No credit card required
Browse credit cards from a variety of issuers to see if there's a better card for you.
@Anonymous wrote:Long term goals can include eventually having three major credit cards, but much higher priority is the stuff I mentioned above.
Great advice here, I'll also add that unless you planning for a mortgage, car loan, or something else big in the near term then a short term score hit from new credit should not be a huge concern, just focus on the longer term.
Very well said, CreditGuyInDixie!
I can drop the utilization down on all cards quickly. The only reason the one card carries such a high utilization, was because it came at 0% financing for a year. So I bit the bullet and bought the patio furniture I wanted, with the plan of paying it off in six months. Only to be informed of the store's bankruptcy not even two weeks after the purchase.
Well that six month plan just became a two month plan. No more store cards, time for real ones once everything is in order.
Thank you for you advice and contributions to this thread, I found it very insightful!
@Anonymous wrote:
Hello. I wasn't sure where to post this.I have an old store credit account on my report back from 2001.It was an Eatons department store card. Eatons went bankrupt and I think shortly after that Chase bought them out. It is on my TU report and it states that the status is OK and it shows that it is open and there is no balance owing. It has all zeroes reported. I looked at the payment history and I never missed a payment for that dept. store account. My question is this a good or bad thing? Thanks From all the way north in Canada.
An account in good standing is always a good thing for scores. Now it might eventually get closed for non-use (does it show as open or closed now?). Also, if ALL your revolving accounts have zero balances you'll get dinged on your score some, but if you let 1 card (or less than half your cards) report a small balance each month you'll see a score boost.
If it's closed, it will continue to report up to 10 years, and help with your average age of accounts.