u/nickel_lessss

So, I very recently got my first Secured Credit Card. My monthly credit limit is $500. I have made a very strict limit of only using $150 of the available credit (if I need to). I've mainly used it on food this month (as I get a small cash back reward on dining) and other very small purchases. This has been my first month using it, and currently the balance is sitting at $146.66. Now, I am usually a very paranoid person when it comes to payments, so I like to pay things off when I have the funds available. But I am trying to build my credit as I have absolutely zero, and I hear different things all the time on how to pay of credit cards.

My minimum payments are due every 19th of the month and it looks like my statements are posted every 24 of the month. So, I guess my question (or questions) are these:

1. When is the actual payment due?

2. When would be a good time to pay the balance: The day the Statement is posted or on the Due Date of the minimum payment?

3. If I were to pay, say, $75 of the $146.66 balance right now, would that affect anything? Would it be better just to wait until the statement is posted?

I apologize if these questions are redundant or common sense. I come from a family that has little to no financial literacy and I don't want to fall into the same mistakes or debt that they did. I want to be able to learn so that I can teach my future kids.

So currently, I am shopping around for a new vehicle. I currently drive a 2017 Hyundai Sonata SE and have loved it so far. It's been very reliable, very roomy (surprisingly), and has very little issues. However, obviously it's smaller than a traverse.

One of the main reasons I'm looking at Traverses is its size. Comfortability is a huge thing for me, being 6'4 and on the heavier side (which is why I'm surprised that I was able to fit into my Sonata so comfortably). My job recently purchased a brand new 2026 Traverse for company use and I instantly fell in love with it and immediately knew that that was what I wanted as my next vehicle. It's spacious, comfortable, drives smooth and the features are not too bad either. And it all around seems reliable.

But I wanted to ask all of you what you think of Traverses? Have you ran into major issues? How is the reliability after so many miles? What does gas look like? What was the reason you first purchased a Traverse?

Anything helps. This would be my second vehicle that I ever purchase and I just want to make sure that I have something both comfortable and reliable. My first car was a 2001 Chevy Tahoe and I loved that vehicle as well. The Traverse seems like a perfect fit for me, but again, I just like to know more or less what I'm getting into. The only other contender for me would be a Nissan Pathfinder.

What are your thoughts?