I have like 3 CCs that I used for the 0% term, paid off and they’ve had $0 balances for like 6 mos…should I keep the accounts open or close them…what effects, if any will this have on my credit/credit score
if you don’t plan on using them, then close them. i just got my credit report and it had like 100 open $0 accounts. i guess it’s a bad thing.
having avaiable credit is a good thing…
good thing for what?
good and bad … they also see it as a risk of how much you could theoreticaly go in debt if you chose to be a scumbag
when you go to take out loans…
i think bubblesparks can shed more light on this…
I should note that I also have an 80Kish mortgage
If you’re going to close them, don’t do them all at once - that’s bad for your credit.
Keeping accounts longer is better for your credit then keeping accounts for a short amount of time. Same concept as when a bank looks at your time-on-the-job when you apply. Longer comitments = more stability.
What’s the total time you have with each of them?
I’ve had my AMEX for like 2 years, 1 Visa for under a year, and 1 visa for about 2 years…combined credit limit of around 18K
I haven’t closed an account in almost a year…and that acct was open from 6/03 until 9/05…I guess I shouldn’t have closed that shit since the limit was like 20K
So basically I should just keep the accts open…and if I don’t want to use them shred the cards?
shredding doesnt eliminate the possiblity of identity theft. just keep it in mind.
Well you might forget about them if you do that. Like I have an express credit card that I’ve used maybe twice but I’ve had it more than 5 years now with no balance. If it wasn’t for the fact I wrote it down I would have forgot about it.
You’ve had them for about a year, maybe close out one starting with the newest one (the visa under one year) and over the next year close out the rest ending with the one you’ve had the most time with. Or keep the one with the lowest rate the longest and after some time with no balance, call them up and ask for a lower rate.
neither does closing the accounts…shredding does however eliminate the possibility of me using the cards
Fo sure…Having my credit fucked up but not owing any money > actually owing $12K worth of shit @ 18%
yea keep some open but don’t keep them all. even if you have nothing on any of them, they add up the credit lines to see potentially how much you could go in debt over nite. i would keep the one with the best rate, and the one that you’ve had the longest
I could potentially take out a Home Equity Line and do way more damage
i’m just telling you thats how it is lol my uncle is a loan manager at hsbc, i don’t think he’d lie to me
I’ll close the visa i got at Circuit when I bought the TV…
the credit bureaus are pretty shady when it comes to their magic formula for calculating credit scores. the best way to look at the meaning of credit scores is that they are a report card for your fiscal performance / potential fiscal responsibilty.
The largest portion of a credit score is made up of payment history - lates / charge offs are the biggest culprits when it comes to hurting scores. The rest of the score is comprised of amount of extended credit, as well as duration of credit history.
Is it better for you to close up credit lines you don’t use? Its hard to say - it depends on how much outstanding credit you have in total. But if you’ve had a credit line open for over 7 years, I would probably not close that.
Although credit bureaus do not have any knowledge what your income is, statistics based on your zip code, your work zip code, and your age, will help determine what your potential max credit worthiness is.
Oh - and mortgage payments and car lease / purchase payments are great ways to build / establish / repair bad credit.
So, is there a rule book on good/bad credit somewhere? The guidelines? Are we all supposed to guess…
Also, is there an easy way to find the credit score out, or how good/bad standing our credit is?
They make it pretty tough, considering its a very important thing! :tdown: