Is it ok to buy something on your credit card due date?

Question

This is my first credit card so I'm a little confused. I'm with Capital One and my due date every month is the 6th and my minimum payment is $25, and anything less than $25 (example if I have $16 on it) would need to be completely paid. Well, I had around $140 on it and paid $40 on the second (11/2/2017). I got my email that my payment was posted and had gone through on Friday (11/3/2017). Is it OK to use my credit card right now or should I wait a couple days? I still have a balance on it, if that makes any difference but plan on paying it off on the 10th.

I want to make sure me using it today (11/6/2017) on this cycles due date, that I won't get charged any kind of fee or I won't screw up my card or my score. Again, I had my payment of $40 ($15 more than what's minimally required to pay each month) post on Friday and the money was pulled from my account. Even though it's the cards due date today, am I still able to use it since I've done my payment for the month? TIA!

Answer 1

You are able to use your credit card at any time. Which cycle it shows up on depends when the charge gets processed on your card.

Say a charge goes on your card just before a cycle closes, once the cycle closes, the total amount is tallied up, and a bill is sent to you at the end of the month. After that you are given about 2 weeks to pay that bill, specifically at least the minimum payment for the card by the due date.

Any charges that you make after the cycle closed (even before you get the bill for the last cycle) are going in to the next month's cycle, which will come due a month after that.

Your card has a running total called your credit limit. You are, generally, not allowed to exceed this limit. Once a payment goes through to pay the bill, the available credit on the card will be freed up for further use. This is only relevant if you are nearing the limit for the card.

Typically, charges to your card might not fully process on the same day. Especially larger transactions might have a day or two delay before it's officially processed and charged on to your card. This could cause your charge to end up showing on the next cycle. This only means that the charge is not included in this period and will be coming due a month later.

Answer 2

am I still able to use it since I've done my payment for the month?

Using your credit card today should be fine. You can use the card if it has a previous balance on it, until the balance reaches the card's credit limit. By the way, even if the payment due date is the 6th, the cycle probably ended sometime in the previous month.

I want to make sure me using it today (11/6/2017) on this cycles due date, that I won't get charged any kind of fee

You will not be charged a late payment fee if you made at least the minimum payment by the due date, but you will pay interest on any balance left on the card after the due date. In order to avoid this interest, you would have needed to make a payment of $140 instead of $40.

I want to make sure me using it today...I won't screw up my card or my score

Your credit score will drop if you use a large percentage of your credit limit every month. In order to minimize your credit utilization ratio, make sure you at least pay off the full balance each month.

Answer 3

The amount due is based only on the balance of the previous statement. In your case, that statement was probably issued around 10/10 or so (in my experience, it's a couple days after the payment due date). The minimum payment stated on that statement will not change no matter what charges you've made since then.

If you've made that payment you're good as far as late fees/missed payments are concerned (though still on the hook for interest if you carry a balance, which is best avoided).

Any charges made after that last statement (including any made today) will appear on your November statement in a few days, and will be due in December. (Conversely, the payment you're making today is for charges you made back in September/early October).

Answer 4

Yes. There is a grace period, typically about 3 weeks, between the closing date (when your statement is generated) and the due date. So if your due date is 11/06, the closing date was probably about 10/15. You need only pay for purchases posted on or before that date. Anything after goes on next month's statement.

It might be easier to understand this if you think in terms of paper statements being mailed, and paper checks being mailed, rather than instant on-line payments. Around 3 weeks is about a reasonable worst-case turnaround time for snail mail.