topic Re: OK need some help....To close accounts or not in Credit Cards

OK need some help....To close accounts or not

Anonymous — Sat, 21 Nov 2015 03:56:09 GMT

I know the rule is not to normally close an account but I think i got way to many and dont want to make a big flag along the line with a creditor...... I make 110k per year, my credit 1.5 years ago was in the low 400's ..... today they are in the 670's. i have the below cards a few of the store cards i use quite often but several i dont. would you close any and would they hurt my score by closing them. A few cards (visa , mc amex ) i was recently approved for would you do any balance transfers that would help my credit. I have never been late on anything below. 1 collection for $50 and one for $150 . zero balance paid charged off chase auto loan 4 years old, 15 recent inquiries across each. 30 total each.

King size Direct ( 1+ years old ...I use quite often $800 CL , owe $200)

Roman ( 1+ years old 550 cl owe $35 )

woman within (1+ yeard old 700 cl used for a while but no more 0 balance)

jessica london (1+ years old $700 cl 0 balance)

gold violin (1+ years old 0 balance, used 1x )

express (1+ years old 1200cl , 125 balance, use often

capital one (1+ years old partialy secured $550 cl o balance )

Discover It (1 year old secured 500cl o balance)

First premier bank (3 years old, 500 cl balance $400

bank of america CR (1 year old, 300cl balance 0 )

avenue ( 1 + year old 750cl balance 0)

loft ( 1 yr use often $200 balance)

buckle 1yr use often 0 balance

overstock 1 yr use often $25 balance

jcrew 1yr use often 0 balance

marisota 1 yr 800 cl o balance used a few times

simplybe 1 yr 800 cl o balance used a few times

Habband 1 yr 250cl 0 balance used 1x

appleseeds 1yr 550 cl use often 200 balance

fingerhut 1 yr 250 cl $50 balance

blair 1 yr 250cl 0 balance

brylane home 1 yr 750cl 0 balance

norm thompson 1 yr 250cl 0 balace

ny company 1 yr 250 cl o balance

Firestone 1 yr 1800cl 650 balance

Full Beauty 1 yr 500cl 0 balance

gettington 1 yr 200 cl 0 balance

credit one bank 6 months 400 cl 350 balance

NFCU n rewards 6 months 5000 cl 1700 balance

NFCU line of credit 6 mo 2000cl 0 balance

amazon card 2 months 750cl 300 balance

kohls 2 months 300cl 15 balance

Security Service FCU BMW loan new 20k

kay jewelers new 1500 cl 0 balance

cabellas visa 2 months 2000cl balance 125

lowes 2 months 350 cl balance 0

modells 1 yr 300cl 0 balance

amex blue everyday 1 month $4000 0 balance

Usaa Mastercard Brand new 2500cl o balance

continental finance surge 6 mo 500cl 250balance

continental finance verve 6 mo 500cl 0 balance

Re: OK need some help....To close accounts or not

FinStar — Sat, 21 Nov 2015 04:02:43 GMT

Re: OK need some help....To close accounts or not

CH-7-Mission-Accomplished — Sat, 21 Nov 2015 04:04:54 GMT

I would get rid of about 75% of these if it were me.

Start by closing the two Continental accounts, First Premier, Credit One and Fingerhut. These are all subprime and you don't need them. Then close all the store cards you rarely or never use. Then pause and reasses.

You are in with some decent lenders. I would work with the cards that have given you higher limits and get them even higher.

I did not calculate how much you owe in balances, but it didn't look like a whole lot. You should pay those off. If you ever have to carry a balance, you should not have store cards. They will charge you 27% and you could pay 10% to a credit union.

Re: OK need some help....To close accounts or not

Pway — Sat, 21 Nov 2015 04:05:56 GMT

No, it would not hurt to close the one's that you are not using or have no plans on using. That is a whole lot of store cards in your profile. Remember that after you close those accounts they remain on your reports for 10 years. If your utilization is high then yes your scores will be impacted but from what you have posted your scores will not really be affected.

Re: OK need some help....To close accounts or not

FinStar — Sat, 21 Nov 2015 04:13:57 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
I know the rule is not to normally close an account but I think i got way to many and dont want to make a big flag along the line with a creditor...... I make 110k per year, my credit 1.5 years ago was in the low 400's ..... today they are in the 670's. i have the below cards a few of the store cards i use quite often but several i dont. would you close any and would they hurt my score by closing them. A few cards (visa , mc amex ) i was recently approved for would you do any balance transfers that would help my credit. I have never been late on anything below. 1 collection for $50 and one for $150 . zero balance paid charged off chase auto loan 4 years old, 15 recent inquiries across each. 30 total each.

King size Direct ( 1+ years old ...I use quite often $800 CL , owe $200)
Roman ( 1+ years old 550 cl owe $35 )   Do you use this one frequently?
woman within (1+ yeard old 700 cl used for a while but no more 0 balance) This one can be closed
jessica london (1+ years old $700 cl 0 balance) Do you use this one frequently?
gold violin (1+ years old 0 balance, used 1x ) This one can be closed
express (1+ years old 1200cl , 125 balance, use often
capital one (1+ years old partialy secured $550 cl o balance ) Keep
Discover It (1 year old secured 500cl o balance) Keep
First premier bank (3 years old, 500 cl balance $400 This one can be closed once you pay the balance - you already have other decent major CCs
bank of america CR (1 year old, 300cl balance 0 )   Keep
avenue ( 1 + year old 750cl balance 0) Do you use this one frequently?
loft ( 1 yr use often $200 balance)
buckle 1yr use often 0 balance
overstock 1 yr use often $25 balance
jcrew 1yr use often 0 balance
marisota 1 yr 800 cl o balance used a few times Do you use this one frequently enough to keep?
simplybe 1 yr   800 cl o balance used a few times Do you use this one frequently enough to keep?
Habband 1 yr 250cl 0 balance used 1x This one can be closed
appleseeds 1yr 550 cl use often 200 balance
fingerhut 1 yr 250 cl $50 balance This one can be closed once you pay the balance - you already have other store and major CCs
blair 1 yr 250cl 0 balance This one can be closed
brylane home 1 yr 750cl 0 balance This one can be closed
norm thompson 1 yr 250cl 0 balace This one can be closed
ny company 1 yr 250 cl o balance This one can be closed
Firestone 1 yr 1800cl 650 balance
Full Beauty 1 yr 500cl 0 balance This one can be closed
gettington 1 yr 200 cl 0 balance This one can be closed
credit one bank 6 months 400 cl 350 balance This one can be closed - Most definitely
NFCU n rewards 6 months 5000 cl 1700 balance    Keep
NFCU line of credit 6 mo 2000cl 0 balance Keep
amazon card 2 months 750cl 300 balance Keep
kohls 2 months 300cl 15 balance Keep if you use it often
Security Service FCU BMW loan new 20k
kay jewelers new 1500 cl 0 balance   This one can be closed unless you're getting me a nice set of gifts
cabellas visa 2 months 2000cl balance 125 Keep
lowes 2 months 350 cl balance 0 Keep
modells 1 yr 300cl 0 balance Do you use this one frequently enough to keep?
amex blue everyday 1 month $4000 0 balance Keep
Usaa Mastercard Brand new 2500cl o balance Keep
continental finance surge 6 mo 500cl 250balance This one can be closed once you pay the balance - you already have other decent major CCs
continental finance verve 6 mo 500cl 0 balance This one can be closed - you already have other decent major CCs

Ok, my fingers hurt a little bit but this is kind of a starting place. Others can chime in on other strategies that might work. Ultimately, you would need to decide what makes sense financially for you but sometime with so many open store cards and several balances floating around can drag your scores and potential growth.

Re: OK need some help....To close accounts or not

Anonymous — Sat, 21 Nov 2015 04:16:30 GMT

thats what i was thinking to, but how about hurting the average age of accounts. also now that i have recently got some decent credit cards with limits, i dont want them to close them for having to many credit cards.

thank you i really appreceate the input guys, I could not have got this far without ya'll ..... and the one great thing about the store cards, it is what helped my score get so high in the first place and they have done what they needed to do.

Re: OK need some help....To close accounts or not

Anonymous — Sat, 21 Nov 2015 04:17:58 GMT

every one you asked if i use freq......... the answer is NO lol

Re: OK need some help....To close accounts or not

Anonymous — Sat, 21 Nov 2015 04:19:15 GMT

Keep 3-5 cards and never close them. I keep my oldest accounts open and close everything else after collecting the new account bonus. My score remains high and I can take advantage of the new bonuses. There is no reason to keep more than 5 credit cards at any given time.

Re: OK need some help....To close accounts or not

Anonymous — Sat, 21 Nov 2015 04:21:13 GMT

Credit One, First Premier Bank and BOTH Continential Finance accounts.

Re: OK need some help....To close accounts or not

FinStar — Sat, 21 Nov 2015 04:21:56 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
thats what i was thinking to, but how about hurting the average age of accounts. also now that i have recently got some decent credit cards with limits, i dont want them to close them for having to many credit cards.

thank you i really appreceate the input guys, I could not have got this far without ya'll ..... and the one great thing about the store cards, it is what helped my score get so high in the first place and they have done what they needed to do.

Your AAoA will not be impacted since your closed accounts will still remain on your reports, albeit closed, but with positive history for up to 10 years.

Do it in small steps since you're essentially reducing the available credit as you close accounts. Get some of those lingering balances paid 1st, then work your way down the line. And, true, those cards that have helped you with building your overall profile to this stage have served their purpose.

Re: OK need some help....To close accounts or not

Anonymous — Sat, 21 Nov 2015 04:27:16 GMT

Important note.....average age of accounts only applies to open accounts. When I closed all my accounts except for my 3 oldest, my score went UP!

Re: OK need some help....To close accounts or not

OMW2_HighAcheiver — Sat, 21 Nov 2015 04:28:10 GMT

.......I just...... 😧😩😞😒

Re: OK need some help....To close accounts or not

Anonymous — Sat, 21 Nov 2015 04:28:48 GMT

never thought i would say this....... but i cant wait to call comeinity in the morning

Re: OK need some help....To close accounts or not

FinStar — Sat, 21 Nov 2015 04:32:59 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
Important note.....average age of accounts only applies to open accounts. When I closed all my accounts except for my 3 oldest, my score went UP!

Sorry, that's incorrect - AAoA applies to both open AND closed accounts. Closing accounts reduces available credit so it's important not to have a high utilization (or close any card with a balance); otherwise scores can suffer.

Re: OK need some help....To close accounts or not

Anonymous — Sat, 21 Nov 2015 04:38:19 GMT

i was considering transfering the balance from some of the cards that i owe money on to the usaa card as they have 0% on balance transfers, so for a few months the utilization will be high on that card , does that mean i should hold off on closing a few right away, and just close a couple each month.

Re: OK need some help....To close accounts or not

FinStar — Sat, 21 Nov 2015 04:46:21 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
i was considering transfering the balance from some of the cards that i owe money on to the usaa card as they have 0% on balance transfers, so for a few months the utilization will be high on that card , does that mean i should hold off on closing a few right away, and just close a couple each month.

Just close a couple each month (more if you can) and try not to max the CL with the BT on USAA. And,if your utilization is going to run a bit high on your USAA, try to make decent sized payments on the balance. I'm assuming you're not applying for a mortgage anytime soon so your scores may take a bit of a dip but will recover over time. Keep in mind that for scoring, FICO has no memory on utilization so you can potentially see some bumps in your scores as you pay your balances down. Check your CRs frequently to see the progress since it takes a while for some cards to report the correct balances.

Re: OK need some help....To close accounts or not

Anonymous — Sat, 21 Nov 2015 04:53:31 GMT

@FinStar wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:
Important note.....average age of accounts only applies to open accounts. When I closed all my accounts except for my 3 oldest, my score went UP!
Sorry, that's incorrect - AAoA applies to both open AND closed accounts. Closing accounts reduces available credit so it's important not to have a high utilization (or close any card with a balance); otherwise scores can suffer.

Not in my experience. FICO, Credit Karma, and Credit Sesame all increased significantly by closing newer accounts. Also Credit Karma specifically identifies average age of OPEN accounts as primary driver of credit scores.

Re: OK need some help....To close accounts or not

Anonymous — Sat, 21 Nov 2015 05:04:19 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:

Not in my experience. FICO, Credit Karma, and Credit Sesame all increased significantly by closing newer accounts. Also Credit Karma specifically identifies average age of OPEN accounts as primary driver of credit scores.

Yes, VantageScore only takes the age of open accounts into consideration, but lenders don't use VantageScore.... FICO applies AAoA to every account on your file.

Re: OK need some help....To close accounts or not

FinStar — Sat, 21 Nov 2015 05:09:11 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
@FinStar wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:
Important note.....average age of accounts only applies to open accounts. When I closed all my accounts except for my 3 oldest, my score went UP!
Sorry, that's incorrect - AAoA applies to both open AND closed accounts. Closing accounts reduces available credit so it's important not to have a high utilization (or close any card with a balance); otherwise scores can suffer.

Not in my experience. FICO, Credit Karma, and Credit Sesame all increased significantly by closing newer accounts. Also Credit Karma specifically identifies average age of OPEN accounts as primary driver of credit scores.

Credit Karma is whack when it comes to scoring algorithms since their scores are based primarily on open account history (their AAOA version). Their scores are FAKO and used by some as educational barometers. FICO algorithms don't work that way. Similarly, Credit Sesame derives FAKO scores. While it's possible your FICO scores may have increased with some account closures, keep in mind there are rebucketing factors as well. But, for the sake of clarification, FICO counts closed accounts and open accounts in their algorithm for AAoA, which are the true, actual scores.

Re: OK need some help....To close accounts or not

Anonymous — Sat, 21 Nov 2015 05:18:02 GMT

Not going to argue any further; do whatever works for you; I'm just letting the OP know what worked for me. All scores, including FICO purchased directly fromm myfico increased significantly after closing newer accounts. I don't carry credit card balances so utilization wouldn't have been a factor.