<p>Okay, bear with me since it’s the first credit card I’ve ever owned, but I’m utterly confused as to if or when the opening balance of $500 will be reinstated, i.e. available for me to spend. I received it at the beginning of July, the monthly cycle ended yesterday, and the remaining balance is $150.</p>
<p>I couldn’t find a straight answer in either the booklets that came with the card or from online search engines, so I’d appreciate someone’s help for this seemingly obvious detail.</p>
<p>You have a $500 dollar limit. If you paid off the $150 balance, you would again have $500 to spend. As it is, you only have $350 to spend.</p>
<p>Wait, you’re (the OP) getting some terminology mixed up here. You didn’t have a balance of $500, you had a LIMIT of $500. Now, a balance of $150 would mean you spent $150. Until you pay that $150 off you will only be able to spend $350. Of course, if you spent another $50 you’d only have $300, and so on. The $500 limit means you may not have more than $500 total charged on the card at any given time. Also, you may be paying interest on any balance at the end of the monthly cycle, so you should try to pay it off before then. Even if you aren’t paying interest (yet) it’s a horrible habit to carry a balance.</p>