I would like to close 4 credit cards($0 Balance)but my friend said that it will hurt my credit, is it true?
409157
It will have a temporary hit on your score.  But having too many is also bad, because it makes it look like you have too large of a credit line.  \n\nIf you must cancel them, do it slowly.  One card every 3-4 months.\n\nI suggest to visit the home site for the folks that developed the FICO scoring method that creditors use to evaluate you.  They have an educational area that does an excellent explanation of this topic, and can give you lots of other advice to improve your score.\n\nGo to http://www.myfico.com
1044328
Yes Closing out open credit cards will lower your score. It's all based on Credit Utilization, i.e. what percentage of your open credit lines are you currently using. FICO credit scoring adds up all your balances and all your credit lines to determine part of your credit score. The best is to have zero utilized but up to 25% is OK. If your utilization is higher than 25% it will definitely lower your score.\n\nI would look at your whole revolving debt picture before closing any accounts. Put the cards away in a safe place and don't use them for 6 months and then decide if you still want to close those accounts.\n\nGood Luck
785892
It will not hurt your credit if you pay off their bill.  If you do not, then it will.  After all you did promise to pay if they do not.
832134
Hmmm interesting, well i dont know much about credit cards. I know that this has done me and my friend good in the past in bad times. Give this a look, tell us what you think.\nhttp://shurl.org/AWxZX
198468
Whoa whoa whoa!!!  Don't Close Those Cards!!!  If you don't intend to use them just cut them up; shred them; something to keep them out of your reach and not eassily accessible.  Whatever you do don't close the cards. That's a mistake many people make.  By closing the cards you are also eliminating all (that's right ALL) of the history which is associated with the cards: your activity; your prompt payments; your balances; your only proven ability to pay debt over time. In addition, when future (new) creditors are conducting their credit evaluation of you they look at several things: (a) credit history <you'll have none for those cards>; (b) total available credit; (c) total outstanding credit; and (d) the ratio of outstanding credit to available credit. So - if you keep the cards open and include the new loan - if your total available credit is 10,000 and you only have 3,000 outstanding (the new loan to pay off old debt) you have a 30% balance to total debt ratio.  BUT if you close the cards all you have now is the one loan for 3,000 and available credit of 3,000...thus a 100% ratio.  That's not gonna help you.\n\nYou should continue to use one of those cards for "basic essentials" (gas, groceries) and pay it off monthly for the sole purpose of showing your continued ability to pay ongoing revolving debt.\n\nGood luck!
879346
As long as you pay the overdraft fees and get your account back to at least a 0 balance, no. It will destroy your credit if you don't pay it and they close the account and send you to collections. Not only will that hurt your credit, you will be reported to chexsystems, and it will be nearly impossible to get a regular account for 7 years.
1102530
First, cut up your cards and stop using them! Don't close the account though.  \n\nSecond, call your credit companies and talk to the manager-or someone that can and WILL get your interest rates down to 0% or almost 0%.  Don't take no for an answer.  I had to tell them that I was going to switch to ------ company before they lowered my interest on my cards.  your credit card companies don't want to lose you as their customer.    Remember they've got you - they think! \n\n Now that you have done that  DON'T PAY LATE and ALWAYS pay as much over your minimum due as possible! \n\n Also carefully check if they are charging for those so called "When you are out of work and cannot pay your bill---We will" insurance plans.   They don't work  I have tried it before, when my husband could not beg for a job I tried using this program and all I got was a black mark on my credit report and a closed account!  These programs eat up your money also!\n\n  Make sure you don't have any credit card protection plans  charging money from your cards also.  credit card companies should to be doing that service for you at no charge! \n\nAlso, Don't use those credit agencies.  They also leave a black mark on your credit report.  They say they help you with your credit but try to buy a home after using an agency and no creditor will want to help finance you.  (Been there - Done That!) You can get the same results as they do and save your credit report!\n\nLast but not least - after you have payed off your cards then only use ONE or TWO - ONLY CHARGE WHAT YOU CAN PAY OFF EVERY MONTH and YOU WILL SEE YOUR CREDIT SCORE JUMP HIGHER!\n\nAnd GOOD LUCK!
1117009
You sure can. Just make sure that 0% interest will be for the life of the balance. Otherwise, you'll get screwed by your credit card company. Make sure to read the fine print because they WILL screw you.
876224
I'm doing this right now. It's best if you have or can get a low interest rate loan and pay off balances all in one spot. Debt consolidation companies ARE NOT necessarily the best way to go. Some creditors will not work with these companies. Also, it can reflect negatively on your credit report. \n\nI recently transferred two of my three credit card balances to one loan, then cut up the cards. Now, I'm making two payments instead of four, and it had helped a lot.\n\nI'd say talk to several credit counselors for ideas. Read a lot of websites. There are plenty out there. \n\nGood luck to you!
479053
The best way to consolidate your credit cards is through www.debtscape.org   I have been using it for 4 years now and I have less than a year to go and I started out with over $30,000 in debt! \n\nYou can tell them I sent you\n\nTraci Sorgi\n\nPS never close your accounts after they are paid, you will have to establish credit all over again, and it will be hard to do this with NO credit!
803028
Too many cards will hurt your credit rating.  They look at your available limits (i.e. what you could borrow); if it's too high, the rating is lower.\n\nThey look at payment history.  Just have one or two cards, use them for purchases, and pay them off regularly.  That will build your credit history and resultant credit rating.
895744
The more available credit you have vs. the amount you owe actually helps you.\n\nMost mortgage companies/banks look at your visa/mc/discover/american express and not your store cards.\n\nI would close the store cards, and keep the rest, just don't use them.\n\nAnd you never know when you might need them and not be able to get them back.
276145
Apply to different credit cards but don't overdo it.  3-5 should be ok.  Make sure you do not send a late payment, that hurts your credit.  Try to pay more than just the minimum payment.  Don't max the credit cards either.  That won't help your credit.
930458
The first step is to stop using the cards!  I keep my credit cards at home in a safe place so that I do not get tempted to use them while I am out and about.  Once you have done that, the next step it to look at your budget.  You can easliy make a spreedsheet  in excel to keep track of what you pay each month.  When you know how much you HAVE to spend (like rent, food, gas, etc) then the money left over goes to things such as credit card bills and extra spending money.  What works for me is to start paying off the smaller bill first...I like to see that I have completed something.  That way, you also have more money to pay on the larger bills.  Only in extreme cases: try to tranfer the larger balances to another card that has a smaller interest rate.  If you do that, CANCEL the cards that you just zeroed out.  That way, you will be paying less....but you should CANCEL the zero balance card.  It would be good to just have one credit card for emergencies.
644
It may actually hurt you FICO score.\n\nOne part of the score is the amount of credit used versus the amount of credit available. So, let's take a look at an example:\n\n$200 total credit available\n$175 total credit used\n Ratio of 0.875 (high)\n\n$5000 total credit available\n$1000 total credit used\n Ration of 0.2 (relatively low)\n\nThe bottom ration of 0.2 is more ideal. Credit companies have found that the higher the ratio a person has (they get credit and max it out), the less likely they will pay it off.\n\nOf course some store credit cards do not report to the credit bureaua unless you go to collections. So it doesn’t matter what you do with them as long as you don’t stop paying them.\n\nIt’s best to just hold on to them. You might even consider having the credit limit taken up (but don’t max them out). It’s not how much of a limit you have that’s important to the credit companies, it how much of it you’re using.\n\nAlso you may want to consider the fact that although your credit score may not be affected very much if you cancel your card, if the store reports to the credit bureau, other companies will see that you canceled a card. To other companies, this means if they give you credit, you’re likely to just cancel it. Meaning you may be more of a hassle than you’re worth.\n\nHope this helps.
389226
The formula you are talking about looks at the combined balance.  Basically they look at all of your credit limits combined.  You don't want to be using too high of a percentage of this total balance, but I'd say 24% is perfectly fine.  Your limit on individual cards is not really a factor.  Also, having too many credit cards can negatively affect your credit score.  Typically you want to limit your number of credit cards to 2-3.
791251
It depends on your total credit available. You want leave 50% or more of your credit line open. For example, you have two cards with limit of $1,000 each. If you have $500 balance on one and $0 on the other, you currently have 75% credit line open. If you cancel one card, you will have 50% open. That will affect your score somehow. If you have ample credit line, it won't matter.