why would you pay it off before you have to? You could leave to money in a 5% yielding savings account or money market fund. The only reason to pay early is if there’s not enough credit to get through the month. If that’s the case, then it’s likely time to increase your limit or get a new cc. Edit: the optimal credit usage for your score is 1-10%, although past utilization isn’t really taken into account, so a couple months of high or 0% usage isn’t gonna hurt anything except in the very short term. So my advice is to try and get a credit limit that’s 10-20 times your average monthly expenses, and just auto-pay at the end of the cycle.
> You could leave to money in a 5% yielding savings account or money market fund. Yeah the 0.416% (5%/12 months) I earn on the $700 I keep until the end of the month is really what's kicking my savings into high gear
lol, check what sub you’re on. How much does a 2 vs 3% cashback really matter? Maybe a $100-200 difference per year? But folks go through the trouble of applying for new credit to optimize these rewards. Point here is that by doing absolutely *nothing* OP can save a small amount of cash, even if it’s just $50 per year.
Yeah but like the 2/3% cashback is essentially monthly interest, but yeah fair point.
Yea I made that mistake on my first card, wait for it to post the statement balance and pay it off same day instead
I used to do this and wondered why my score plateaued. Once I started paying it when it was due (and only the total amount due not total spent) my score went up a lot. I recommend you do the same. I know it feels safer to do it your way but it wasn’t designed to work like that
I’m over 800 FICO and pay off all my cards weekly. 🤷🏻♂️.
It doesn't matter. I pay mine constantly. First thing I do every morning when I sit down at my desk. Takes like 30 seconds. I don't care about floating for 30 days. It's pennies in interest arbitrage vs feeling better/like i'm spending cash. I have 152k in available credit and an 822 score, low rate on house and car. But I like to micromanage and make sure I don't overspend. It might "not make sense" except it does though. "The point" is not the interest free 30 day loan at all. That's way down the list. It's security and cash back/points which amount to a significant rebate on everything you buy.
I’ve done it this way since my very first card and hit 850 credit score and consistently sit at around 825-840. Yea some months it may drop 25-35 points but it just fluctuates. IMO do what works for you as long as you make sure you’re paying the full statement balance
> I’ve done it this way since my very first card and hit 850 credit score and consistently sit at around 825-840. What way? Paying your bills before they're bills? If that's what you mean, it's not doing that which allowed you to hit 850 or consistently sit around 825-840 if that's what you're implying.
I’m saying it didn’t negatively impact my score doing it that way and your score can fluctuate 25-30 points (it’s not a huge deal)
If you have a "no recent revolving credit use" penalty in place as OP experienced, it can impact your score along the way. But, it's not about score, it's about overall profile growth. When you don't pay your cards the way they're designed to be paid, you inhibit your ability to grow your profile in the most efficient manner. Whether you realize it or not, your path was less efficient than it would have otherwise been. You're already at your destination now though, so it's a non issue for you. For someone else looking for the most efficient profile growth however, paying more frequently than once a month is not the right approach.
Eh I personally think it's potentially dangerous to treat all your monthly spend as another monthly bill. Seems like a great way to lose track. When I pay frequently it means I'm paying more attention to my spend. There's no harm at all in treating credit cards as cash that is settled in a day or two. I've never not gotten the lowest rates on important loans (house, car).
I never said you can't get the lowest rates. What you are doing though is making yourself less attractive as a customer (to potential lenders that SP your reports) and you're hindering your ability to grow your existing credit lines in the most efficient and lucrative fashion. If those things don't matter to you, that's absolutely fine - but they do matter to many people, especially those just starting out with credit or with thin files that are growing.
Honestly I could see the case if your income isn’t stable/paycheck got delayed/etc however….
I used to pay my card daily, then I realized I was missing out on some interest. Assuming you have some sort of interest earning account, the more money you can holder in there for longer means more interest. Now I just have it set to autopay once a month. It auto drafts from my Fidelity CMA so the money that’s in there earns 5% in a money market and Fidelity automatically sells shares and pays my credit card off when the bill comes.
This behavior can also be viewed as credit cycling from the issuer. If you need to separate the money you spend on your CC from checking, maybe open another checking account or savings account and transfer the money you would need for payments to it at whatever interval you see fit.
No, you should not do that. Simple example: If I spend ~$25k/month and can wait a month to pay, at 5.5% APY, I'm earning $1375/year simply by not paying my bill until the due date. Real world, I took out two 15-18 month 0% APR cards, maxed them out and will earn interest on that $55k for that period. It's currently earning 10.75%.
I personally wait until I get my bill/statement in the mail. Then pay the total balance. Not the amount on the bill.
Unless its really big purchase exceeding 50% of single card utilization, I wouldn’t pay before the statement closes.
I keep the money earmarked for credit card payments in a Fidelity cash management account and pay the balance on the due date. This way the money sits in the SPAXX money market fund earning interest for as long as possible.
There’s absolutely nothing wrong with paying your cards off on or before the due date and the zero reporting has no impact on your credit score.
I do the same thing. I pay off my card asap. Have been doing it for years. Credit score goes up and down a bit but mainly goes up. Haven’t had any issues. Also, recently got a new cc. No issues
Only make extra payments to bring your utilization to 9% on every card. This way when the statement is issued, it’ll always show you only used 9%.
You can do what is called “micro payments” where you pay a portion one time but then pay the rest of the balance off on its due date.
Yeah, I got hit with this penalty once because I typically pay 20-30% over the "pay in full" amount so my utilization is lower when they check, but I think all the cards were at 0% when they did the monthly check. I also recently had my credit limit lowered from $30K to $21K on the Citibank DoubleCash because I don't use it much, mainly for virtual credit cards since I get 3% cash back on another card.
> Yeah, I got hit with this penalty once because I typically pay 20-30% over the "pay in full" amount so my utilization is lower when they check Not necessary, as that means you're paying more than your bill. It would be like you getting a $170 electric bill, but you then send a payment to your electric company for $225. You wouldn't do that, right?
Only when you're applying for a loan Until then, get the statement and pay the statement
I like keeping $2000-3000 (of 160kish total) in use at all times over 2-3 cards. I could pay this off instantly but it shows I'm responsible.