Tag Archive for: credit card usage

How to Read My Credit Card Bill?

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Today we will be discussing a question that many people have, “how to read my credit card bill.” Your credit card statement holds the key to understanding your finances, credit usage, and interest charges. By knowing how to read it properly, can help you improve your credit score and get better loan terms for your real estate investments. Let’s break it down step by step.

Why Your Credit Card Statement Matters

Fist and foremost, your credit card bill isn’t just a list of purchases, it affects your credit score, loan approvals, and interest rates. If you manage it well, you can:

  • Boost your credit score
  • Qualify for better financing
  • Reduce interest payments
  • Improve cash flow for your real estate projects

Let’s dive into what each section of your statement means and how to use it to your advantage.

Key Sections of Your Credit Card Statement

1. Statement Balance vs. Current Balance

  • Statement Balance: The amount you owe at the end of the billing cycle. This is what’s reported to the credit bureaus.
  • Current Balance: This includes any new charges after your statement closing date. Paying this in full may not be necessary, but it helps reduce interest.

2. Payment Due Date

  • This is the last day to make a payment without a late fee.
  • Paying on time is crucial for maintaining a high credit score.

3. Minimum Payment

  • The lowest amount you must pay to avoid late fees.
  • Only paying the minimum can lead to high interest costs.

4. Credit Utilization (Usage Rate)

  • Usage is the percentage of your available credit that you’ve used.
  • Keeping it below 30% helps maintain a strong credit score.
  • Example: If your credit limit is $10,000 and your balance is $5,000, your usage rate is 50%—too high!

5. Statement Closing Date

  • This is when your balance is reported to credit bureaus.
  • Pro Tip: Paying down your balance before this date can lower your usage as well as boost your credit score before applying for a loan.

6. Interest Charges and APR

  • If you carry a balance, you’ll see how much interest you’re paying.
  • Tip: Avoid interest by paying your full statement balance each month.

7. Transactions and Fees

  • This section lists all purchases, cash advances, as well as fees.
  • Review it for errors or fraudulent charges.

How to Use Your Statement to Improve Your Credit Score

1. Pay Down Balances Before the Closing Date

  • Credit bureaus look at your balance on the statement closing date.
  • Paying it down before this date lowers your usage rate and increases your score.

2. Keep Usage Below 30%

  • Aim for under 29% of your total credit limit.
  • Example: If you have $20,000 in credit, keep balances below $5,800.

3. Pay on Time, Every Time

  • 35% of your credit score depends on payment history.
  • Set up autopay or reminders to never miss a payment.

4. Use Business Credit Cards

  • Some business credit cards don’t report usage to personal credit.
  • This keeps your personal score high while still using credit for your investments.

How This Helps Real Estate Investors

Additionally, your credit score directly impacts your ability to secure loans, lines of credit, as well as the terms you receive. A higher score means:

  • Lower interest rates on loans
  • Higher loan amounts with less money out of pocket
  • Faster approvals with fewer restrictions

By managing your credit card statement wisely, you can keep more money in your pocket and grow your real estate portfolio with ease.

Final Steps: Take Action Now

First, Check your statement today and find your closing date.

Second, Pay down your balance before the closing date to reduce usage.

Third, Keep usage below 30% to maintain a strong credit score.

Fourth, Use business credit cards to separate personal and investment expenses.

Finally, Monitor your credit score and adjust your strategy as needed.

Taking control of your credit card bill is a simple yet powerful way to improve your finances. By following these steps, you’ll be on your way to better loan terms and more profitable investments!

Contact us today to learn more about setting yourself up for success!

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Business credit cards make investing easier and more profitable.

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Business credit cards make investing easier and more profitable

It is important as a real estate investor that you discover ways to make investing easier and more profitable. Real estate investing, as opposed to other businesses, relies heavily on financing. To obtain the best real estate financing, you need to have good personal credit scores. As a result, the higher the scores, the better the rates, and most importantly greater leverage. This in turn equals more deals and a faster track to generational wealth. Let’s take a deeper look on how you can make the switch to business credit cards and why they are important to your future success. 

First, the impact business expenses have on personal credit.

The easiest way to raise your personal credit scores is to stop using personal credit for business expenses. This includes personal credit cards, personal lines of credit, and personal loans. Your credit score is greatly impacted by the utilization rate, which is the amount that you use within your credit limit. The higher the utilization rate, the lower your credit score will be. By keeping your utilization rate below 20%, your credit score will increase dramatically. Therefore, moving business expenses off of your personal credit cards will provide not only a better credit score, but it will also open the doors to more lending options.   

Second, make the switch to business credit cards today!

Make the easy jump to business credit cards today and create the financial flexibility you need to achieve your business goals. The right business cards allow you to run and grow your business by keeping charges off of your personal credit report. As long as you pay the cards as agreed, you will be able to create a separation between personal and business expenses. Another benefit to using business credit cards is that the more you use them, the more likely credit card companies will be to increase your limits. Unlike personal credit cards, there is not a utilization rate penalty. Investors are able to spend up to their maximum credit limit. As a result to separating business from personal, it makes investing easier and more profitable.

Third, what do you need for a business credit card?

Business credit cards are the same type of cards that you use now in your personal life, only now they are in your business name. These cards can be obtained in a few hours with the right credit score and set up. What do you need for a business credit card within this lending environment? 

  1. A good to great credit score
  2. A business that looks and acts like a real business
  3. A steady income or proof of a potential income 
  4. Finding and working with the right banks for your investment needs

To be clear, we are not talking about building corporate credit, which can take years to acquire. Instead, business credit cards are the fast and easy way to get your personal credit back on track. Here are just a few of the benefits to making the switch to business credit cards.

  1. You can use them like cash for down payments or earnest deposits
  2. Can be used to pay contractors, even when they don’t accept credit cards
  3. Moving business charges to the business credit cards will increase your credit score
  4. They will decrease your personal DTI (debt to income)
  5. You can benefit from 0% offers

Bonus Pro Tip!

Fund your growth with 0% interest for up to 18 months with many of these business credit cards. By working with large national and super regional banks for both credit cards and unsecured lines of credit, you will in turn have more lending options available. It is important to look for small local banks in order to build relationships and meet your mortgage needs.

Watch our most recent video to find out more about how business credit cards can help you to invest easier and more profitable.

Don’t want to work on your personal score right now? That’s ok! We can help you look into other lending options including OPM (other people’s money). Options like these can provide the money that you need for any deal on any day at the best rates. Contact us today to find out more!

 

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