Question

I have a question about credit cards and FICO scores. I’ve paid off a couple of credit cards and my friend who is a Dave fanatic, told me to cancel them. However, my credit is embarrassingly low and I thought it bumped up your score if you had a lot of available credit. So what would be better for my credit? Cancel or leave open and not use? I know the credit card companies will eventually close them if I don’t use them but will that hurt my credit?  

Answer 1

Leave open

Answer 2

Leave open, it will hurt you if you initiate the close, if the company does, there’s no repercussions on your score

Answer 3

Leave them open! Definitely helps your score. Miko mentioned this in her stories a bit ago that she varies from Dave on this because credit score is important for more than just buying a house, etc.  

Answer 4

Leave them open, especially your oldest credit card. You can put small purchase on them or a recurring bill to help maintain credit history

Answer 5

Leave open unless you are paying astronomical yearly fees, then just close them and take the temporary hit.  

Answer 6

First of all you need to do what you need to do for yourself not what anyone else tells you to do so don’t make any quick decisions. The second thing is are you buying a car buying a house re-financing doing any major purchases? If not and you really do not want to have the card so you’re not too tempted to use them I would close them. However, do overtime definitely not all at once. Maybe one every 6 months.  

Answer 7

I would always keep at least one card though, Discover is a good one with no fees.  

Answer 8

Leave them open as it will show length of credit and help your score.  

Answer 9

Just here to say Dae Ramsey has TONS OF MONEY and can afford to buy cars and houses in cash . The real world can’t. do not destroy your credit because a millionaire told you that you can’t have self control. Keep them open put small purchases on them and pay them in full every month. My score is 800 and rising after my brand new mortgage hit goes away. I have tons of cards and use them responsibly. Don’t cancel them instead train yourself to be responsible! You can do it. Having a good credit score helps with a lot in life.  

Comments

Also if you wait for them to close it, it will still hurt your score.  

Answer 10

I had to go through credit counseling recently and in the class we were told to have at least 3 cards for revolving credit portion of your score.  

Answer 11

Leave it open. Dave teaches wealth through saving (debatable). But true wealth building is leveraging credit, so I say not only to leave it open but to keep minimal activities on them (gym membership, etc) that you can pay off easily.  

Answer 12

I would say leave open and cut them up if you think you might get the urge but keep one or two just in case. I paid off a cc recently that the interest rate is ridiculous and I shredded it up because I didn’t need it. Good Luck!  

Answer 13

Definitely leave them open! Especially the one that is open the longest

Answer 14

How long has it been since you paid them off? Sometimes it can take up to three months for them to report properly so don’t give up hope of it hasn’t been that long. When we were buying our first home our lender said the best thing we can do is keep our debt to income ratio low and to make a bit more than the monthly minimum payment due. It’s helpful to your score to have a little balance carry over (although you’ll be accruing interest that way usually so while you might boost your score slightly, in the long run it might be worse for your bottom line. )

Answer 15

I have always been told that keeping them open, using small amounts monthly and paying the entire balance monthly is the best way to build your score back up. This and having multiple different types of credit lines (not necessarily all credit cards).  

Answer 16

Leave them open put them where you don’t see them or shred them just don’t cancel that will lower your credit score especially if you’ve had them for many years.  

Answer 17

Closing the account will lower your score even more. For now put them away and don’t use them. The more you pay them off the higher your score will become. My best friend works for a major credit card company and the longevity of your cards means more then actually using them.  

Answer 18

Ugh never cancel them it literally serves zero purpose

Answer 19

Leave open and use (& pay off) the cards periodically. I use stuff like Netflix to keep a card active.