On his podcast, Clark Howard answers real reader questions on money, credit, debt, retirement, travel, and more, along with co-host Christa DiBiase.

Clark's answer: You’ve achieved a perfect score by working the mechanics of credit scoring to your advantage with those multiple payments throughout the billing cycle. Credit card companies don't just report once a month — they regularly update your balance. Depending on how a issuer reports, your score usually hinges on either your highest balance during the month or your balance on the statement closing date. By making regular payments mid-cycle, you're giving the utilization portion of your score — which makes up 30% of the formula — a total rocket booster.

Paying your bills on time and keeping your credit utilization extremely low are the two factors that matter most. In your case, they matter enough to get you to a perfect 850. I’ve actually never had an 850 credit score myself — I usually hover in the low 800s. Once you’re at a 780 or above, you can pretty much get any loan or top tier rate you want, so you were already in fantastic shape. But by making those extra payments, you managed to nudge it all the way up to perfection. Going from an 820 or 830 to an 850 won't change the loans you qualify for, but it sure feels good to hit a perfect score, doesn't it? That’s something I’ll probably never achieve in anything, but I'll keep trying!