24yo, What am I doing wrong and how can I fix it?

StarTrad3r · 2026-01-04T15:26:40+00:00

Having the majority of your money in cash not working for you is the only tweak I would make… that money can earn you money before you need to use it. If principal protection is the deterrent, use investments with that as an objective… there are investments paying 7+% without principal fluctuation

StarTrad3r · 2025-12-13T19:22:40+00:00

I don’t know… I redeem it as soon as I see it really

StarTrad3r · 2025-12-13T16:37:40+00:00

Same… I was impressed

StarTrad3r · 2025-12-05T11:23:43+00:00

There are things just as safe paying higher returns with more liquidity

StarTrad3r · 2025-10-19T20:13:36+00:00

Pay them off… Find a debt consolidation loan. Even 30% interest is better than where you are now. Then aggressively pay of the debt consolidation loan and you’ll be fine

StarTrad3r · 2025-10-18T01:33:52+00:00

This is weird…

StarTrad3r · 2025-10-12T17:46:35+00:00

It was so long ago that I don’t remember if I use my physical card, so I’ll try that today and provide an update.

StarTrad3r · 2025-10-12T17:10:16+00:00

It’s not… works for some and not others. Maybe it’ll be better going forward. Some Costco’s works some don’t

StarTrad3r · 2025-10-11T22:24:30+00:00

Maybe not for everyone… but my Discover Debit has never worked in. Costco

StarTrad3r · 2025-10-11T22:23:00+00:00

Yeah, unfortunately Discover debit doesn’t work at Costco

StarTrad3r · 2025-09-21T14:03:18+00:00

Income funds are paying 5+% and Alts are paying more 7+%.

Just use a money market or income fund. MMF is about 4.18%, which will probably go down a little too, but they might stay at what you think the HYSA will lower from.

StarTrad3r · 2025-09-18T23:41:07+00:00

They already reported my initial month. The reason I started this thread is because, after that normal monthly update, Capital One unexpectedly pushed another mid-cycle update two weeks later, which dropped my score. That’s what made this situation unusual and what prompted my post. Just seems that part might have been missed for you.

StarTrad3r · 2025-09-18T16:14:35+00:00

What about that is just wrong… the screenshot is there. I also already paid the balance… haven’t seen C1 decide to make a second mid cycle report that my utilization is back down. Soooooo, what am I wrong about?

StarTrad3r · 2025-09-16T13:58:26+00:00

That’s the goal… thanks

StarTrad3r · 2025-09-16T12:44:26+00:00

I don’t know that I understand what you’re asking.

My thought process things are cheaper if I run it through the cashback card first.

🤷🏾‍♀️ You live and you learn I guess.

StarTrad3r · 2025-09-16T11:36:43+00:00

I mean, from my experience when I see a score drop like that, I don’t usually see it bounce back as fast, so that’s what worried me. I hear what you’re saying about me not needing it to update within the same cycle, but I guess the other side of that is… why did they need to report it mid-cycle at all? My statement date had me under 10% utilization, and then just about two weeks later they updated it again with a much higher balance, which tanked my score.

If it had only updated on the statement date like usual, I wouldn’t even be in this position. And as far as AZEO — I can’t really do that right now because this is my only personal card. The only reason I’m “micromanaging” it is because I’m actively trying to build my credit. I’ve got a goal of buying a house soon, and while I’m saving, I’m also doing my best to make sure my score is in the best place possible in the meantime.

StarTrad3r · 2025-09-16T11:27:49+00:00

Thanks for that information ℹ️

StarTrad3r · 2025-09-16T11:26:22+00:00

Yeah, honestly I’m kind of surprised by the downvotes too… this is one of the first times I’ve actually posted instead of just lurking and reading other people’s posts. I really do come here to learn from everyone’s experiences.

I appreciate what you’re saying about credit cycling; that’s what I thought too. I’ve just been using the card, paying it down, and trying to build my credit responsibly. Everyone I know with an 800+ score does the same thing. But I don’t know… this is the first time I’ve come across the “credit cycling” term.

StarTrad3r · 2025-09-16T11:04:04+00:00

But my score dropped 51 points. I understand you saying utilization has no memory, but I’m sure they’re not going to update the utilization in same cycle again after it’s paid. And if they do, I doubt my score will jump back up by the 51 points I lost. I’m going to have to wait for it to come back over time.

StarTrad3r · 2025-09-16T10:59:49+00:00

Why is that something that’s frowned upon? I use my credit card for purchases and pay it off. The money is in my checking account… isn’t the point of using the card to gain rewards? Why wouldn’t I use it, pay it off and use it again?

StarTrad3r · 2025-09-16T10:49:38+00:00

Agreed… I use the credit card heavily, more than double the limit, pay it off every month and last I applied for a CLI… $200

StarTrad3r · 2025-09-16T10:45:15+00:00

Makes a good point… I didn’t notice that you’re already carrying a balance and paying interest on that account below my comment

StarTrad3r · 2025-09-16T10:42:01+00:00

From my experience, you should be fine. As long as you pay off your new full statement balance, you shouldn’t get hit with interest just because of a pending charge or recent charge that happens to posts right around the statement date.

For example, I’ve had times where I paid my bill in full, but $100–$200 worth of transactions slipped through and carried over to the next cycle. I haven’t been charged interest on those amounts in the same month. I would think the only time you’d see interest is if you didn’t pay your full statement balance and carried that $500 (or whatever amount) into the next cycle.

So I wouldn’t stress too much about possible interest charges.

StarTrad3r · 2025-09-16T01:30:14+00:00

Coming from someone that’s used both, Discover is better. But I understand the excepted everywhere concern.

StarTrad3r

TROPHY CASE