Advice needed on closing or not closing a credit card.

[Anonymous]

I need input on possibly closing a cc.  Long story short, I always paid for everything with cash, about a year ago my husband retired after 23 years in the army and we decided it was time to buy a home.  Not having credit other than car loans hurt me score wise.  I opened 2 cards last March and April with capital one.  We got the house in August, at that time I got 4 more cards.  One of which is a Chevron Visa card.  I guess I was on a high from the house and thought, wow a gas card might come in handy since my husband would be commuting to Seattle everyday.  Long story short, in my new home owner excitement, it never occurred to me that the other cards I got would give me rewards for gas purchases.   Due to my cli on my cards with capital one being way lower than the other cards I got, I combined the two cards and now only have one of the capital one cards.  In January, I opened a usaa Amex card and a Amex everyday card.  So since last March, I opened  8 cards, closed one and am considering closing the chevron visa.  My question is this, if I close it, will it hurt my scores since my accounts are all less than a year old? Or am I better off letting it sit a while before closing it.  I can use it for purchases other than gas, but it doesn't benefit because I don't really see rewards.  Input?

[myjourney]

Close it and be done you'll get the best benefit from the card now ....up to 10 years of good reporting 

[Anonymous]

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@myjourney wrote:

Close it and be done you'll get the best benefit from the card now ....up to 10 years of good reporting 

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So closing it with limited history doesn't hurt my scores?

[Anonymous]

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@myjourney wrote:

Close it and be done you'll get the best benefit from the card now ....up to 10 years of good reporting 

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My journey, I have another question for you.  I am gardening until next Jan but hope at sometime to apply for one of these chase cards I get in the mail every week.   If I close the account, does it still count in 5/24 rule? Or is it only on open accounts?

[Anonymous]

The only way it could hurt your score is if losing the available credit raises your utilization by a significant amount. Other than that no worries close away.

[myjourney]

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@Anonymous wrote:

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@myjourney wrote:

Close it and be done you'll get the best benefit from the card now ....up to 10 years of good reporting 

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My journey, I have another question for you.  I am gardening until next Jan but hope at sometime to apply for one of these chase cards I get in the mail every week.   If I close the account, does it still count in 5/24 rule? Or is it only on open accounts?

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Looking at your sig no one card closed won't matter and hurt scores ....you have more than enough 

Closing the card will have no effect related to the Chase 5/24 rule because the unwritten rule is......

5 accounts opened in 24 months 

Sorry for the late response but I'm here now ....Lol for a minute 

Look at your oldest HP on CR's and when will it fall off and count accounts from there....Make sense? 

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:
The only way it could hurt your score is if losing the available credit raises your utilization by a significant amount. Other than that no worries close away.

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Thank you for the advice.  Utilization isn't an issue for me.  I guess I don't fully understand "thin file" in my mind I guess I worry closing it will make my file more thin?

[Anonymous]

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@myjourney wrote:

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@Anonymous wrote:

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@myjourney wrote:

Close it and be done you'll get the best benefit from the card now ....up to 10 years of good reporting 

---

My journey, I have another question for you.  I am gardening until next Jan but hope at sometime to apply for one of these chase cards I get in the mail every week.   If I close the account, does it still count in 5/24 rule? Or is it only on open accounts?

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Looking at your sig no one card closed won't matter and hurt scores ....you have more than enough 

Closing the card will have no effect related to the Chase 5/24 rule because the unwritten rule is......

5 accounts opened in 24 months 

Sorry for the late response but I'm here now ....Lol for a minute 

Look at your oldest HP on CR's and when will it fall off and count accounts from there....Make sense? 

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The 5/24 goes off the hp, not when the card hits the report? So basically my first card was March 2015, and I have opened 8 accounts, most of them August 2015, so at best for Chase to lose 4 of those to qualify with Chase I need to wait until August 2017?

[myjourney]

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@Anonymous wrote:

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@Anonymous wrote:
The only way it could hurt your score is if losing the available credit raises your utilization by a significant amount. Other than that no worries close away.

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Thank you for the advice.  Utilization isn't an issue for me.  I guess I don't fully understand "thin file" in my mind I guess I worry closing it will make my file more thin?

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Don't think like that 

Time

Payment history 

AAoA

etc etc build thick files 

Not always 20 cards 3 auto 2 homes etc etc 

[Anonymous]

The term "thin file" is kind of a ambiguous. Most people who have what could be considered a "thick file" probably have a mix of open and closed accts. The terms are just a generalization...anything on your file adds to its thickness. That's my take on it anyway.