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Should I Cancel?

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Trev
Established Member

Should I Cancel?

Ok,

 

  First off, a big thanks to the community for assisting me in getting my score of 503 up to a 650 over the course of the last year and change. With a bankrupcy may years back, car repossed.. and just..  crap for credit.. I believe I have done fairly well with the assistance from these boards.

 

  Now,

  I have a few CCs that until recently sat in a sock draw and quite litterally ended up used about once per month for something at Starbucks or a pair of jeans..  etc.. to use my credit and keep the balance well below 10%.

 

  Today, mid divorce/seperation and well you guessed it..  Cred Cards got used up, not quite maxed but close enough to it. NO LATE PAYMENTS ANYWHERE !! learned my darn lesson. Obviously no choice in the matter here..

 

  I just signed off on a new loan, to consolidate all of my cred cards and auto loans. Decent % rate etc..  I am happy with it. I also got another CC there while I was at it.. 

 

  I have and my intentions are:

 

  Dell(open) - CL 1500 - Close-- not a CC a line of credit..

  Target(open) - CL 1k @ 22.99% - Close

  Chase(open) - CL 4k @ 29.94% - NO annual fee - Keep Open for CL

  Chase(open) - CL 2.5k @ 23.24% - NO annual fee - Unsure of what to do..

  Wells Fargo(open pending activation) - CL 2.5k @ 27% - $35 annual fee - Have not activated card, or received it yet, but am approved and it is in route.

 

  I feel like I should keep both of my Chase cards open and the Wells Fargo as well.

 

  All of the balances will be paid off by next week.

 

  Outside of the Credit Cards I have a student loan out (never late) that I owe about 6k on... 

 

  Any suggestions or thoughts on either closing or keeping open both of my Chase cards, and why please..

 

  OH - and if you think I should keep the Target and/or Dell open, I would be interested in knowing why as well. I used both of them to build my credit initially, back when I was in the low 500s.. and needed easy to get low credit limits.. IE Target @ 250 CL...  etc..

 

  Thanks,

 

  -- Trev

  

PS: For those of you who read this and wonder how I was able to pull out of the 500 range, I did pay annual fees on credit cards for a while. It works...  hurts to do.. but works.

Message 1 of 13
12 REPLIES 12
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: Should I Cancel?

You didn't mention open dates on the accounts.  I don't see a specific strategy or end gain to closing Target or LOC if there is no AF.   The longer they stay open, the longer you have them on your TL.  Once they close they are on the 10 year clock to dropping off.

 

Currently they add to your total CL for uti when you do use your cards.  Although none of your rates are worth carrying a balance on.

 

Also, I personally feel that 4 to 5 accounts is a good number for revolving.  Others may disagree, but when I have run all types of FICO Estimator scenarios, the best scores came about when I input having 4 to 5 accounts, and the score dropped having fewer.

 

 

Message 2 of 13
Trev
Established Member

Re: Should I Cancel?

Good call on the length of credit...  I don't know how that slipped my mind!

 

Either way, none of the current cards are older than 2 years.. and I think I'll run with keeping them all open for a bit and see what comes up.

 

Thanks!

Message 3 of 13
creditwherecreditisdue
Senior Contributor

Re: Should I Cancel?

If an account doesn't have an AF don't close it. The number of open revolving TL's are important, as well as the CL's of those TL's, in calculating the UTIL portion of your FICO scores.
Message 4 of 13
Trev
Established Member

Re: Should I Cancel?

So should I then NOT open/activate that Wells Fargo CC?

 

Leaving me with the 2x Chase, Target and Dell Cred Line as already established lines of credit with histories associated with them? good histories with no lates to boot!

 

Adding the Wells Fargo may decrease the average length of credit? is that the right term..??  Not to mention it has an AF..

 

Again all cards listed are < 2yrs old

 

 

Message Edited by Trev on 08-25-2009 02:11 PM
Message Edited by Trev on 08-25-2009 02:11 PM
Message 5 of 13
creditwherecreditisdue
Senior Contributor

Re: Should I Cancel?


@Trev wrote:

So should I then NOT open/activate that Wells Fargo CC?

 

Leaving me with the 2x Chase, Target and Dell Cred Line as already established lines of credit with histories associated with them? good histories with no lates to boot!

 

Adding the Wells Fargo may decrease the average length of credit? is that the right term..??  Not to mention it has an AF..

 

Again all cards listed are < 2yrs old


It is too late to avoid the changes that will be brought about by the WF CC. You already app'ed and were approved. The account is going to report whether you activate it or not. So the INQ, the new account hit and the AAoA hit are unavoidable. As for the AF that would be your call. It's not a high one. I wonder if they would waive it after a year or two?

Message 6 of 13
smallfry
Senior Contributor

Re: Should I Cancel?

Keep all of them but make sure they all get some usage at least every other month. Don't carry any balances though.
Message 7 of 13
haulingthescoreup
Moderator Emerita
Moved:

Re: Should I Cancel?

Moved MyFicoAddict's response to begin a new thread.

Message 8 of 13
haulingthescoreup
Moderator Emerita

Re: Should I Cancel?

OK, I'm going to try to split off MyFicoAddict's question from his/her response to start a new thread.

OK, shoot, I can't figure how to do this, so here's the response:


MyFicoAddict wrote:

OP,

I agree with the advice provided. Just keep the card and LOC if there are no AF. Also this will definately help when the accounts age and it is definately helping with your util.



For all you newish members out there, please start a new thread when you are diverging from the OP's original question.
Message Edited by haulingthescoreup on 08-25-2009 05:38 PM
* Credit is a wonderful servant, but a terrible master. * Who's the boss --you or your credit?
FICO's: EQ 781 - TU 793 - EX 779 (from PSECU) - Done credit hunting; having fun with credit gardening. - EQ 590 on 5/14/2007
Message 9 of 13
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: Should I Cancel?

haullingthescoreup,

 

thank you sir, I just didnt know whether to start a new thread or not - anyways thanks for your help and understood from now on...

 

warm wishes

Message 10 of 13
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