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okay so I did some online shopping on my visa and I know I paid off the full amount and it said I had a negative balance I was freaking out I hate being in debt so I kept paying it off I know have a negative balance of -$51,289.20 I used my visa a couple times this week probably put $30 on it but the number just keeps going up idk why is this a good or bad thing also how will this affect my credit I just want to have a balance of zero.

AnnaBanana
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    It is unclear to me what you are asking. What is your question? Did you or did you not charge $51k to your card? – Ben Miller Aug 03 '16 at 01:05
  • Perhaps check out this article: http://classroom.synonym.com/negative-number-credit-card-statement-mean-17105.html. I think you have and are continuing to overpay. – vpn Aug 03 '16 at 01:32
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    Yeah, suppose she overpaid by a bit, next statement showed -$400 so she paid $400. Next statement showed -$800 so she paid $800, next statement -$1600 so she paid $1600, rinse wash repeat $3200 $6400 $12800 $25600 $51200. It's exponential, so, happens in a few months. Her intuition is correct; the money isn't destroyed, just moved around, it's still hers. – Harper - Reinstate Monica Aug 03 '16 at 02:54

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You have a credit balance with the credit card. It's your money.

You can simply keep charging things on the card. As you do that, your credit balance will go down. (this may not show up in real-time).

Just as a good credit practice, don't buy things you don't already buy. This isn't free money, this is your money, it's just not in the usual location. You wouldn't go on a spending spree if your cash was in the USBank account instead of the Chase account, right? Same applies here.

It won't hurt your credit at all. It won't help your credit though; if you have a $50k credit with one card and owe $50k on other cards, they will score that like you owe $50k.

The only real downside to your cash being there is, it's not FDIC insured and it's not earning interest for you (unless it is? Maybe that's why it's going up?)

Getting the cash back

I get credit balances on credit cards all the time. I usually leave the card idle for awhile, and after 3 months they mail me a paper check for the balance. Make sure you get it: make sure the credit card has your proper mailing address, and the address is secure, because you don't want someone stealing the mail out of your box.

If you're actively spending it down, I don't know how that will affect the timing of sending you a paper check.

You can also call customer service and ask them to send the refund check right away. There's no fee for this. Or, you might ask about ways to do the refund electronically but Beware: many cash withdrawal methods have painful service fees like 5%. DO NOT do a "cash advance" or "balance transfer" for that reason.

Credit balances are fine

Generally, there's nothing wrong with carrying a credit balance (i.e. having overpaid a vendor). You will eventually use it up, and they will happily refund you on request. It's no big deal, these companies are basically honest. Not every company is, but banks and utilities are.

I send my water company $400 about once a year, simply because I find it more convenient than writing a check every month. (I do e-pay... they don't.)

Harper - Reinstate Monica
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  • Yeah, I used to send the water company $100 whenever I got a positive bill because I figured the lost interest was less than the cost of the stamps & checks. This was before e-pay was an option. It's a good solution for small bills. – Loren Pechtel Aug 03 '16 at 23:03