Warmest regards,
--Your best pal Bob

How's my blogging: Call me at 209.867.5309 to complain.
[ Parent ]

In general, it's best to keep the card you've had longest, as the length you've had an account in good standing positively effects your score.

We keep two cards. One is a rewards card so we get back stuff on purchases. We use that for almost everything. The other is the account my wife opened right out of college. It's twenty years old and we keep it mostly for the track record. Neither have fees, of course.

Another thing you can do to boost your credit score is to take advantage of those "90 day same as cash" things. If you are careful to pay them off on time (and are aware that the companies often "forget" to remind you) they are a great way to get loan records on your credit report without actually paying any interest.

However, as I said elsewhere, if you are the sort of person who pays everything on time, you probably don't even need to bother worrying about it.
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_{ウセーバラケダ}
[ Parent ]

I have no idea what that means.
--
The three things that make a diamond also make a waffle.
[ Parent ]

One way to do that is only buy the things you need to live, and avoid buying things that you don't really need to work or feed and clothe yourself but make sure that you do spend some money on entertainment from time to time so you won't get bored.

For example you can visit a library and check out books and DVDs and music CDs instead of buying your own books, DVDs and music CDs. As long as you return them on time, or ask to renew the checkout time, you won't pay anything for renting them.

Most people don't watch their budget and end up spending too much on mostly things they don't really need anyway, and materialism can hurt people that way and lead up to huge credit card debt. I used to be one of those people, until I smartened up and learned to live within a budget.

Besides materialism only makes the rich richer, but not the people buying all the materials they don't need. I decided to stop making others rich, and find a way to save on costs and live within a budget that my salary allows. I suspect you might already be living on a budget and know what I am talking about because you appear to be smart to me on things like that anyway.

[ Parent ]

Then ask them if the method they use will ruin your credit rating, and that you would like to use an option that will not ruin your rating, but allow you to pay off your bills. Some of the agencies will get you a loan through some bank, and then you pay the agency and they pay the bank back after collecting their fee from you. The one that will hurt your rating is the one where they close out all your credit cards and consolidate your debt into one payment. You need a plan that will not cancel your credit cards, but pay them off and then consolidate your debt into one big loan. Then hide your credit cards so you won't be tempted to use them anymore, and just pay off that one lump sum each month.

If you own a house, you can take out a second mortgage to pay off all your debts if you make that deal with your bank, and avoid a credit agency. Then hide your credit cards in a safe deposit box or maybe a safe or box in your house that you can hide them in. Only use credit cards in an emergency like if you need your car repaired, ect.

Another option is to get some sort of accounting program like GNUCash for Linux, Mac OSX, Windows, or *BSD Unix or perhaps MS-Money or Quicken for Windows and keep track of your bills yourself and pay each one off on time and avoid credit agencies and banks because you are using a financial tool to keep track of your expenses and sticking to a budget.

[ Parent ]