can you close an credit card account if you still have a balance on it? help if you can.

 

Yes you can. But why would you want to do that? Closing a card, unless it has an annual fee or low limit compared to your other cards, is not good for your scores.

 

pay it off, then close it.

learn to live without them wretched things.

I have for the past ten years and damn glad i have. Sure, its harder for me to get some things that i really want in terms of payment wise but if i really need it i save up for it and pay cash. most of the time if you go in wanting to pay cash anyways you pay less.

 

so you can close it then finish paying it off afterwards?

 

you can, but the interest will still be there.

not to mention, like jongtr said, the credit card companies dont like that and will penalize you on your credit score

 

The credit card companies don't penalize you, Fair Isaac does. The FICO score takes into account your limits and debt ratios. Lets say you had $1000 debt and $2000 limit across all cards. 50% utilized! Now say you got more cards and now have $10k total limits. Now you're only 10% utilized. Up goes your score! Same amount of debt, but it looks better to the FICO model.

Like I said, pay it off, and only close it if you are paying annual fees. Interest ratio doesn't matter if you pay it off before the statement cuts. wink1.gif

To keep it open from then on, you should charge a shirt to it every 3 months. Most banks are closing down cards that aren't being used, so use it.

Can you say what card it is? Different cards have different personalities.

 

Capitol 1, one of the shitest cards ever, i get charged for their credit inform to let me know of my credit score and it's not even right. I had that cancelled and i'm still getting charged, plus they have a annual fee to be a member. So i'm just not likeing all the fees they got.

 

call 'em up and say you want the fees removed, or you're transferring your balance and cancelling the card.

if they send you to another representative, tell them you want the fees removed OR ELSE you're going to transfer the balance to another card and close the account.

Don't get cards with annual fees, unless they're rewards cards (if they are, DON'T carry a balance because they have higher interest rates). Make sure the rewards are worth the annual fee.

It's best to keep your cards open (for the reasons Jon stated) and make sure they're never used (stolen CCs) by anyone else.

Seriously, Jon knows what he's talking about. Read the threads in the Ask Majik forum, it's been discussed.


Or LEARN how to live WITH them. I love the three I have. It paid for the $2,400 in airfare for my honeymoon (I paid $50 per ticket for fees/taxes). They've given me free suite upgrades at hotels, free nights, and I have enough American Airlines AAdvantage miles right now that my wife and I could fly roundtrip 3 times.

Oh, and I've never carried a balance on them. It costs $85/yr. and I've had it waived each of the 3 years just by calling them.

I use it just as I would my debit card, except with this I actually get something in return cool.gif

 

Crapital 1 annual fee? That's rare. Either they remove the annual fee, or close it. DO NOT be late, go over, or charge-off that card. Crap1 is notorious for not being a generous company on any kind of lates. They have shitty limits and high rates. Instead of giving you a higher limit, they'll jump to offer you another card. They'll pull not just one, but all three of your reports. Then give you another shitty limit card. Their intention is to get you to be late!!! They hope that you'll forget to pay one of their cards and hit you with insane fees. I've seen people with 4 Crap1 cards. All below $500.


UrS0NvS,

Without a credit card, your scores will suck. Shitty scores = shitty insurance premiums. Not having a card will make it pretty tough to get a rental or hotel room. And no, most do not take charge or debit cards.
That philosophy sounds like Dave Ramsey. He's a douchebag...period. Watch Suze Orman, she's awesome.

 

^^I like daves stuff, my debit card is a visa, never ever had an issue using it anywhere visa is accepted.

Suze seems ok but a little crazy.

Does your bank have rewards for your debit card? They usually aren't as good as credit cards but aren't too bad. Last summer when gas was high I used them to get 300-400 in gas.

dang majik, how long did you save up points for that??