Here is how it is done (sm)

We have (thank God) excellent credit scores and here is how we did it.  We started by opening an account right after we were married that offered no payments/no interest.  You've all seen the deals, yes?  The trick was this:  We paid it off before it came due, and then we had the account closed.  We called the credit card company (the one that issued the card) and requested that they close the card at our request and report it to the bureaus as such.  By law this is what they then have to do.  They also have to send you a letter stating such.  After about 3-4 years of this, always making sure we could pay off the cards, we had excellent credit established.  Here is why you should never just cut up the cards withough cancelling them:  Fraud.  If you have a credit account that you do not use and you put it to the back of your mind, you move or your mail gets lost and some sort of information just happens to be sent to someone else regarding this account, it is entirely possible that they will use it.  Another reason to cancel these cards:  They will show up on your report and actually drag your score down for having too many revolving cards.  Basically it means that you have too many active accounts that, if you used, would put you in a financial bind. 

We were lucky enough when we were first married to have a close friend, who happened to be a loan officer, explain the whole credit thing to us.  We never borrow money we don't need, and we maintain a judicious watch on the accounts we do have.  It has really paid off. 

Hope this helps someone. 

HC

• If you are no longer using credit cards...... - sm
  • I talked to a credit bureau - just me
    • my own gut feeling is to cancel sm - sm
  • JMO, but I think it is always good to have - small message
  • According to Dave Ramsey, my hero...sm - MT and worn out
    • But Suze Orman says otherwise - sm - NutterButter
      • The more available credit, the better the FICO score is what Suze says. - NM
      • Here is how it is done (sm) - HappyCat
  • Don't close them if you are thinking about - small message
    • thanks for info sm - sm
      • If you are set on closing, do not close the old ones, close a newer account first. - mtstudent
        • Change your privacy settings too - mtstudent
      • Credit Score will hardly be touched by closing them - your peace of mind means more
  • Cancel them now...rather be free of temptation. Credit score - will barely go down at all.....nm

The messages you are viewing are archived/old.
To view latest messages and participate in discussions, select the boards given in left menu