by Rebel Alliance Theatre

Question by tgrlvr333: Is it better to have credit cards with no balance or close them in order to have good credit or help build it?
I have a few credit cards and only one with a balance, should I close the empty ones or keep them. I am trying to up my credit score and am not sure which is better.

Best answer:

Answer by Don E
no balance on existing cards will net more credit.

Add your own answer in the comments!

by alancleaver_2000

Do You Need Bad Credit Help

Do you need bad credit help? Are you one of thousands with no credit and no collateral to help secure approval, or you just have extremely bad credit and no one wants to help you, and all you hear is stories and more stories?

Bad credit is a term used to describe a poor credit rating. Common practices that can damage a credit rating include making late payments, skipping payments, exceeding card limits or declaring bankruptcy. Bad Credit can result in being denied credit.

Bad credit can result in a negative rating from the credit reporting agencies. Many factors can contribute to someone getting a “bad credit” rating, among these are non-payment of an account or late payments over an extended length of time. Whether non-payment of an account is willful or due to financial hardship, the result can be the same, a negative rating which will result in a low credit score.

However, lenders are more willing to work with individuals if the person contacts the lender to let them know they are having problems meeting their commitment to pay.

A credit score is defined as a statistical method of assessing an applicant’s credit worthiness. An applicant’s credit card history; amount of outstanding debt; the type of credit used; negative information such as bankruptcies or late payments; collection accounts and judgments; too little credit history, and too many credit lines with the maximum amount borrowed are all included in credit-scoring models to determine the credit score.

Raising your credit score is possible. It’s a well known fact that lenders will give people with higher credit scores lower interest rates on mortgages, car loans and credit cards. If your credit score falls under 620 just getting loans and credit cards with reasonable terms is difficult.

Here are five things that you can use to raise credit score.

1. Correct obvious mistakes.

Your credit score is what shows up in your credit report. Review your reports from all three credit bureaus for accuracy once a year as well as several months before applying for a loan. Changing a mistake on your report can take 30 days to three months, or more. Get Your credit report from the three major bureaus: Experian, Trans Union and Equifax.

2. Pay Your Bills On Time

Your payment history makes up 35% of your total credit score.Your recent payment history will carry much more weight than what happened five years ago. Missing just one payment on anything can knock 50 to 100 points off of your credit score. Paying your bills on time is the best way to get started rebuilding your credit rating and raising your credit score.

3. Reduce your credit card balances.

A heavily weighted factor in your FICO score is how much money you owe on your credit cards relative to your total credit limit. Generally, it’s good to keep your balances at or below 25 percent of your credit card limit, said Jeanne Kelly, founder of The Kelly Group in Brookfield, Conn., which helps clients improve their credit scores.

4. Don’t Close Old Accounts

In the past people were told to close old accounts they weren’t using. But with today’s current scoring methods that could actually hurt your credit score. Closing old or paid off credit accounts lowers the total credit available to you and makes any balances you have appear larger in credit score calculations.

Closing your oldest accounts can actually shorten the length of your credit history and to a lender it makes you less credit worthy. If you are trying to minimize identity theft and it’s worth the peace of mind for you to close your old or paid off accounts, the good news is it will only lower you score a minimal amount. But just by keeping those old accounts open you can raise credit score for you.

5. Avoid Bankruptcy

Bankruptcy is the single worst thing you can do to your credit score. Bankruptcy will lower your credit score by 200 points or more and is very difficult to come back from. Once your credit score falls below 620, any loan you get will be far more expensive. A bankruptcy on your credit record ireported for up to 10 years. The reality of a bankruptcy is it will limit you to high-interest lenders that will squeeze out high interest rate payments from you for years.

It is better to get credit counseling to help you with your bills and avoid bankruptcy at all costs. By getting credit counseling instead of declaring bankruptcy you can raise credit score over a much shorter period of time.

by ReneS

Bad Credit Help

If you’re like me, you do not like wasting time, energy or money. Bad credit help is my goal for you. I take pleasure in helping people quickly find the financial assistance they need to get any type of loan, a credit card, improve their credit or just simply get out of debt, no matter what their past credit history or credit scored may be. Therefore, now, no one has to waste their time, energy or money looking for the best source to get out of their financial dilemmas. It hurts me to my heart when I hear folks talking about having bad credit, poor credit, low credit or no credit at all and them having a hard time being able to get their life back on track. It makes me want to yell to the roof tops that, there is help. Believe me, I have been through the embarrassment of having no credit and even poor credit. I have had to pay my dues and can now confidently say that I have good credit. So I know, if I was able to improve my credit, anyone can do the same. So, please don’t get disillusioned and give up on be able to have good credit, as well. There are financial resources out there for people with past credit problems. I will gladly share a few of those resources with you, but just a few tips first.

My first tip is for people truly wanting to get out of debt and improve their credit rating and score, then, you must be willing to pay back the money you borrow. Not only should you pay back the money you owe, but you must pay the money according to the payment schedule. Try to pay more than the minimum amount due. This way you will decrease the interest owed and you will get out of debt a lot sooner. Additionally, you should never pay less than the minimum amount due, because this will cause your payment to be registered as a late payment, even though you may have paid on time and as scheduled.

My second tip would be, never to spend more than or purchase anything you can’t afford, try to stay within your budget. If you don’t have a budget, now’s a good time to start one. You can’t control your spending, if you don’t keep track of your expenses and what you have left over to spend. You can always save your money and get that special item later, or at least when you have improved your credit rating and credit score. You will know when your credit has improved, because credit companies will start sending you “approval for credit” applications in the mail, as they will no longer consider you a high risk borrower.

Finally, if your credit history is not so good and you’re looking for a second chance and you want help with getting a bad credit loan, whether it is to stop foreclosure, get equity out of your home, do a little remodeling or you just want a personal loan or credit card. Then this is your day to start a new beginning if your looking for bad credit help.