An illegal alien from Guatemala charged with raping a child in Massachusetts. An MS thirteen gang member from Al Salvador accused of murdering a Texas man of Venezuelan charged with filming and selling child pornography in Michigan. These are just some of the heinous migrant criminals caught because of President Donald J. Trump's leadership. I'm Christy nom the United States
Secretary of Homeland Security. Under President Trump, attempted illegal border crossings are at the lowest levels ever recorded, and over one hundred thousand illegal aliens have been arrested. If you are here illegally, your next you will be fined nearly one thousand dollars a day, imprisoned, and deported. You will never return. But if you register using our CBP home app and leave now, you could be allowed to return legally.
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So when it comes to using your credit card. When it comes to using your credit card, most people think that utilization depends on your usage, and it doesn't. It just depends on what you carry over and I'll explain it. Utilization is only reported one day a month, so it's on your statement day, which is the last day of your billing cycle. Matter of fact, everybody who has a credit card needs to look at their credit card statement and find their statement date.
It's the last day of the billing cycle.
That date is so important because whatever balance that you have on a credit card, that is what's going to be reported to the credit bureaus and also used as your utilization. Your statement date is different from your due date, so most people get confused because your due date is going to be before your statement date, probably like a week
or two prior. So even if you page your credit card bill down to zero by your due date, if that balance is not still under ten percent by your statement date, then it's not going to be counted as your utilization.
It's not going to be reported to the credit bureaus.
So knowing identifying when your statement date is, and making sure that you pay your balance pay off at least ninety percent of whatever you spent during the month pay off that balance, then you'll be good because, like if you have a five hundred dollars credit card, you can use the entire five hundred dollars. You don't have to stay below thirty percent or ten percent. You just have to make sure you pay it back within that same billing cycle, which is which is key.
Okay, So what are the first steps to building good good credit history?
Okay?
So the first steps I would say is, so I have a basic base level credit profile recommendation for everyone. Right, I say that if you are wanting to build credit, but like build a healthy credit profile that will continue to grow and kind of set you up to get high credit offers and low interest rates and all of that. The base level credit profile, everyone needs at least two credit cards. It needs to be at least two revolving credit cards, right, doesn't matter, the limit doesn't matter. If
it's subprime, it doesn't matter. If it's secured. You can literally get two hundred dollars credit cards, right, make sure that you keep that utilization every single month, you keep that utilization below ten percent. Right. And then because we have to hit a limit of we have to hit at least four accounts. Two of them will be credit cards. The third account needs to be a short term installment. A short term astabtment is just any installment under thirty six months self kickoff.
They're every bank.
Pretty much offers a credit builder loan and then if you can get a long term instopment, So if you have a student loan, if you have a car loan, if you have a mortgage, those are considered long term installments. So if you already have those, you don't need to apply for another one. Just focus on the other three accounts and having those four accounts to being credit cards to being installments short term and long term. It's going
to and not applying for anything else. I want to be clear, do not apply for anything else after you get that those credit those accounts. Don't apply for anything else for six to nine months, and you should be able to get pretty much any credit card that you want consider if you pay it on time and you know, of course, make sure you're not getting collections and other things.
But yeah, that's the perfect credit profile that speaks to the credit scoring algorithm and will allow your credit score to grow at the at the most rapid pace.
Would you put the buy now, pay later companies into that short term right like the affirms of the world.
So it depends because I see a lot of those on credit reports and I'm glad you.
Brought that up.
A lot of those people are getting them too often, like they'll they'll finance a two hundred dollars purchase.
Any loan under two hundred dollars just looks like a low level loan. It's not.
It doesn't feed the algorithm of the credit scores. They pretty much kind of look down on that, right. Like so if you're applying for crediting and your lender sees a lot of those by now pay later accounts and low level is what they call low level accounts, that almost regardless of what your score is, that that's almost to your detriment because it looks like this person is not financially stable.
A lot of people don't realize that.
Their score doesn't tell like their score is just for a consumer. Really, when it comes to your lenders, they're looking at so much more than your score, Like there are so many other determinant factors of if you're going to get approved for a car to a car over your score, Like your score tells them nothing because you can fossly inflate your score. People by trade lines all the time and things of that nature. When it comes to your credit profile, doing things like that. I would
not recommend, not in the beginning. Not unless you have an established credit profile with years of credit history, then you can kind of afford to have those accounts.
So okay, So what's the best ways to use credit cards to improve your credit score?
Yeah, credit cards are my favorite because, like I said, they're like the only accounts that have in I media impact. Like when you get a loan, you're not really going to see you don't really see the positive benefits of a loan until you're at least ninety percent. So most people will get a car long and they're like, I've been being my card on time.
Why is my.
Score not increasing? Is because you're very early into that loan. Right when it comes to credit cards, you can see a change in your credit score within like sixty days, as long as you know how to use it. And I would say how I use If we're we can just use a two hundred dollars credit card for instance, Right, if you have a two hundred dollar credit card, the first thing you're going to do is identify your due
date and your statement day. Right your due date, you want to make sure that you zero I zero out.
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An illegal alien from Guatemala charged with raping a child in Massachusetts. An MS thirteen gang member from Al Salvador accused of murdering a Texas man of Venezuelan charged with filming and selling child pornography in Michigan. These are just some of the heinous migrant criminals caught because of President Donald J. Trump's leadership. I'm Christy nom the United States
Secretary of Homeland Security. Under President Trump, attempted illegal border crossings are at the lowest levels ever recorded, and over one hundred thousand illegal aliens.
Have been arrested.
If you were here, I legally your next you will be fine nearly one thousand dollars a day. Imprisoned and deported, you will never return. But if you register using our CPP home app and leave now, you could be allowed to return legally do what's right, leave now. Under President Trump America's laws, border and families will be protected.
Sponsored by the United States Department of Homeland Security.
Balance on my DU date because any balance that you carry over pass your due date, your bank can charge you intereses on or will charge you interess on. So after my DU date passes, I wait until my statement date and I make sure that my balance is whatever the credit card limit is. If I have a two hundred dollars credit card, I make sure my balance is will twenty dollars going into that next cycle. After your statement day passes, rent and recycle. You can spend it
or do whatever you please. But identifying those two dates, understanding when you need to pay your credit card, understanding how much you need to carry over or not will will be the saving grace for credit limit increases.
And that's up is it. You're supposed to pay off the full balance or leave a little bit on because some people say you're supposed to leave a little bit on their credit card.
So that's a great question, and I'm glad you asked that you.
I pay my full balance off by my due date, so I'm not charged interest. However, I do carry over one to three percent on my statement date. Why if you report a zero zero percent utilization sometimes the algorithm career that is you don't have a credit card one or contrary to popular belief, lenders don't like when you.
Don't use your credit cards.
Yeah, like they want to see usage because that doesn't if you don't if you're not using your credit card, that doesn't really speak to to your your money management or financial management skills.
It just shows you don't use it.
Right, So if you're if you leave a small balance, it shows that you use it, but also shows that you pay it back.
I think that was that's a very common misconception, and I have to realize that like I would use the card, or even for the company, I would use a card pay it on a personal level. When I did it, I watched my credit card drop because it shows that I had zero I'm like, wait, I thought I'm doing the right thing, because I have nothing, but it shows that there's zero utilization there. But let's stay on utilization. When is it a good time to now ask for a credit increase?
Ooh, my favorite, depending on the bank, I ask for a credit limit increase every ninety one to like one hundred and twenty days, like I'm getting on all of my credit cards. I'm getting multiple credit limit increases a year. But you have like so my sort of trick or not trick. But what I advise of people is if you know you have a card that can obviously grow because you have some cars that they just won't give
you capital. They won't give you an increase, they'll they'll give you an increase, or they may not give you increase, or it'll be like very minimal. Right, So, if you're dealing with like am I able to say companies names, If you're dealing with what's considered the top three, which is AMAX Chase in city, they're going to give you a credit limit increase.
However, you have.
To make sure that's the sixty days prior to you. Until you're asking for that increase, you are feeding the algorithm. Number one, make sure you have automated payment on. Right, it could be for at least your minimum payment, Like, it doesn't have to be your full balance. Just have auto pay on because the system loves that.
Right.
Make sure that you have at least two reoccurring charges on your credit card. By the way, any subscription that people have this this is one thing that draws me crazy. If you have Netflix, Hulu, Apple Music, in a list of a host of other subscriptions that we have, make sure those are on a credit card. Like, there's no reason why an auto any subscription should be from a debit card, because that's a wasted opportunity to have reoccurring
charges on your credit card. Having at least two reoccurring charges, having auto pay set up, making sure you do at least ten transactions within that month, and also, like I said, making sure you pay on time. Do that for at least sixty days, so two billing cycles. And then you
apply for an increase. But if you have a card and you're not using it, you're not going to get a credit limit increase, no matter regardless of how high your credit card is, a lot of banks will not give you the increase simply because you just don't use the card enough because that's actually the number one reason for a credit limit increased denials is low usage on the card.
So, okay, how can you avoid pitfalls with credit cards? Because obviously a lot of people fall in the issues don't spend too much. But yeah, you know what, in some ways, it's like best practices as far as using credit cards the right way.
Yes, that's a big one.
And to be completely honest, like I tell people, credit card is not an extension of your money. It should replace the money like your bank account. Right. So, I am a person that lives off my credit card. And when I say live off my credit card, I mean all of my daily expenses are.
Anything that could be on a credit card.
I use my credit card for because I want the points, I want the usage and all of that.
However, I make sure that I pay it back. That's the thing.
Do not spend if you don't have it in your bank account or no, you're not getting get in your bank account within the next two weeks. You don't have it to spend, regardless of if it's a credit card or or what. The only exception is if it's like an emergency, you know, like if you just can't help it. You have a true emergency, not shopping or anything like that. Then it's really easy to manage your credit card as long as you're not looking at it as if it's an.
Extension of your money.
It's not.
You have to pay it back, and it's just like that's where checking your financial habits will come into play. A lot of times people will improve their credit, get access to these high limit cards, and then they find themselves in the hole deep because they're just they can't they can't manage their money properly. They go out and spend, spend, spend, and I realize and like, you gotta pay that back.
So yeah, you just got to make sure that you're not looking at your credit card limit as your money, because it's not.
An illegal Alam from Guatemala charged with raping a child in Massachusetts. An MS thirteen gang member from Al Salvador accused of murdering a Texas man of Venezuelan charged with filming and selling child pornography in Michigan. These are just some of the heinous migrant criminals caught because of President Donald J. Trump's leadership. I'm Christy Noman, the United States
Secretary of Homeland Security. Under President Trump, attempted illegal border crossings are at the lowest levels ever recorded, and over one hundred thousand illegal aliens have been arrested. If you are here illegally, your next you will be fined nearly one thousand dollars a day, imprisoned, and deported. You will never return. But if you register using our CBP home app and leave now, you could be allowed to return legally.
Do what's right, leave now. Under President Trump, America's laws, border and families.
Will be protected.
Sponsored by the United States Department of Homeland Security,