When to pay your CC bill to incur no interest?

u109230

Sorry if this has been discussed before, but could one of you wise people give me a quick quick couple of examples on when best to pay off a cc balance in full so not to incur any interest for that month?

My Egg card payment & statement dates are not the same (I think they're the 18th & 5th respectively). I read the small print on the Egg site regarding repayments & it wasn't too obvious to me when to pay outstanding balances to avoid any interest charges for that month & the next.

Thanks in advance.

NickX

As long as you pay the FULL balance off before the "Payment Due Date" allowing for the payment processing time detailed on the back of your statement, then you should pay NO interest.

The only exception to this is if any of your transactions are for Cash Advances rather than Purchases - these get charged interest from the Transaction Date.

u109230

Thanks NickX.

Just so I'm absolutely clear about this (I'm a simple guy!). Please correct me if you think my examples below are wrong.

Example 1, if my balance is zero on the 18th June & I then go buy an article for £100 at a store using the Egg card on the 19th June, it will show on my next statement (5th) & will need paying off by the 18th July (one month interest free?)

Example 2, if my balance is zero on the 5th June & I go buy an article for £100 at a store on the 6th June using the card, it won't show on a statement until the 5th July & need paying off the 18th July (nearly 1.5 months interest free?)

hansi

Why don't you just set up a DD to pay off the full amount every month. It takes the worry off you and puts the onus on collecting it onto the CC Company.

skyrider007

Example 1 is correct
Example 2 - i'm not sure but it depends on your statement date

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For my HSBC card, the statement date is the 22nd of every month and the payment date is the 19th of the following month.

I can get interest free for up to 59 days if I make a purchase right after my statement date, that is any time between the 22nd and 21st of the following month with an additional three weeks time-frame to pay the bill.

silverbullit

hansi wrote: »

Why don't you just set up a DD to pay off the full amount every month. It takes the worry off you and puts the onus on collecting it onto the CC Company.

That's the way I do it and it takes the hassle out of the process, especially if you have a number of cards (in which case, remembering to make the payments 'manually' can be difficult and more likely to lead to missed payments and consequent interest/fee charges).

NickX

u109230 wrote: »

Thanks NickX.

Just so I'm absolutely clear about this (I'm a simple guy!). Please correct me if you think my examples below are wrong.

Example 1, if my balance is zero on the 18th June & I then go buy an article for £100 at a store using the Egg card on the 19th June, it will show on my next statement (5th) & will need paying off by the 18th July (one month interest free?)

Example 2, if my balance is zero on the 5th June & I go buy an article for £100 at a store on the 6th June using the card, it won't show on a statement until the 5th July & need paying off the 18th July (nearly 1.5 months interest free?)

I think your examples are correct - you have sussed it :beer:

Basically to benefit from up to 59 days interest free you need to time your purchased carefully. By making your purchases straight after your statement date, you will maximize your interest free period because these purchases won't show on your statement for another month, then you have 2-3 weeks to actually make the payment for them.

u109230

silverbullit wrote: »

That's the way I do it and it takes the hassle out of the process, especially if you have a number of cards (in which case, remembering to make the payments 'manually' can be difficult and more likely to lead to missed payments and consequent interest/fee charges).

Ideally I'd like to do this, however it depends on how much I load my card that month & my current account balance on the 18th (payment date) from which the DD comes out of. Both these values can vary greatly every month.

Thanks to all for your input.