One of the things your credit score looks at is the ratio of credit balances vs credit available. If you can keep that ratio under 25 or 30%, it helps your score.
Having lots of cards is not the problem..Have lots of card that are maxed out is…I have 25 cards I keep them always paid on time and always pay more than needed the keep the balance owed low if any!! My credit score is 810 Bet that!!
I am of the opinion you need one MasterCard or Visa and one AMEX card.
You get the occasional store card (Best Buy, Macy’s) becuase of the deals you get.
But basically two.
Your credit score is a function of the size of the credit line you have and the balance you have against your combined credit line. So two cards with $ 10,000 credit lines but no balance will be doing better than your four maxed out cards.
Keep it with a 0 balance. As long as it doesn’t have an annual fee you aren’t hurting yourself. Having more accounts (3-4 minimum, not more than 6-7 revolving accounts) helps you by giving a lender MORE evidence that you can manage your debts over a longer period of time. If a person has no late payments but only has one credit card with a 500 limit for the last 6 months – how do you know they are a good risk?
Cut up the card, but keep the account open.
One of the things your credit score looks at is the ratio of credit balances vs credit available. If you can keep that ratio under 25 or 30%, it helps your score.
I say three is enough
Having lots of cards is not the problem..Have lots of card that are maxed out is…I have 25 cards I keep them always paid on time and always pay more than needed the keep the balance owed low if any!! My credit score is 810 Bet that!!
I am of the opinion you need one MasterCard or Visa and one AMEX card.
You get the occasional store card (Best Buy, Macy’s) becuase of the deals you get.
But basically two.
Your credit score is a function of the size of the credit line you have and the balance you have against your combined credit line. So two cards with $ 10,000 credit lines but no balance will be doing better than your four maxed out cards.
Keep it with a 0 balance. As long as it doesn’t have an annual fee you aren’t hurting yourself. Having more accounts (3-4 minimum, not more than 6-7 revolving accounts) helps you by giving a lender MORE evidence that you can manage your debts over a longer period of time. If a person has no late payments but only has one credit card with a 500 limit for the last 6 months – how do you know they are a good risk?
Cards with low limits lower your score because it shows that someone doesn’t trust you with much debt. Get rid of both of the two 500s.