credit card question

[jeffs42885 10+ year member]

Hey guys! I have been kinda dormant and out of the car audio world for a bit but i am getting back into things.

I am going to be getting a loan to pay off my credit cards, and i just want to know something..whoever here has credit cards u might be able to help.

I do have alot of them..cards i mean. Should I cancel them, or keep them...Im thinking cancel because of the possibility of identity theft..and keeping one for emergency's. Any of you guys have experience with the following banks cards

Citi, Washington Mutual, Chase, Household...

im canceling all dept store cards, and like I said I want one for emergencies, perferably with a low LOW limit.

Click to read more...

 

[Flipx99 5,000+ posts]

Keep the oldest one.

 

[04_edge 10+ year member]

dont cancel them, when you cancel them it ****s up your credit, just shred them..........

 

[dbman150 5,000+ posts]

canceling them well not hurt your credit hving to many card well hurt you just pay them off and keep 1 or 2 and keep using them once or twice a month even if it just for a tank a gas just make sure you pay it off before your due date and youll be suprised at how you credit will rise

 

[roarzorz 10+ year member]

If they charge annual fees or any type of participation fees then cancel them. If not then leaveing them open w/ a $0 balance makes your credit look better. The higher your available credit the better your credit looks. This makes it easier to get more credit later on.

 

[Ignatowski 5,000+ posts]

Keep the oldest one.

NOt a bad idea

dont cancel them, when you cancel them it ****s up your credit, just shred them..........

Incorrect,canceling them will alow your credit score to go higher

MANY cards is BAD for your scores - I cancelled all but 2 cards and my score went up....

My score is in the high 700s

Credit Scoring is a game,play to win.......

 

[Chevillac 5,000+ posts]

If they charge annual fees or any type of participation fees then cancel them. If not then leaveing them open w/ a $0 balance makes your credit look better. The higher your available credit the better your credit looks. This makes it easier to get more credit later on.

This helps your ratio yes.

NOt a bad idea


Incorrect,canceling them will alow your credit score to go higher

MANY cards is BAD for your scores - I cancelled all but 2 cards and my score went up....

My score is in the high 700s

Credit Scoring is a game,play to win.......

How is it bad? It seemed to be great for my credit. I kept getting more cards and my score went up. I mean every credit card offer in the mail, I got it. I keep/kept a low balance on few of them and pay it on time, I had/have it down to a science.

I agree with the as long as there is no annual fee, keep them. I think I told someone the same thing a month ago on here.

 

[Ignatowski 5,000+ posts]

the more cards u have the more credit is given to you , making you apear to be more of a risk

call Expirian they tell ya

 

[tRidiot 10+ year member]

Having too MUCH available credit, especially for your income level, is considered risky by many lenders. They see it as the potential to run up 20, 30, even 100k of debt in a month's time and walk, or to simply overextend yourself during rough times.

Keeping a few cards (2-5) with the lowest interest rates, the best terms (no annual fee, etc.) won't hurt you. Asking for unused cards to be closed and reported to the bureau as "Account closed by customer" will not hurt your report (ALWAYS do all your communicating in writing and keep copies). Keep your oldest cards open if practical, to extend the average age of your credit lines. All of these things will help your score. Keeping your ratio down (balance vs. available credit) below 30% is also optimal, as well as having no card that is near it's max. If you've got 30k in available credit, but your lowest card with the $500 limit has $400 on it, it will hurt your score a small amount.

You don't have to use your cards 1-2x each per month... you basically want to use it a couple of times a year, so that you don't start setting off "non-use" flags by the credit grantor... they may periodically purge their accounts of people who never use their cards... why should they keep sending you statements and keeping your accounts open when they haven't made any money off you in 10 years? Just using it enough to keep it looking "active" (this varies by every company) should be enough. Some lenders don't care much about this.

 

[tRidiot 10+ year member]

call Expirian they tell ya

Never believe anything the CRAs (credit reporting agencies, like Transunion, Experian, or Equifax) tell you over the phone. And only believe half of what they tell you in writing.

Contrary to popular belief (or stated intent), the CRAs are not interested in helping you, they're interested in making money... they often collaborate with each other and various unscrupulous credit grantors and collection agencies to fleece the very people they are supposed to be protecting.

 

[roarzorz 10+ year member]

Contrary to popular belief (or stated intent), the CRAs are not interested in helping you, they're interested in making money... they often collaborate with each other and various unscrupulous credit grantors and collection agencies to fleece the very people they are supposed to be protecting.

Amen. All they do is track and sell people's personal information.

 

[tRidiot 10+ year member]

Absolutely.