topic Re: Closing Credit Card Accounts in Credit Cards

Closing Credit Card Accounts

Anonymous — Thu, 14 Jul 2016 16:52:18 GMT

I need a little advice on if/how I should go about closing out some of my credit cards. I currently have 7 credit cards and there are 4 that I really want to get rid of. I got some of these after trying to rebuild my credit and no longer feel they are needed and the annual fees are not wanted.

Here are the cards I have:

Credit One APR 20% CL $600 Bal $130 (plan to pay off this month)

Surge CC APR 30% CL $500 Bal $0

First Premier Bank APR 36% CL $300 Bal $0

First Premier Bank APR 36% CL $700 Bal $0

Kohls APR 24% CL $700 Bal $ 94.97

Capital One APR 25% CL $500 Bal $264

Capital One APR 25% CL $3500 Bal $ 3300.29

The Capital One cards have no annual fee and I plan to keep these along with the Kohl's card. I am thinking about getting rid of the other four. Can I call and get rid of them at the same time? Should I space it out keeping the one with largest credit limit the longest?

Just not really sure how to proceed. Any input or advice would be great! Thanks

Re: Closing Credit Card Accounts

Anonymous — Thu, 14 Jul 2016 17:03:07 GMT

Nothing wrong with closing cards you no longer need or want, but in your specific case, timing is going to be important.

You need to pay down your Capital One cards before you close the others, or your utilization numbers are going to go through the roof, since those Capital Ones have very high balances, at 53% and 95% respectively.

In addition to paying off the Credit One asap, you need to also get those Capital One balances down to allow you to suffer no loss from closing the others.

Figure that if you are going to close a card with a $500 line of credit on it, you need to pay off that much of the Capital One balance to allow for the loss of available credit.

Presumably you intend to close $2100 worth of cards (the first four on your list), so you need to pay off $2100 of the Capital One debt to come out at the same utilization after the other cards are closed.

As for direct effects of closing the cards - other than the aforementioned utilization issue - there really isn't any. Positive tradelines remain in your credit history for 10 years, so closing them now won't hurt you as far as age of account points or removing tradelines goes. No reason to catch fees and interest from these guys if you don't need to - just make sure to pay down your other balances before you kill off the available credit limits.

Re: Closing Credit Card Accounts

Anonymous — Thu, 14 Jul 2016 17:09:12 GMT

Thank your for your advice hwm_75! It makes alot of sense.

Another quick question though, does it hurt for the other 4 cards to sit dormant with no balance while I pay down the balances on the Capital One cards?

Re: Closing Credit Card Accounts

Anonymous — Thu, 14 Jul 2016 17:37:44 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
Thank your for your advice hwm_75! It makes alot of sense.

Another quick question though, does it hurt for the other 4 cards to sit dormant with no balance while I pay down the balances on the Capital One cards?

Other than the fees they charge, no it doesn't hurt.

Re: Closing Credit Card Accounts

Anonymous — Thu, 14 Jul 2016 18:51:52 GMT

Thank you for the info CAPTOOL!

Re: Closing Credit Card Accounts

Blackbeauty212 — Thu, 14 Jul 2016 19:58:03 GMT

I agree with other .... Keep everything open until you pay down the Capital Ones, your UTL on those are too high.

Re: Closing Credit Card Accounts

Anonymous — Fri, 15 Jul 2016 13:37:29 GMT

Thanks again everyone for your input/advice. I am going to work on getting my Capital Ones down and then closed the others one by one as I do so.

Re: Closing Credit Card Accounts

RonM21 — Fri, 15 Jul 2016 22:10:02 GMT

Do what you feel is best for you. Just make sure that whatever you do makes sense for your financial picture and your profile. It's smart evaluating where you are with these cards though.

Re: Closing Credit Card Accounts

Anonymous — Fri, 15 Jul 2016 22:13:13 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
I need a little advice on if/how I should go about closing out some of my credit cards. I currently have 7 credit cards and there are 4 that I really want to get rid of. I got some of these after trying to rebuild my credit and no longer feel they are needed and the annual fees are not wanted.

Here are the cards I have:

Credit One APR 20% CL $600 Bal $130 (plan to pay off this month)
Surge CC APR 30% CL $500 Bal $0
First Premier Bank APR 36% CL $300 Bal $0
First Premier Bank APR 36% CL $700 Bal $0
Kohls APR 24% CL $700 Bal $ 94.97
Capital One APR 25% CL $500 Bal $264
Capital One APR 25% CL $3500 Bal $ 3300.29

The Capital One cards have no annual fee and I plan to keep these along with the Kohl's card. I am thinking about getting rid of the other four. Can I call and get rid of them at the same time? Should I space it out keeping the one with largest credit limit the longest?

Just not really sure how to proceed. Any input or advice would be great! Thanks

My thoughts exactly. Keep Kohls & Cap Ones. I would call them all. I did the same a while back.

Re: Closing Credit Card Accounts

Anonymous — Sat, 16 Jul 2016 01:11:06 GMT

Thanks RM21...I am trying to read and soak up as much info as I can from these forums so I can hopefully make smart decisions and continue to rebuild my credit.

Re: Closing Credit Card Accounts

Anonymous — Sat, 16 Jul 2016 01:12:25 GMT

Thanks Sandibeach22 I am thinking it really is the best way for me to go at this point. Seeing you stats in your siggy give me hope!

Re: Closing Credit Card Accounts

AverageJoesCredit — Sat, 16 Jul 2016 01:14:07 GMT

Best of luck on your rebuild Navymom!! We will get there one day with time and patience Go Navy!!

Re: Closing Credit Card Accounts

elim — Sat, 16 Jul 2016 01:23:10 GMT

close the garbage builders, pay down the debt, and get a couple cards with limits/apr's that suit your needs. it's the next step.

Re: Closing Credit Card Accounts

Anonymous — Sat, 16 Jul 2016 03:44:54 GMT

Congratulations on your rebuild progress! I second the issue with utilization, wait until you pay down your balances as others have said before you close the cards.

Utilization is a very important part of a credit report from what I have learned.

You will succeed! You have a whole community cheering for you!

Re: Closing Credit Card Accounts

Anonymous — Sat, 16 Jul 2016 17:02:49 GMT

Thanks AverageJoesCredit! I am learning to be patient with process, it sure takes alot of it lol

Re: Closing Credit Card Accounts

Anonymous — Sat, 16 Jul 2016 17:03:29 GMT

Thank you so much depdep8!

Re: Closing Credit Card Accounts

elim — Sat, 16 Jul 2016 17:22:06 GMT

Run a spreadsheet to track your pay down. When you get to the point (and it will come) when you are at 0%, practice paying in full. This may take additional income, and may look different from member to member. You may see your cards paid off every month (best to earn rewards)... or every few months when times are tight, just as long as you stay out of debt.

Building a spreadsheet will fill your time during your credit's growth and motivate you to perfect your utilization.

here's one you can copy and change to make your own.

Re: Closing Credit Card Accounts

Anonymous — Sat, 16 Jul 2016 17:31:41 GMT

Thanks Elim for all your advice. I had set up a spreadsheet once I found myFico and read through hours of threads lol Just got to work now on paying down the Capital One cards.

Re: Closing Credit Card Accounts

Anonymous — Sat, 16 Jul 2016 18:00:08 GMT

Great spread sheet.....

where can i find the exact one on Excel?... I tried to copy and edit but it doesnt work that well for me....lol Thanks

Re: Closing Credit Card Accounts

elim — Sat, 16 Jul 2016 21:00:35 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
Great spread sheet.....

where can i find the exact one on Excel?... I tried to copy and edit but it doesnt work that well for me....lol Thanks

While in Google Sheets, Click "file"/"Downloas As... Microsoft Excell". I think you lose some charts.