I'm confused, when is it ok to close a credit line, and when to just let it go w/o using it?  (credit cards)
925526
KEEP THE CARD!!!!  Part of the calculation of your FICO score is legnth of credit history. IF you close a card that you have had for several years, it will LOWER YOUR FICO SCORE.  \n\nBest thing is to keep it open, charge something on it each month, and pay it off.
908651
It sounds fishy.   If you have that much money to give to someone else,  just pay off your own debt and that will help you too.  I know when I opened to much credit too fast, it hurt my credit score a bit and were only talking about 1500 dollars.  This company is talking about credit lines of 10-15 thousand each.  That could show you as out of control and a credit risk and lower your score.
136045
Don't cancel your accounts.  Keep them open but don't rack the bills up any more.  If you cancel your cards - what you will be doing is cutting off your credit history.  This will NOT help your credit.  It WILL hurt it.  Paying the cards up will help your score!! this is the best thing you should do. then don't use the cards anymore unless you know that you can pay the balance off in full at the end of the month when that bill comes.  \n\nIf you feel that you must close out at some of your accounts - don't close them all... Keep at least 3 or 4 of your best cards - these would be major cards like visa, mastercard, or discover etc...  Then also the main thing is that they are free (don't charge you a membership fee each year)  Keep them open for the rest of your life it will show that you have credit but can be trusted not to run it up all the time.  \n\nGood luck.:)
217504
Pay your bills on time.  Other than that, it's just a matter of time to let all the bad stuff fall off your credit report.  It sucks, I know.
1010662
Guess lesson learned.  You NEVER do this with a friend and family is questionable.  You have to worry about your credit for the rest of your life, so you need to be in control of it, not someone else.
502056
If you haven't had any bills paid late....call the bank.  Usually if you've had your card for more than a year, they will give you a choice between lowering your interest, or giving you a higher credit limit (go for the lower interest, trust me!).  Most banks won't tell you this, they would just increase your limit which makes people who don't know about the choice...happier.\nDoesn't make sense, but that's how it works.\nTrade in your high credit limit for a lower interest...it is better.
564383
ARe you talking about "Kiting" I use one credit card to pay off the balance of another credit card , so I really do not have to make a real payment until I want to. Now that is using credit when credit is DUE!
368008
Don't cancel a card unless you have no choice.  When you apply for any sort of loan or another card they look at your credit rating.  Part of that rating is how much people are wiling to give you versus how much you debt you carry.  Say you have two cards with a $1000 limit each and a total balance of $1000 between them.  If you cancel one card you go from having $2000 trusted to you, with $1000 used to having $1000 trusted to you and all of it spent.\nCut up the card, throw it away, hide it until you pay it off, but don't cancel it.
544689
It is not the amount you have open as much of how long your active accounts have been open. The longer it has been reporting to the credit companies the better. Also the amount of available credit compared to the amount owed has a drastic affect. It is much better to have 3 accounts with 25% of the line used than one at 50% or above.
121442
First let's keep someting in mind. Although times are a little tough you did create the bills. So it would not be the ethical  thing to do to just stop paying. If you loaned someone money would you like them to do that to you?\n\nAt this point you have paid down the debt from 50k to 40k and you have good credit. That suggests to me you are a responsible person. So call the credit card companies and let them know what is going on. Most of them are prepared to deal with these kind of situations because they don't want people doing what you are considering. \n\nAlso many credit card companies offer protection plans so if you are out of work they will pay the minimum payment due. A lot of people are upset about the fact that is all they will pay but it does protect your credit and gives you breathing room until you can pay again.\n\nBut in answer to your question, if you stopped paying you will ruin your good credit. Then yow will go through two years of phone calls from the credit card companies and its collection agencies. Finally they may bring suit against you which they have a good chance of winning.\n\nSo at the least declare bankruptcy, the new laws make it harder to go Chapter 13 where they wipe out most debt and force you to file chapter 7 in where you make payment arrangements. \n\nSo just protect your good credit, do the honorable thing and just make some sort of arrangements with them now. Another good place to go would be consumer credit counselor services (CCCS) they will step in and handle all the negoitions with the credit card companies as well. But be sure you agree to thier complete arrangement (such as counseling and taking over your bills) before you sign up.\n\nHope this helps
260212
Contrary to logic, it's not always best to close old, unused accounts.  It can make the overall credit rating worse.  Check out the linked article below.  It explains how closing those accounts will affect a credit rating.
451036
You may consider closing the accounts -- you will still have to pay the balance but this at least stops your phone calls. You can also work with the creditor--- in addition to closing the account, you may be able to get the interest and/or late payment/non-payment fees reduced. They generally won't do this if you do not close the account. Keep in mind--- after 2 months with no payments, they are going to increase your interest rate painfully, especially if you are a young person--- so you are going to want to dump those cards as soon as you can anyway!\n\nYou are really going to hurt your credit rating during this time, though, and you may not realize how important it is to have good credit yet.  It takes on average 7 years to rebuild credit from serious delinquency... a 100-point difference in your credit report may mean the difference between getting approved for a home loan or car note and getting denied... a 20-point difference may mean up to a half-percent or more on a mortgage rate. So if you have a reasonable minimum balance, it may be worth it to see if you can work even though you are working on your thesis. Not full time or even part time work--- just enough to be able to make your minimum payments. Because in the long run, it is going to cost you a LOT to miss them.\n\nAnd as a very LAST case suggestion--- and I mean only in the worst of circumstances because this is a very bad move--- take a cash advance from one of the credit cards, deposit the money in your bank account, and pay the minimum payments.  This is going to KILL you in interest and fees but it is WAY cheaper than having to pay 12% over prime on your next car note... just make sure to pay it off as soon as you can!
253625
check with either bank if you can perform a balance transfer from one account to the other. once that is done, you can close the account you 'no longer need' if you wish.
1007792
if you have alot of credit cards then close a couple... too much credit is just as bad as not enough credit.....      if you only have a few credit cards then keep them open.......  it raises your fico score....
726404
There's a couple key factors in looking at credit card balances:  \n\nFirst, how much you owe against any one card, compared to that card's limit.  Anything owed over 50% of your limit will bring your credit score down.\n\nSecond, the total amount you owe on all cards compared to the available limits on all cards.  It can be better to take one maxed out card and spread it over 3 cards sometimes.  But having too many open accounts with balances can hurt you too.\n\nUltimately, it's a dance.  Do not close out the other cards, just let them sit.  Unless you're paying to have them, they won't really hurt you.  The longer you keep accounts open, the better your score.  So closing accounts can sometimes work against you.\n\nIf the inactive cards have much higher limits than the cards you actually use, move your balances over.  Having large limits can work in your benefit, as the systems do credit you for the inverse logic of having a bank give you a large line of credit because your score is so good.  \n\nUltimately, there's approximately 42 different "reason codes" that impact a credit rating.  All have their own weighting, and the underlying algorithm is proprietary and secret.  Go to myfico.com for some easy information.
201453
Absolutely close or cancel any un needed cards. If not for security reasons alone. Banks look at how much credit you have"open" and available to you. They compare this to your income to get a ratio. A debt to Load ratio. So if you have 5 cards out. that's realistically 3 too many.You need to keep a "balance" between having some credit cards and too much debt. You need a few cards open and active to satisfy the companies that you are worthy of more credit but not too much to have them think that their acct is the one that you will default on.
860510
if theres no money owed to them, DO NOT CANCEL THEM but take them out of your wallet or purse and put them in your safe. (if you have a safe and you can get a SMALL one for 30 bucks) HAVING credit cards EVEN if you arent using them looks GOOD on your credit report. I have numerous credit cards with NO money owed to them, sitting in my safe. I keep 1 in my wallet that is still on its 0% APR in case of an emergency. BUt dont cancel them, it will look better to creditors if theyre listed on your crdit report as PAID AS AGREED and it will show your balance available for each card. This will show prospective creditors that you have "money" available to pay off anything that you might "borrow" from them buy applying for a loan or another card. But if you have no cards, they will think youre not as apt to be capable of making payments. Trust me, its like having more than one bank account, creditors LIKE to see that you have accounts at more than one bank for the SAME reason, the better liklihood of you being able to pay your bills.