<prompt> Human: Hey PF,So this is more of a rantinformational post than asking for advice.Im in the process of rebuilding my credit. I was at a 488 score in June of 2015. I spent the next year and a half paying off debts and playing the waiting game for my score to rebound a little before trying to get a credit card.In February of 2017 I finally hit over 600, so I got a secured card through my bank, Wells Fargo. I threw 300 on it and went on with my business. I would use my card 2-3 times a month for gas only. The day after I got my gas, I would pay off the card. After all, everyone talks about paying off balances in full ASAP, right?Turns out because I was paying it off so quickly, it wasnt really giving my payment history a boost, which is HUGE for a credit score. Even though I had paid all my debts on time, the information the credit bureau received basically showed that I had a 0 balance every month.This is probably super common knowledge, but maybe it will help someone not waste 9 months of payment history like I did.TLDR: Pay your credit cards off as soon as you get your statement, not as soon as you get home from wherever you made the purchase.  <response>: You didnt ruin anything! You have a perfect payment history regardless if the statement balances are 0 or otherwise. A DIFFERENT credit factor, utilization, scores your debt-to-available-credit ratio for the PAST MONTH ONLY. There is no history to credit utilization!So in your case: your payment history has been steadily improving, whether your balance each month is 0 or otherwise.Your utilization changes each month given the latest statement balance that posts. That can change each month, obviously, depending on the statement balance that posts.So no worries! 