I had ruined my credit when I turned 18. Of course, I have since grown. Now I%26#039;m building my credit back up %26amp; I have a few questions. I%26#039;m not that knowledgable with credit. 1) Do credit cards expire if they%26#039;re not used for a while? 2) If you want to cancel a card (that you have, but doesn%26#039;t have an annual fee) do you have to call %26amp; cancel it or will it cancel itself after so long of no use? 3) Does it look bad to have several credit cards, even if you%26#039;re only using 1 or 2 of them (as far as credit ratings, etc...go)? 4) I have aquired several credit cards recently. I started to get carried away, so I got a credit card, with a higher limit, to transfer most balances to. Now I only want to keep the others for emergency. 3 of them are major CC%26#039;s, while the other are store cards, most I keep for emergency purchases of things I may need frm those certain stores (which offer discounts, etc w/their CC). I only owe on 2 right now. But I have a total of 11 active cards. Do I have 2 many? Help!
I need details about credit cards %26amp; credit period. Do cards expire if not used in so long? Read on for more?rate my professor
1 %26amp; 2. Major credit cards will not expire or cancel on their own. You need to call the company and cancel it. Some store cards may close after years of inactivity.
3. It not really the number of cards but the total available credit that you have. It%26#039;s the ratio of available credit to your income. The higher the ratio the more hesitant companies will be to give you more credit. I keep my total limit no higher than 25% of my yearly income and then try to keep my balances below 10% of my limits.
4. 3 Major CC%26#039;s is fine but the 8 store cards seem excessive. Do you need %26quot;emergency items%26quot; from 8 different stores? Store cards usually carry higher interest rates and therefore should be avoided.
I recommend checking your credit report from all 3 bureaus or at least Transunion. If your score is okay then don%26#039;t worry. If it%26#039;s bad then they will tell you why and give you ways to fix it which may include reducing you available revolving credit.
Also keep in mind that lengh of history also helps you score. So a credit card with 3 years of on time payments is better than a card with only one year. Try not to cancel the cards that you have had the longest.
I need details about credit cards %26amp; credit period. Do cards expire if not used in so long? Read on for more?
loan
It depends on the credit card company you have- Some require that you use the card at least once every two years.. some possibly more or less. You would be best to call and cancel the card. That way you know for sure it%26#039;s done.
Credit companies prefer you to have an account open for a long time.. Anything under 3 years and they hardly even care for a credit card. They also like you to use the cards but not be dependant on them.
Once a year, I purchase a credit report from TransUnion (one of the 3 credit companies) and there is an option to add in the report from the other two companies as well. It ends up being about $40. I find it is much more personal and accurate than that %26#039;free%26#039; report you always see advertised. It will tell you your scores and tell you how you can improve it.|||1.) no your card will not cancel itself, call your credit card company and tell them you want your account canceled.
2.)Yes you have to call and cancel the card. Its easy to do, just get someone on the phone, give them your relevant information and ask to cancel the card.
3.)Yes it looks bad if you have several cards. A good rule of thumb ( I have taken courses in Finance and specifically a course called Commercial Banking that shows exactly how a credit score is formulated) is if you have anywhere from 2-5 cards, no more. Try and keep the cards that you have had the longest and stick with them. Pay your bills ON TIME!! A late payment will not hurt your credit unless its unpaid for OVER 30 days. Pay late if you have to.., pay the minimum at very least.., always!
4l)Yes you have too many!! Try and pair this number down to at least 5. My goodness girl!!
Have you used www.myfreecreditreport.com?
You can use that site to see your credit report 1 time a year from each credit reporting company without hurting your score.
Follow the instructions and look at your report. There may be things on there that you can contest. Credit card companies DO make mistakes (we are all human). Credit card companies have real people just like you and me doing the work there.
Good luck!|||cards have an expiration date and can%26#039;t be used after that (usually 1 or 2 years)... BUT the accounts are still ACTIVE.
2 you have to cancel after you make sure there is a 0.00 balance.
3. yes. cancel all the cards you don%26#039;t have. they don%26#039;t just look at how much you owe, but also how much credit is available for you. even if you don%26#039;t ever use it.. you %26#039;could%26#039; use that card for $5000 or whatever the limit is.. and they don%26#039;t like that.
you should have one or two credit cards.. and maybe pick 3 or 4 store cards that you like or need. most store card rewards aren%26#039;t worth the rate if you can%26#039;t pay it off every month
i have
1 american express card (main)
1 discover card (only for the 5% reward on the store on the month)
1 amazon.com visa card (for amazon purchases and if a place doesn%26#039;t take amex/disc)
and
1 banana republic store card
1 starbucks visa card (for the starbucks account built in NOT used as a visa card)
my wachovia card (bank card w/visa) is my emergency card and haven%26#039;t used in years (luckily)|||#1. Some do, some don%26#039;t...they all do have expiration dates however.
#2. I%26#039;d recommend calling %26amp; cancelling...or you could just cut the card up (not just once but into small little bits or run it thru a shredder).
#3. Yes, why carry so many cards if you%26#039;re only using 1 or 2? Just carry the 2 you use.
#4. 11 cards is wayyyyy too many. 5 is probably the most I%26#039;d ever have and of the 5, I%26#039;d only ever carry 2 on me at any moment in time.|||Great questions. I%26#039;ll briefly answer your questions. 1) Yes credit cards can become inactive if not used for several months. How long depends on the company. If too many months go by without a purchase, they may even close the account. An inactive credit card account negatively affects your credit score. Solution: Use it for things you need to keep it active. 2) DO NOT cancel a major credit card! Many think that by doing so their credit will improve. The opposite is true. 3) You want at least 3 major credit cards (Visa, Mastercard, Discover, American Express). More doesn%26#039;t help or hurt your credit score unless you don%26#039;t pay them on time. 4) Acquiring several credit cards in a short period of time lowers your score because it adds several inquiries to your credit file. Do NOT get any more cards. And Do NOT close any accounts. The store credit cards do not need to be used monthly like the major three. Additionally, it%26#039;s better to spread your debt across the three major credit cards because your score is based partly on the ratio of debt to your credit limit that you carry on each card. Your credit score will improve dramatically. Rolling all your debt into one card is a credit score killer. My new FREE book will soon be available at credit-secrets-exposed dot com and it provide an indepth education on building good credit. I hope you find these answers helpful.
No comments:
Post a Comment