libby i think tim was trying to tell you that you should re-open the account you closed...if it was in good standing as you say then that history will benefit you not hurt you....just because you have an open account doesn't mean you have to use it...it just helps with having credit and showing you don't need it to survive....
as far as your consolidation i don't know if that would help your scores but it might help you maintain a better handle on your credit card situation, lower APR, lower credit line, 1 payment, etc...something you have to consider personally for yourself...
something else tim was trying to point out is that when it comes to credit cards your utilization percentage should be low across the board....i don't have any links to post(i'm lazy this morning) but there is lots of information on this web site concerning utilization....
the point is you just need to keep it down....so if you have a 20k card and your balance is 14k then your UTI is very high= 70%, that hurts your credit scores....if you have multiple cards you have to do a calculation to figure out what your total UTI is on your accounts....
hopefully that made some sense...
as far as your consolidation i don't know if that would help your scores but it might help you maintain a better handle on your credit card situation, lower APR, lower credit line, 1 payment, etc...something you have to consider personally for yourself...
something else tim was trying to point out is that when it comes to credit cards your utilization percentage should be low across the board....i don't have any links to post(i'm lazy this morning) but there is lots of information on this web site concerning utilization....
the point is you just need to keep it down....so if you have a 20k card and your balance is 14k then your UTI is very high= 70%, that hurts your credit scores....if you have multiple cards you have to do a calculation to figure out what your total UTI is on your accounts....
hopefully that made some sense...
libby~ first things first, let me explain just say i don't honestly know how bad closing an account could hurt your credit. However, because you closed an account, even though it was your choice, it just doesn't allow for lenders to see you have a revolving line of credit history. They see a closed account with a zero balance. Someone else may be able to explain this a little better. I closed an account I had since 2001 and was always on time, paid more than the minimum, etc. It would be nice for lenders to see that great history. Instead they look at a zero balance and closed account when they pull it up.
Let's look at your situation:
-paid off cc and closed, in good standing, however your UTL was about 58%, very high and this would reflect poorly on your credit, especially if you kept your UTL up this high for a lengthy period of time, it would show you could not effectively pay for your credit and could not show you had some restraint on using as much of it as you could, regardless of why you personally did it, they don't care
-your current balance of 3750 is about 95% UTL of your CL- bad
-your current balance of 14,000, i do not understand where this resides since you closed the BOA account, is this a new account and you just transferred the balance to a new card? if so, what is your CL on that card? just a little more info please.
*** i wouldn't use your discover card for anything just yet since you want to work with one thing at a time.
-now if your considering another consolidation then that may be a bad idea for now, keep in mind that every time you consolidate you are probably dropping your score because your taking from peter to pay paul so to speak
-i was in a similar situation but i only did one consolidation with 2 accounts but my first months payment i cut my UTL down to about 25% which was great compared to what i had the previous month of about 65% on 3 accounts
just remember for getting your credit/scores moving up you want to pay things on time, never late, pay more than the minimum if you can, keep your UTL on ALL revolving cc accounts to a minimum, some people say anywhere between 1 to 5% but realistically when your trying to get things in a more controlled situation you can't always do that.....if you have a 20, 30, even 40% UTL that is still better than a 50 or 60% UTL, just try to get them down as soon as you can
i applaud the processes of what your trying to accomplish, reducing an APR and consolidating can be very good tools to help get your credit cards under control, just don't shoot the head off the horse because he isn't moving, since you cannot re-open the account then i would suggest 1st in trying to get your APR's reduced, if you can't do that then you may want to consider your consolidation method
oh, and when you pay those cards off, do not close them, unless they have an AF that is really hurting you, most of the time i think it's still wise to at least keep them open so your history is there on your CR, cut up the card but don't close the accounts if you have a hard time managing your credit, if your ok then just keep the cards tucked away and only use them in emergencies or when you need to put a little credit on them so they don't seem as though your inactive, that can be a bad thing too, not using your credit
i hope i haven't confused you, i'm still learning myself but if someone else wants to chime in on this then please do so, i'm sure libby could use some insight...keep your head up and stay focused! you will get where you want to be!
Let's look at your situation:
-paid off cc and closed, in good standing, however your UTL was about 58%, very high and this would reflect poorly on your credit, especially if you kept your UTL up this high for a lengthy period of time, it would show you could not effectively pay for your credit and could not show you had some restraint on using as much of it as you could, regardless of why you personally did it, they don't care
-your current balance of 3750 is about 95% UTL of your CL- bad
-your current balance of 14,000, i do not understand where this resides since you closed the BOA account, is this a new account and you just transferred the balance to a new card? if so, what is your CL on that card? just a little more info please.
*** i wouldn't use your discover card for anything just yet since you want to work with one thing at a time.
-now if your considering another consolidation then that may be a bad idea for now, keep in mind that every time you consolidate you are probably dropping your score because your taking from peter to pay paul so to speak
-i was in a similar situation but i only did one consolidation with 2 accounts but my first months payment i cut my UTL down to about 25% which was great compared to what i had the previous month of about 65% on 3 accounts
just remember for getting your credit/scores moving up you want to pay things on time, never late, pay more than the minimum if you can, keep your UTL on ALL revolving cc accounts to a minimum, some people say anywhere between 1 to 5% but realistically when your trying to get things in a more controlled situation you can't always do that.....if you have a 20, 30, even 40% UTL that is still better than a 50 or 60% UTL, just try to get them down as soon as you can
i applaud the processes of what your trying to accomplish, reducing an APR and consolidating can be very good tools to help get your credit cards under control, just don't shoot the head off the horse because he isn't moving, since you cannot re-open the account then i would suggest 1st in trying to get your APR's reduced, if you can't do that then you may want to consider your consolidation method
oh, and when you pay those cards off, do not close them, unless they have an AF that is really hurting you, most of the time i think it's still wise to at least keep them open so your history is there on your CR, cut up the card but don't close the accounts if you have a hard time managing your credit, if your ok then just keep the cards tucked away and only use them in emergencies or when you need to put a little credit on them so they don't seem as though your inactive, that can be a bad thing too, not using your credit
i hope i haven't confused you, i'm still learning myself but if someone else wants to chime in on this then please do so, i'm sure libby could use some insight...keep your head up and stay focused! you will get where you want to be!
