Credit Cards

[creditwherecreditisdue]

And if I had 5 revolving TL's and closing this one would take me to 4, meaning that I could only carry a balance on 1 card rather than 2 without taking a UTIL hit, I might end up very sorry that I closed it. Even if the CL is of not much use the open TL just might be. If there is no AF don't close it, period!

[necie83]

Good point I didn't think about this.  Like I said all of this is still fairly new to me.  If I close the Chase card it would take me to 2 revolving TL's.  Maybe I will keep the card and just not use it.  This card doesn't have an AF.  Also, I closed an Household bank account earlier this year because of the AF.  Thanks for your input.  I didn't think about this earlier.

[creditwherecreditisdue]

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necie83 wrote:

Good point I didn't think about this.  Like I said all of this is still fairly new to me.  If I close the Chase card it would take me to 2 revolving TL's.  Maybe I will keep the card and just not use it.  This card doesn't have an AF.  Also, I closed an Household bank account earlier this year because of the AF.  Thanks for your input.  I didn't think about this earlier.

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You're most welcome. Have a great night!

[ExcellCR]

3 open. 5 closed by me. 3 of which I closed this yr. No effect on scores. I can use 1/mo which utilizes ea card every 3 mos if I want. Rarely ovr 10% util. I can count on 1 hand how many mos ovr the magical 10% in yrs. PIF

Message Edited by ExcellCR on 08-11-2009 01:45 AM

[creditwherecreditisdue]

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ExcellCR wrote:
3 open. 5 closed by me. 3 of which I closed this yr. No effect on scores. I can use 1/mo which utilizes ea card every 3 mos if I want. Rarely ovr 10% util. I can count on 1 hand how many mos ovr the magical 10% in yrs. PIF

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A) That's you and not necessarily everyone who may be reading.

B) It is 1% to 9% total UTIL -AND- less than half of your revolving TL's reporting balances -AND- half or less of all TL's reporting balances. Do otherwise and you get a UTIL hit.

Open but unused TL's can be very useful. Being a minimalist can cost you FICO points.

Message Edited by creditwherecreditisdue on 08-11-2009 01:54 AM

[ExcellCR]

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creditwherecreditisdue wrote:

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ExcellCR wrote:
3 open. 5 closed by me. 3 of which I closed this yr. No effect on scores. I can use 1/mo which utilizes ea card every 3 mos if I want. Rarely ovr 10% util. I can count on 1 hand how many mos ovr the magical 10% in yrs. PIF

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A) That's you and not necessarily everyone who may be reading.

B) It is 1% to 9% total UTIL -AND- less than half of your revolving TL's reporting balances -AND- half or less of all TL's reporting balances. Do otherwise and you get a UTIL hit.

Open but unused TL's can be very useful. Being a minimalist can cost you FICO points.

Message Edited by creditwherecreditisdue on 08-11-2009 01:54 AM

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  Obviously it's me.  I'm the one who wrote the post.  No one's particular circumstances necessarily matches anyone else's exactly.  And yes I knew ideally it's up to 9%.  But FYI I have temporarily had 29% util previously and still had FICOs in the excellent range.  And if you do the math, 1 is less than half of 3.  And like I said I can use 1.  It's all how you manage credit.  Since I've been checking FICOs I have never had a score under the excellent range.  Yes unused TL's can be useful until a creditor closes them for lack of use and then another creditor does a manual review of your credit reports, especially in these times, and then they take adverse action on you because an issuer rather than you the consumer closed your acct.  A mortgage company might ask about acct closed by issuer where you could explain.  I doubt if Joe credit card company is going to contact me ahead of time to ask why an acct was closed by an issuer.  But carry on... 

[cobaltnv]

I have a number of accounts which have been "closer by credit grantor". This has had no effect on my credit scores and has been no concern under any manual review.

[PurpleHaze]

Hey folks, the underlying tone in your posts is not necessary. We all have opinions and knowledge to share - and different things work for different people. Remember to play nice in the sandbox.

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ExcellCR wrote:

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creditwherecreditisdue wrote:

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ExcellCR wrote:
3 open. 5 closed by me. 3 of which I closed this yr. No effect on scores. I can use 1/mo which utilizes ea card every 3 mos if I want. Rarely ovr 10% util. I can count on 1 hand how many mos ovr the magical 10% in yrs. PIF

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A) That's you and not necessarily everyone who may be reading.

B) It is 1% to 9% total UTIL -AND- less than half of your revolving TL's reporting balances -AND- half or less of all TL's reporting balances. Do otherwise and you get a UTIL hit.

Open but unused TL's can be very useful. Being a minimalist can cost you FICO points.

Message Edited by creditwherecreditisdue on 08-11-2009 01:54 AM

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  Obviously it's me.  I'm the one who wrote the post.  No one's particular circumstances necessarily matches anyone else's exactly.  And yes I knew ideally it's up to 9%.  But FYI I have temporarily had 29% util previously and still had FICOs in the excellent range.  And if you do the math, 1 is less than half of 3.  And like I said I can use 1.  It's all how you manage credit.  Since I've been checking FICOs I have never had a score under the excellent range.  Yes unused TL's can be useful until a creditor closes them for lack of use and then another creditor does a manual review of your credit reports, especially in these times, and then they take adverse action on you because an issuer rather than you the consumer closed your acct.  A mortgage company might ask about acct closed by issuer where you could explain.  I doubt if Joe credit card company is going to contact me ahead of time to ask why an acct was closed by an issuer.  But carry on... 

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[ExcellCR]

Cobal... I never said it affects the score. But what was the point of allowing them to sit until the issuer closed them? Sure they remain on your report for 10 yrs But by then, they'll drop off anyway and newer accts will have aged by that time anyway. Why take the chance that it does have a negative effect with another issuer? But then seems to me a lot of folks who aren't applying for a mortgage or something similar are overly concerned if their FICO takes a temp little hit. Don't be a slave to the small fluctuations. Multiple accts that you don't need? My self worth does not evolve around my number of opens. Nor whether my FICO is 760 or 810. Use credit wisely and relax a bit everyone.

Purple... Sorry for any sand I threw!

Message Edited by ExcellCR on 08-11-2009 11:57 AM

[cobaltnv]

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ExcellCR wrote:
Cobal... I never said it affects the score. But what was the point of allowing them to sit until the issuer closed them? Sure they remain on your report for 10 yrs But by then, they'll drop off anyway and newer accts will have aged by that time anyway. Why take the chance that it does have a negative effect with another issuer? But then seems to me a lot of folks who aren't applying for a mortgage or something similar are overly concerned if their FICO takes a temp little hit. Don't be a slave to the small fluctuations. Multiple accts that you don't need? My self worth does not evolve around my number of opens. Nor whether my FICO is 760 or 810. Use credit wisely and relax a bit everyone.

Purple... Sorry for any sand I threw!

Message Edited by ExcellCR on 08-11-2009 11:57 AM

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Hi ExcellCR,

  I know you never said it would be a score hit, but there are many on here that believe there is one. The benefit in keeping the CL dormant is the added age. As I am sure you know AAoA is a very large portion of your credit score as is utilization. Keeping an account open that you do not use helps in both these areas. The increase in age can be quite large. For example, just this week I noticed that one of the cards I never use closed--not a big deal. What is a big deal is that the last time I used this card was 2003. That means I have an extra 6 years of age on that card (which will stay on my report for another ~10 years). I know this is not for everyone, but it is an option.

The other comment I will make is with regards to your statement that by the time an account drops off others will have aged in its place. This is true only for those who only infrequently open accounts. If one is constantly adding new accounts than having older nicely aged accounts is much more important.

I do agree that many of use obsess a bit too much about our scores--even if we are not applying for anything soon, but there are worse habits to have. 

Finally, I will add that comments like "My self worth does not evolve around my number of opens." should be used cautiously as they can be easily misconstrued as demeaning and are likely to incite anger in some who read them.