ot: credit cards?

[Robbin_G]

I, unfortunately, have too much experience with this as mine teeters from average to not so good. One of my cards reports my score to me monthy so I've watched it jump all over the place. I honestly think it maybe different for everyone!! (I was trying to get private student loans and learned all about this very fast.)

Do NOT close your oldest card and do NOT ask for a limit cap. FICO is done on a RATIO of available balance to balance carried. When my score stabilized and one of my existing card went ahead and gave me an increase of $6,000, my score went UP 40 pts the next month.

Each card should carry no more than 30% of the available balance. My friends were in the process of buying a house. They got a balance transfer offer, they threw all of thier cards onto one card. Thier total balance didn't change, just maxed out one. Thier score DROPPED and they screwed up the mortgage they had lined up and thier interest rate INCREASED.

I pay mine in full monthy. However, you may be carrying a large balance when your card reports to the agencies (which they do monthly). That will ping your score. The only thing that will raise your score is having a zero balance when they report. When I had nothing on all 3 cards for 3-4 months, my score jumped 75pts. As soon as I carried a balance, it went down 55. This movement had nothing to do with late payments, because there was none!

If you're not planning to finance anything, you don't ahve to worry about your score. However, cards will do inquirys quarterly and if you have variable interest rate cards, they can raise it if you have a low score.

I hate those access checks. It is just something to shred!