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don't forget that you also pay interest on the interest. that is the difference between a revolving account and a straight interest loan. on a stright interest loan you will pay 10% over 10 years, or however it is set up. with a credit card you have a finance charge every month that you also pay interest on. interest on the interest.
example: you take out a $100 loan at 10%, no matter what you will pay back $110. If you put $100 on a credit card and make a $5 payment that leaves your balance at $95, then you are charged your monthly finance charge of $3, now you are paying interest on $98, not $95. What it means is that at the end of the term you havn't paid $110. Most credit card debt is in the 5k not $100, so at the end of paying this card off you are paying a lot more.
I deal with people all day who will not finance a product on our loan because the rate is over 15%, then say they have a credit card at 8%, etc. Remember a straight loan at 15%-20% will probably cost you less over time than a credit card at even 5% APR.
As for open accounts that are 0% balance hurting you. That is not ALL true. Yes, they want to see activity. But you FICO score, which is what most, or all, loan companies go by is determined in part by your available to used credit. Just make sure you don't have soo much available credit that you can't handle. If the loan companie sees your debt. to income ratio is good, but you could potentially put yourself into a horrible debt. to income if you went on a spending spreee, this will look bad.
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