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Frankly, I suspect that if you're worrying about your credit score, you've already failed the test. I'm not going to go all Dave Ramsey and say "all debt is evil!" (which is a gross distortion of his viewpoint, peddled by those who want affirmation of their choice to live beyond their means) - but if you actually had a GOOD credit record, you wouldn't be trying to manipulate a few points here and there.
How about:
- Pay all your bills on time
- Pay cash (or credit card with ZERO continuing balance) for 99% of expenditures
- If you take a car loan, make it for way less than you qualify for, and put down a very large down payment
- If you take a mortgage, put down a minimum of 20% (real down payment, not borrowed from some other source in the hope that you can pull the wool over "their" eyes), and take the loan for way less than you qualify for
- Never ever maintain a continuing balance (20+%!!!!) on credit cards
- Never pay for entertainment/vacation/elective expenses except with cash or equivalent.
And I bet you won't have to worry about whether your credit score went up or down 10 points last month.
Walk into a mortgage company and tell 'em you're planning to put down 40% and show proof of funds to buy the whole thing outright for cash, and surprise! You'll get great service and a low interest rate! Go in and tell them you're looking to put the bare-arse minimum down (1%? ) and you'll be flat out to even make each monthly payment, and see how that goes.
And I bet you won't have to worry about whether your credit score went up or down 10 points last month.
My score has fluctuated by 10 points and I do all of that. Well, I have no car loan, no mortgage.. Just a solar loan that is due to be paid off in 2028 that should be paid off about this time next year.
Does it really matter if your score goes from 833 to 823? Well.. Grand scheme.. no.. But it happens and i'm searching for why. never seem to figure it out.
Reporting time, card had a balance of $500.. Next report, it had a balance of $0.. Boom, there went 10 points. Just all depends on when I pay the bill off.
I went from 833 to 823 a few months back.. It's back up to 828 as of now. Next month or two, should be back at 833.. Couldn't tell you why it dropped.
I currently have a
Chase Debit
Chase CC - Great points/cash back! but high %
Wells Fargo- Dont really use it, I have netflix going to it monthly. I was a 0% but now high %
BOA CC - This was used to buy a SxS ( like a 4wheeler) because it was zero % for 30 months, paid off, I have 1 more year of 0%
Now I just got another BOA Royal Caribbean card (GF Made me) that if I spend 1K in 6 months I will get 300 in credit on the cruise I will be taking in July. This one is like 25+%. Once I hit that 1K, I will never touch this card again. Is it best to just cut up or put away in a safe/drawer or just close it ? Same with the other BOA card. Once that 0% is gone, I will never touch it again.
All CC are paid in full monthly
If you aren't carrying balances it really doesn't matter how many CCs one has and or uses.
Credit scores are impacted by usage to total balance ratio, not how much open credit one happens to have.
If one has twelve CCs with total available credit of say $90k and credit reports show about $30k in balances that's bad. This even if balances are spread among several cards or just one. Depending upon other factors such as payment history hit to CC score may be minimal, but never the less there is some damage.
Closing CC accounts no matter who does it (account holder's request or bank shuts CC down for a reason) causes a hit to credit score. Longer an account has been open (longer history) more damage is done to score if it's closed. For various reasons CC scores take a hit when available credit is decreased, this even if one has kept CC in sock drawer and rarely if ever used. It doesn't matter; for scoring purposes that available credit is factored in regardless of use or inactivity.
If you don't use a card it's ok to keep it in sock drawer. You might want to take it out now and then to buy something (and pay it off soon as bill arrives) to keep it from being closed due to inactivity.
Good to decent zero percent offers are becoming harder to come by as banks tighten things up. So I'd certainly not close that BofA CC with a year or so left on that offer.
Four credit cards is hardly a huge number. Myself have eight and know others with a dozen or more. Got many in response to excellent zero percent interest offers that included good balance transfer deals. Other cards are useful depending upon rewards or points offers which vary between cards.
My score has fluctuated by 10 points and I do all of that. Well, I have no car loan, no mortgage.. Just a solar loan that is due to be paid off in 2028 that should be paid off about this time next year.
Does it really matter if your score goes from 833 to 823? Well.. Grand scheme.. no.. But it happens and i'm searching for why. never seem to figure it out.
Reporting time, card had a balance of $500.. Next report, it had a balance of $0.. Boom, there went 10 points. Just all depends on when I pay the bill off.
I went from 833 to 823 a few months back.. It's back up to 828 as of now. Next month or two, should be back at 833.. Couldn't tell you why it dropped.
You misunderstood my meaning. What I meant to say was that if you practice good financial discipline and live well within your means, what your credit score is will be largely irrelevant to your life. I've looked at my credit score exactly once in the last 20 years. I'm sure it fluctuates according to whatever calculation the credit rating agencies use. It doesn't matter. The one time in the last 20 years we got to the point of getting a mortgage, the mortgage companies basically went straight to the very best rates and terms they offered. Why? Because of long standing financial discipline.
Now, I understand stuff happens, and we've been lucky that the stuff that's happened to us hasn't hammered us too much financially. But I submit the vast majority of people with poor credit did it to themselves. I see it in the behavior of my family members, my work colleagues, my friends, and people who post on the internet.
I have 6. I have an 800 score. I have no debt. Beyond that, my particulars mirror much of what has already been written.
Look into the Barclay AARP credit card. It pays 2% cash back on medical expenses and currently offers a $100 sign on bonus when you spend $500 in 90 days.
I don't think there is a membership or age requirement. After all, everybody has medical bills at some point.
Use if for your copays and whatever other portions your insurance doesn't ay.
Just make sure you can pay the bill in full when it comes in. If you run a balance the vultures will eat at your financial innards.
Probably about 15-20 open now between me and my wife. Been doing targeted signup bonuses for business cards in 2022 - will have earned close to 1 million points this year in SUB (and I haven't been very aggressive about it). [Also, you dont need to have a business to get a business credit card.]
As has been mentioned here before, if you have good control of your finances (know how to say "no") then credit cards are a good tool to use as the exorbitant interest rates do not apply. If you cannot control spending or do not have enough income to pay your bills, then use at your own risk. Also, if you have large expenditures coming up (e.g. college tuition), you can maximize bonuses around the times those charges are due - just be sure you have the funds to pay them off. Never close your oldest card lines. Even if you sock drawer an unused card, it is good to put a periodic spend on it, so the issuer doesn't cancel it. [Learned the hard way wen BOA closed a 20 plus year old line a few years ago.]
Chase has been really good to earn referrals on their Ink products as they doubled referral rates to 40K points ($400) for each successful referral. So an offer for 100k points with $8k spend in 3 months, turns into ~150k (100k bonus for me + 40k for wife who referred me + ~10K in points on the $8K spend). Chase has 4 business ink products to churn through. And getting an EIN and submitting applications against the EIN will geta round the must wait 48 months to get the bonus again rules. Plus business cards don't count against 5/24.
Amex Bus Platinum/Gold has been giving points away (150K plus for $15K spend in 3 months). Wife has 2 Business Platinum SUBs this year plus a 100K Gold SUB.
I currently have a
Chase Debit
Chase CC - Great points/cash back! but high %
Wells Fargo- Dont really use it, I have netflix going to it monthly. I was a 0% but now high %
BOA CC - This was used to buy a SxS ( like a 4wheeler) because it was zero % for 30 months, paid off, I have 1 more year of 0%
Now I just got another BOA Royal Caribbean card (GF Made me) that if I spend 1K in 6 months I will get 300 in credit on the cruise I will be taking in July. This one is like 25+%. Once I hit that 1K, I will never touch this card again. Is it best to just cut up or put away in a safe/drawer or just close it ? Same with the other BOA card. Once that 0% is gone, I will never touch it again.
All CC are paid in full monthly
Close what you don't, and won't, use. As already stated, your credit rating will take a small hit but it will go right back up. No biggie.
I have 3. One is used ONLY for international travel. That card gets put away except when I travel.
The other two I carry with me and use often. My AmEx is used just for dining out (which is not often) and as a backup card in case there is is fraud on my main card and I have to have it replaced. That seems to happen every 2 or 3 years.
Any balances are paid off every month. I really can't remember the last time I carried a balance on a card.
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I hate when I do that. How did I miss that 
