General Credit Topics

[LAttimer]

Currently, my credit is quite low due to a closed credi card account (paid off in fll, though late), and two utility companies that I just found out had never been paid and have since closed the account (profit and loss writeoff) because my roomates in college never paid a few months of bills in my name after I left. I am still in school and I generally rack up pretty hefty CC debt during the school year and then pay it off gradually over the summer while I am working. Currently, I am at at about 90-95% of my CC max. This will be dropped down to 75% in a week, and so on over the summer. Would it benefit me to get another card that I rarely use in order to increase my total available credit? I have had my current card for about 6 months and have already received an increase and cannot receive one at this time. Thanks for your help.

[dog]

sounds like a good idea to me....just make sure to keep it at 1-9%....you might even want to try for a couple that you keep at that status. 

[motoracer]

dog is totally right remember your revolving accounts are 33% of your score

[dog]

you might wanna search the forums to find a couple of cards that you are more likely to qualify for....them thar' amex delta skymiles gold, amex starwood, and amex hilton hhonors seem to do well if you have good ex scores and no bk.

[fused]

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LAttimer wrote:
Currently, my credit is quite low due to a closed credi card account (paid off in fll, though late), and two utility companies that I just found out had never been paid and have since closed the account (profit and loss writeoff) because my roomates in college never paid a few months of bills in my name after I left. I am still in school and I generally rack up pretty hefty CC debt during the school year and then pay it off gradually over the summer while I am working. Currently, I am at at about 90-95% of my CC max. This will be dropped down to 75% in a week, and so on over the summer. Would it benefit me to get another card that I rarely use in order to increase my total available credit? I have had my current card for about 6 months and have already received an increase and cannot receive one at this time. Thanks for your help.

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Nice of you to join!  High utilization on credits cards is really bad for your scores.  Learn more by reading Tuscani's credit scoring 101 thread below.  Feel free to come back and ask us questions.

http://ficoforums.myfico.com/fico/board/message?board.id=ficoscoring&thread.id=2654