How to build your credit in 1 month
To explain this process clearly, we will use one of my credit card statements to explain what the dates mean.
My most recent credit card statement has a billing period of 2/27/19 to 3/26/19. The billing period, the time between 2/27/19 and 3/26/19, is also known as the billing cycle. All of the credit card transactions you make within those 27 days will be billed for that billing cycle/billing period. At the close of this billing cycle which is midnight on 3/26/19, finance charges will be calculated on the balance you owe and added to your account balance. Then your billing statement is prepared and the information is reported to the credit bureaus. My payment due date for this same credit card statement was 4/22/19. That means that everything I bought between 2/27/19 and 3/26/19 will be interest-free until 4/22/19. Whatever balance I don't pay by the payment due date of 4/22/19 will incur interest charges and be added to my balance for next month's statement. This means I have from 3/26/19 to 4/22/19 (27 days) to make my payment for purchases made between 2/27/19 and 3/26/19 (27 days).
Coincidentally both the billing cycle and the payment due date are 27 days with this bank, but that is not always the case. The billing cycle changes every month because the months have different numbers of days.
Your payment is not due until your statement due date which in this example is 4/22/19. If you pay your balance in full by that date, you will not have to pay interest on purchases made during the 2/27/19 - 3/26/19 billing cycle. If you don't pay it in full, you get charged interest by the credit card for borrowing their money. That continues to happen month after month until you pay off your balance.
When I look at my paper statement for this period, I see a balance of $1,000, but when I log onto my online account, I see a balance of $1500. That's because I made another $500 in purchases since my billing cycle closed and it keeps adding to my balance. At this point, only the $1000 is incurring interest, and the $500 would be interest-free for now.
These dates are all important because they affect your credit score and credit history. You would want to pay off your account balances by 3/26/19. So that nothing is reported on your credit card statement or to the credit bureau. That way you can use the credit card and carry the balance between 2/27/19 - 3/26/19, but not have it reported. This is important if you're trying to keep your balances low to improve your credit utilization ratio, improve your credit score, get approved for a loan, or get good loan terms. When you get your statement, you'll see the transactions, but the account will show a zero balance because you paid the $1000 off before it could be posted on your statement and reported to the credit bureaus.
Your credit card statement doesn't usually include the upcoming closing date. The billing cycles vary each month in length so you can get an approximation using your previous reports. In the example above, the billing cycle was 27 days and it closed on 3/26/19. The new billing cycle will start 3/27/19 and close on approximately 4/22/19. You would want to pay for all the purchases you made between 3/27/19-4/22/19 to avoid balances getting reported to the credit bureaus and affecting your credit history and score. If you're not worried about your credit history or credit score, you would have until the new payment due date of 5/22/19. The payment due date does not change and will be on the same day every month. i.e., 4/22/19, 5/22/19, 6/22/19, 7/22/19, etc.