Paid off my Chase card today!!! Now what?

[Anonymous]

After several years of carrying a balance on my Chase Freedom card (high balance was over $4,000), I finally paid it off today! Now the only credit card debt I have is a balance of $370 on my Roomplace card, which I'll pay off next month.

My FICO score is 781. I don't have any huge purchases coming up- I bought a car a year and a half ago, and don't intend to buy a house anytime soon. I'll have student loan debt for a while, but I've accepted that. I'm now focusing on building up savings/ paying off car.

I'm considering closing some of my credit accounts. I know most people say not to do so, but I have a lot of accounts with pretty high limits, and almost no utilization. I've had other accounts close on their own- I never used Sears and Macys, so they closed themselves (each had a very small limit), and my Target visa ($3k limit) closed itself when I transferred my balance to my Chase card.

Chase Rewards- CL $16500

Chase Leisure- CL $13000

Gap CL $250 (I occasionally charge about $30 and then pay it off)

Roomplace CL $5000 (balance of $370)

Express CL $400

Questions:

1. Can I close the Chase Rewards (it has a longer history and higher limit, but a 22% interest rate, so I'm not going to use it. EVER. I don't even currently have an activated card for it.)

2. Express has my 2nd longest history, but I haven't used it in 2 years. If I need to put something on credit at that store, I use my chase. Can I close it?

3. Do I need to keep charging small amounts on the Chase freedom and pay them off every month? If I don't, will it drastically hurt my score?

I'm so happy to finally be in a good position ith my credit, and I want to keep it that way! Any advice for my next step would be appreciated!

[DI]

Congrats!  Leave them all open and don't apply for anything else.  The score will take care of itself. 

[Watchmann]

Don't be surprised if they CLD you.  I had a long term BT on Chase ($20,000) that I paid off at $500/mo because the interest rate was so low.  A month after I paid it off last year they decreased my CL from $37,900 to $8,300.  And my FICO score is higher than yours.  So anything can happen.  You won't get any kudo's from Chase. 

[MarineVietVet]

With your high score there is no need to change or cancel anything. Keep everything open and sit back and let it all age.

From a BK years ago to:
7/09 TU-742 EQ- 779
8/09 TU-765 EQ- 783
9/09 EX pulled by lender 802

You can do the same thing with hard work.

[Anonymous]

So, if I don't close any of my accounts, it's good.

Do I need to occasionally use/immediately pay off any of these cards, or will my score stay pretty much where it is? If so, how often do I need to use the card?

[Jazzzy]

I try to use each card every 3 mos to show a bit of activity. Another thing I've done is put a book club on one card and Netflix on another. I pay them off online as soon as the charge shows up.

If a card doesn't have an annual fee, there's no harm in keeping it open. Be sure you monitor them online occassionally...you want to make sure there are no surprise annual fees or inactivity fees added without your knowledge. Don't let one of your inactive cards cause a late payment because of a surprise fee.

[MarineVietVet]

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@Anonymous wrote:

So, if I don't close any of my accounts, it's good.

Do I need to occasionally use/immediately pay off any of these cards, or will my score stay pretty much where it is? If so, how often do I need to use the card?

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What I do is have each of my cards set up to automatically pay a recurring monthly expense such as electric, water, etc. That way I don't have to remember which card needs to be used this month to keep it active. This system works very well for me.

[Uborrow-Upay]

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@MarineVietVet wrote:

With your high score there is no need to change or cancel anything. Keep everything open and sit back and let it all age.

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+1

Also, +1 LynetteM's advice re:small, recurring charges to keep activity.

[BungalowMo]

Now what??  Well....you can always pay off MY Chase card!! 

jk....congrats on the pay off!