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Would it be ok to cancel the VISAs and just stick with the mastercard? All these cards came in the mail within the last year. I'm afraid canceling my cards may have an adverse affect on my rating, should I just stick em in a shoebox and forget about them?
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I would actually avoid keeping them in a shoebox - use them each month, all of them. That way, it will report that you made a payment on time. However, the amount doesn't matter. If you buy a pack of gum on one card and a pack of smokes on the other, that's fine. As long as there was at least some balance on the card each month and you made your payment on time, it will report that. To avoid paying interest, I would pay the cards off in full each month, though.
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Now from reading the posts, I should have 50-60% of my credit used. Is that per card, or all credit available to me? I also read that my credit cards report my balance only once a month. When is that? Does that mean I should keep my balance at 50-60% through that period?
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Actually, that is incorrect. You should not have more than 50-60% of your credit used - ever. That is per card, but it works out as a whole as well. For instance, it is better to have two cards with limits of $1000.00 and a balance of $500.00 each than the same two cards, one maxed out and the other empty.
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Do I pay off all the balance right after that period, and rack up more credit purchases, or do I pay the minimum amount and keep my balance floating at 50%? Is it safe to just pay the minimum every month and keep a balance?
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You can either make purchases throughout the month and pay the cards off in full or keep a floating balance. However, if you pay your balance off in full every month you can avoid paying interest. Make sure, though, that if you are paying it off in full each month you carry the balance all month long. A friend of mine would use his credit card and then immediately pay it off via online payments. Occasionaly, it would report that there was no balance nor activity on that card for the entire month.
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What if I go OVER that 60% limit, say 70%, pay off the over-balance immediately the next day, and get it down to 60%? do they ever see that I hit 70% ?
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Basically, the credit reporting agencies take a "snapshot" of your current situation. That means that if they happen to take that "snapshot" on that particular day, it would look as if you were up to 70% of the limit. Keep in mind, however, that the highest amount you have ever charged up is kept track of, and will affect your credit rating.
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I ordered a credit report from Capital One, they have this program where I pay a couple bucks a month and they send me a quarterly Credit Report with my Credit Score. I read that everytime you have your credit checked, your score takes a small hit, but they assured me they have it set up so that the query does NOT affect my credit score. Is this BS?
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Well, it is true that whenever you apply for credit (basically, an inquiry) it will damage your score. However, when you check your score for yourself, it typically won't damage it at all, as it is not considered to be an application for credit. I have only had experience ordering credit directly from the credit reporting agencies, though, so I would check with Capital One and see if it will look like an inquiry or not. If it does, it may potentially damage your score.
If you need anything else, just ask