When to pay a credit card statement? Clueless!!

I thought we used to have a money and finance section but couldn't see it if there is one can a mod move this please

Ok as the title says! I have recently got our 1st credit card to use for paying wedding costs. I intend to pay it off every month so not to use for a loan but to use for the protection if offers if that makes sense.

Anyway logged in today for the 1st time and now am not sure when to pay the balance so can someone tell me LOL

it has a relatively small limit and I need it to use almost to its limit to pay for dresses deposit on 22nd Oct. So want to pay off the balance on it that we used for invitations.

Now when I look at the statement it says

balance x
Available y

Next statement date 04 Nov 11
Payment due date 31 Oct 11
Minimum payment z
Last payment date
Last payment amount £0.00

So my question really is if I pay z todayand then spend on it on 22nd Oct will that need to be paid by 31st Oct too? Or would my balace reset and I would then have the dress spend on my statement in Nov to be paid prob by Nov 31st?

Hope that makes sense and sorry if I seem totally stupid I just don't really have a clue and want to use this properly so we don't incur charge or interest but have protection if firms go bust etc etc

You need to pay the minimum payment by the date given (31st?) if you then spend more money before the 31st, that will then go onto next months bill so you wont have to pay that by the 31st as well.

What if i pay the balance in full today Gerri? so in effect clear the card and have all available balance available again. Then on 22nd Oct max it for dresses will that full balance be due at end of November or will it be due end of October? Sorry to be stupid

If you pay the full amount of now, you'll then have the full balance available once the payment has cleared. Then Octobers bill is done with so anything else you buy, even if its before the 31st will then be due on Novembers statement. You can either pay it all off or just pay the minimum. Either way it wont be due until 31st November. Hope that makes sense!

Brilliant thanks - I think the amount I want to pay includes 1 transaction that was made after the bill was made so I guess it would be a November transaction can I pay that now too LOL? I guess I can then it would be a clean slate again. Oh my goodness i can see how people can get in a pickle with these things I am in a pickle and am trying to PAY it LOL

You can over pay if you want to include something that doesnt show up on your statement. It will show itself on the November statement, so will level out. It can be so confusing though. No one teaches you what to do. It comes with experience!

Thanks so much Gerri! One last question...for now! So if I pay the huge amount of £14 that I think is for the November statement will it reset my balance now to the full amount (obviously I am paying the outstanding amount thats due in Oct as well) or after payment clears will I have my full limit - £14 (the amount due in Nov even though I paid it in Oct)

Sorry to be a pain

Lol. You're not a pain! When you're payment is cleared, your balance should be zero if its included the £14 item you paid. If that isn't yet showing up, your balance will be £14 in credit. Can you check online or is it a paper statement? Make your payment then after a few days, you can phone your credit card company and check available balance. It should show zero balance and full amount available to spend.

Ah LOL thank you. I can see the £14 it says it is on Octobers statement due Nov but if I pay it off at same time as Septembers amount then because I can see the transaction and who it was for and the date etc It should reset my balance to £0. I just want to make sure I have enough balance for what I want to buy this month. Thanks again. I feel a bit silly 37 years old and no idea about this at all. I expect they don't tell you as they want you to do it wrong so they can charge you LOL

You're probably right there. Anything to extract a few more quid off us!!