How many credit cards look 'good' on

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-08-2005
How many credit cards look 'good' on
3
Tue, 02-28-2006 - 10:02am

credit report?

We have so many and I am in the process of closing alot of them. Here are the ones Im keeping:

Amazon Chase - $11000 balance - $12000 credit line (I might close this though)
Citibank - 0 balance - $25000 credit line (have had this for 10 yrs, so keeping)
Upromise - 0 balance - $15200 credit line (use this for the upromise rewards)
5/3 Bank - 0 balance - $12100 credit line
Capital One - 0 balance - $20000 credit line (on the fence about this one)

Ones I have closed so far, all have 0 balance:

Target - $500 credit line (this makes me cry, but I had to do it)
Fashion Bug - $500 credit line
Charles Schwab - $13500 credit line
Discover - $5300 credit line
Chase Disney - $4000 credit line
Chase Platinum - $10,000 credit line
HH Gregg - $6000 credit line

These I have yet to close, but plan to..all 0 balance:

Providian - $8000 credit line
Charles Schwab - $20000 credit line
Circuit City - $6000 credit line
Radio Shack - $1200 credit line

So, is what Im keeping too much or not enough? Should I close Amazon and Capital One or keep them?

I dont know how all these credit cards came our way..we never used half of them.

iVillage Member
Registered: 01-25-2006
Tue, 02-28-2006 - 1:27pm

I am in the same boat and trying to figure out what to do. I'll tell you my current strategy and you can apply as you see fit. :)

I have a crazy number of cards too and like you, never used some of them. You have already mentioned one thing to consider and that's the fact that you should keep your oldest card open. The other thing is that you want to keep that balance to available credit limit ratio pretty low. If you close everything you are considering, it is going to raise that ratio substantially. I decided to close stuff that would still keep me with a ratio below 10%. In other words, you would need to keep about 110k in available credit open for now until you pay it down.

I had an email interchange with my mortgage lady because I wanted to hear her take on this in light of the fact that I would like a mortgage in 2007. She said to close unused accounts. I am going to start closing down a few over the next few months and then pull a credit score in the summer and see where I stand. Depending on those results I may close some more.

HTH!

Peg

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-27-2003
Tue, 02-28-2006 - 2:58pm

Peg's already given you some good suggestions, but I want to add that you should keep at least one, probably two, of your oldest cards. Credit bureaus like to see a nice, long relationship with creditors.

Then, it seems like they also like to see a mix of types (I can't imagine why), so it's probably a good idea to leave open one or two store cards.

Then, of course, make sure you leave plenty of "open" credit so your debt-to-available credit ratio isn't too high (as Peg said).

Beyond that, I think three to four cards is probably about right, plus one reasonably recent non-revolving loan (like a car loan)--although, personally, once my car is paid off I plan never to have an installment loan again. But for the sake of credit ratings, they do like to see an occasional installment plan.

Anyway, I think it's great that you're working on this. As for me, though--I'm headed out (again) into the GORGEOUS weather we're having here today. Upper 60s! :)

Blessings,

Heather

Avatar for endomagazine
iVillage Member
Registered: 11-09-2004
Wed, 03-01-2006 - 10:09am

Hello,

Personally, I would suggest asking your oldest card for a credit limit increase. Then close unused cards that are "younger" than that card. As long as your credit to debt ratio is pretty low, your credit score will not dip much.

I intend to keep my oldest credit card open even after it's zeroed out, then ask for regular credit limit increases, after I've cut up the card. =)

Once we've paid off our mortgage and all credit card debt, (planned in 3 years or less!) I won't keep any credit cards open. I don't plan to add any more debt to our finances if I don't need to.

Sincerely,
Lindsey Schocke

Sincerely,
Lindsey Schocke

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