# Any benefit to paying down a large credit card balance before year-end?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-benefit-to-paying-down-a-large-credit-card-balance-before-year-end/995166>\
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion\
**Created:** [December 26, 2023, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-benefit-to-paying-down-a-large-credit-card-balance-before-year-end/995166 "2023-12-26T14:00:38Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Jackknifed\_Juggernaut](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9de053/32.png) [@Jackknifed\_Juggernaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackknifed_Juggernaut)\
**Post date:** [December 26, 2023, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-benefit-to-paying-down-a-large-credit-card-balance-before-year-end/995166/1 "2023-12-26T14:00:38Z")

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My normal payment cycle includes me paying down my credit cards at the beginning of the month. However, I built up some large balances this past month, so that got me wondering if there is any benefit to paying them down before year-end. My understanding has always been that personal credit is constantly being monitored anyway, but not sure if calendar balances matter for any reason.

Please keep in mind that I pay no interest on my cards as I pay balances down to zero every month, and even with higher interest rates, the lost interest income over a week is negligible.

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**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\
**Post date:** [December 26, 2023, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-benefit-to-paying-down-a-large-credit-card-balance-before-year-end/995166/2 "2023-12-26T15:28:34Z")

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No difference I’m aware of. Each creditor reports your open balance at each of their statement cycles on your account. Which is not (necessarily) tied to the calendar month end.

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**Author:** ![Jackknifed\_Juggernaut](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9de053/32.png) [@Jackknifed\_Juggernaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackknifed_Juggernaut)\
**Post date:** [December 27, 2023, 1:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-benefit-to-paying-down-a-large-credit-card-balance-before-year-end/995166/3 "2023-12-27T01:54:47Z")

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Thanks!