@veracious wrote:
@Juan123 wrote:only one with an AF is my cap1 at $19 a year i make around $32k a year at my job. and my scores are 644eq and 652 on TU. not sure EX.
i dont make much but its more then enough for me while in school. i do live on my own though so a few added expenses there.
Hi Juan123,
At present your debt to income ratio on revolving credit is approx 9%. You should lower this ratio by paying down your cards, one by oneif you can. If your goal is to aquire higher credit limits over time, remember that you are paying interest while carrying debt.
In other words, the ability to carry higher debt should not be your goal. I would keep the cards you have, and I would garden for a while.
Later you can save a few dollars in a savings account with a credit union and proceed from there.
I for one believe that, banks, credit unions,etc. somehow know that you are a "saver".
This has been my experience, at least. I think there is some data out there that credit grantors,banks etc., share about your
saving habits as well. Good luck.
+1
@Juan123 wrote:Hey guys, just wondering if anyone can help me with some guidance or helpful advice. I'm currently a 22 year old full time student and have an ok full time job as a banker.
My total credit card debt is only about $2600 with a 32% utilzitation (i know its high
) the problem is.. i have now 12 open credit cards
i'll list the cards from oldest to newest with the limits.
Capital one card - $500 limit 3 years and 9 months old
Discover card - $500 limit 3 years old
Capital one card - $750 limit 2 years and 8 months old.
Old navy card - $500 limit 2 years old
Best buy card - $500 limit 1 year old
Carecredit - $1300 limit 1 year old
Macys card - (unknown limit) 9 months old
Amazon card - $800 limit 2-3 months old
Paypal smart connect - $600 limit 1-2 months old
walmart card - $750 limit 1 month old
Citibank Card - $1000 limit less then a month old
Kay jewelers card - $1000 limit less then a month old (actually was reopened but i guess will show as new card)
7 of the 12 cards have balances the rest are 0 balance and are in my sock drawer.
i have 0 baddies on my CR, the average age on my accounts show as about 1 year and 7months. and like i said before the util is about 32%
So.... what should i do? close cards? keep them open and just leave them 0 balance? did i go too crazy too soon?!?!?!? any help would be greatly appreciated thanks!
I think you mentioned you're in school. So you'll be moving on to bigger and better things fairly soon. You have a rather decent collection other than the one card with an AF. The rest can work for your future credit worthiness really. You have a couple of prime cards now, the Discover and Citi. That's a good start. Your Walmart store card can grow with you if you use the LUV button every 4th statement (even if you're not using it, it will help you later with your score and history). Same for your PayPal SC. Remember, high limits beget high limits, so eventually your Discover will probably CLI on you without request. If you use them properly, use the "LUV" for soft pull CLI's, you should see a nice score, history and respectable limits when you eventually need to shop for a mortgage etc. Also, it will look good to future employers.
Then thing I'd seriously consider changing would be dumping the one AF card and replacing it with an AMEX Zync, it's a 25$ AF but any AMEX cards you get later will back date to that cards opening date (you'll be grateful for this 10 or more years down the road). That's why I consider AMEX to be one of the few cards out there worth an annual fee, they actually tend to give you something in return for it. Frankly, I THINK if you got the Zync this month, all other cards later would consider 2011 to be your opening date. Just food for thought and the future.
Other than keeping tabs on them, they're not going to cause you any problems and they will thicken your credit file for later in life. Other than paying them down and dumping the 1 AF card in favor of an AMEX (Zync is easiest with the lowest AF), I don't think you have much to be concerned about.
