So which is it?  Pay off your credit cards every month to show how well you pay your bills, or keep balances on them to develop a greater credit history?  Which one will help you build better credit?

Maxine Sweet, Experian's Vice President of Public Affairs has a column on the Experian.com website.  She was recently asked this question by a reader:

"Though I know you are supposed to pay off credit cards every month, will it adversely affect your credit if you make a payment that does not completely pay that amount off, if it is greater than the minimum payment amount?"

And here was her response:

"While it is a good idea to pay the balance in full every month, there actually is nothing wrong with carrying a balance on your credit card from one month to the next. The ability to revolve a balance is one of the advantages of credit cards. You just don't want to let the balance get out of control.

The minimum payment due is the amount you must pay to be considered current. Paying less than the minimum due will have a negative impact on your credit history because the credit card provider will report the payment as delinquent.

You can use the ability to carry a balance to your advantage. For instance, if you have an emergency and are unable to pay the full balance at the end of the month, you will not be adversely affected if you pay at least the minimum amount due, which is shown on the billing statement.

However, you never want to get in the habit of paying just the minimum amount. If you pay just the minimum due, you may never get the balance repaid. That's because a minimum payment usually covers interest and fees associated with the account and little or none of the principle.

You should always have a plan for repaying the debt. If you have to carry a balance, be prepared to reduce or stop new charges on the card and pay more than the minimum required so that you can eliminate the debt in a reasonable amount of time. Better still, set a date for repaying the debt, determine how much each payment will need to be and make that payment amount until the balance is gone."

I thought that answer pretty much summed it up.  What do you think?  Good advice or not?  Drop us a comment below and let us know what you think!