I can't seem to make my self hold off on paying my credit card balances until the due date. Some months I pay it all before the statement closes and sometimes I at least let it post and then pay it. I know I'm giving up some interest but I can't stand having those balances looming over me. It's like I have to have those paid off before I feel safe putting money somewhere else.
Mental peace over math?
byu/Rocket_man2025 inpersonalfinance
Posted by Rocket_man2025
14 Comments
I think you should look in to how interest accrues, though I’m not quite sure what you mean by “giving up interest” since interest is something you pay, not get. Interest only starts accruing after the due date. In other words, for a purchase on May 1 you won’t be charged interest on any amounts paid prior to June 1, so whether you pay off this purchase on May 2 or May 31 makes no difference.
Just set things to autopay for the statement balance. Don’t waste mental energy on this. As long as you aren’t carrying a balance, this is just holding you back from building actual wealth.
i also often pay the balance on a whim, just to be sure things are budgeted and aligning properly. especially lately with the extra purchases we’ve had to make
Just set credit cards to auto pay – and let them debit your checking account on the due date.
I would rethink the mindset here. do you go and pay your electricity bill a few days before your statement is generated, so you dont have that bill “looming over you”? I am going to guess you do not, because that would be irrational. It would also make it harder to evaluate if there is any issues in the numbers, having multiple random payments that make the math side of things more convoluted.
if you are using a credit card correctly and doing a budget, your credit card bill is functionally the same as your electricity bill. you use electricity throughout the month, once a month a bill is generated for what was used, and then you pay that bill by the due date. so if you can change your mindset here, you can see how what is currently driving your behavior is flawed.
the interest portion of this equation is more or less insignificant, so that isnt really why you should adjust your mindset.
I just pay in full whenever I log in my account. I don’t even care about the due date since its almost always at least once/week anyway.
> I can’t seem to make my self hold off on paying my credit card balances until the due date. Some months I pay it all before the statement closes and sometimes I at least let it post and then pay it. I know I’m giving up some interest
if you’re paying the statement balance before the statement due date, you’re not being charged interest.
or do you mean you’re losing out on the opportunity cost of keeping your dollars in your bank account for a few more days? if this is what you meant… meh.
I’m a bit irrational too. I go and manually pay off my credit cards on the 1st of each month (despite having them on autopay). That way I am keeping a regular eye on things and I don’t worry at all.
There’s no interest if you pay off the statement balance by the payment due date. Zero.
I’ve got everything on autopay now, but I used to do this, too. I think it was because there were things in my life that were out of my control, but I could control this one thing. It gave me comfort.
If it works for you, do it. If it stops working for you, change it. The interest you’re losing is negligible. Your wellbeing is not.
I do the same as you. It’s worth a few cents for mental peace.
Much less expensive than therapy. 😄
I sit down every Saturday morning with a cup of coffee, go over the previous week’s spending and pay off the cards. Doesn’t take long and keeps cash flow surprises at the end of the month to a minimum.
You don’t need to pay the balance, just the statement balance. I’ve paid a grand total of 0 dollars of interest.
If you look at the behaviors of successful people you’ll see prioritizing saving, effective budgeting, responsible investing etc… no where in there will it say ‘wait until the last day to pay your credit card bill to eek out that last 0.1% of interest growth’.
It’s such a small amount that it’s meaningless to lose mental capacity over. Do whatever you like so long as you’re getting the bill paid.