Credit Card Cancellations: How They'll Affect Your Credit Score

Lifehacker:

Adam Baker, blogger at Man vs. Debt, canceled all his credit cards 15 months ago. His credit score dropped just 10 points, but he learned a lot about that score, and what financial reviewers are looking for, by taking the plunge.

Read the whole story: Lifehacker

Comments

[Skyhawk]

10:15 PM on 02/28/2010

Employers should be prevented from using FICO as a consideration for hiring.

[yourmomscalling]

09:58 AM on 02/28/2010

CANCEL ALL THE BIG BANK ONES !!! DO IT !!!

[UNLVGOP]

05:58 PM on 02/27/2010

Why is everyone so anti-credit cards?

I have about 10 of them and an excellent FICO score. I started getting them when I was 18 so I can build up good credit.

However, I never really use them, only rarely. Just because you have Credit Cards, doesn't mean you will end up in huge debts. Don't get mad at the credit card companies...you're the one who swipes the card at the store! You can have them and leave them in your drawer for decades, or just use them responsibly...

[MayorQuimby]

10:55 PM on 02/27/2010

99% of the humans on this planet do NOT behave that way. But good for you for being responsible!

[brooklyncitizen]

08:26 PM on 02/28/2010

Lots of us do.

[darth geekboy]

09:49 PM on 02/28/2010

typical clueless conservative hack.

if this is your response to all those people who used to file for bankruptcy due to credit card bills, thinking that they're all deadbeats, you are just ignorant.

many of those who were forced into bankruptcy by outrageous cc bills were people who all of a sudden lost their jobs and/or (and this is a BIG one) they ran up medical bills due to insufficient, or even lack of, medical insurance.

how would you expect these people to pay off their bills when cc companies run up outrageous interest rates, much less charge unwarranted fees just for lookin' at them funny.

cc's used to be a safety net for these types of people that get into these kinds of situations. lose a job for a few months? you could have used your cc to buy food. get a rare medical condition that requires an enormous co-pay? use a cc to pay for it. eventually people would hope to pay these bills off within a small number of years, maybe even months. now, you might as well give them your first born.

that's why some of us hate credit cards.

[totaldisbelief]

04:29 PM on 02/27/2010

FICA is another scam.

[Patriot86]

10:14 PM on 02/27/2010

Yep, now they use for car insurance and all sorts of nonsense.

[jalowe1957]

03:29 PM on 02/27/2010

At the last few trade shows I've attended, American Express was still soliciting applicants even as credit is becoming harder to come by.

Is there something wrong with this picture?

[climatebabes]

02:45 PM on 02/27/2010

WTF, credit score? Be happy not to get credit, you will not be gouged and taken advantage of while using a service you may not deserve and that otherwise should be totaly free!

[yourmomscalling]

09:40 AM on 02/27/2010

F THE CREDIT CARDS DUMP THEM !!!

[nomoredead]

08:44 AM on 02/27/2010

oh puleeeeze !
It hurts you if your balance is too high.
It hurts you if your balance is too low.
It hurts when you pay off too early.
It hurts if you pay off too late.
Etc Etc Etc

I did a Chapter 7 and wiped all mine out plus saved my retirement farm. Woke up feeling like a refreshed unburdened human the next day with a ton of weight off my shoulders.
If the big corporations can do their bankruptcies to get rid of troublesome entities then I should. A smart business move.

Please do not give me any more credit cards or loans.
I do not need or want a ' good credit score ' Thats what got a lot of people in trouble.

[MayorQuimby]

08:48 AM on 02/27/2010

There is NOTHING wrong with bankruptcy. You're right. The stigma attached to it is ridiculous and only serves to keep the sheeple buried in debt.

[Vinkaye]

10:20 AM on 03/01/2010

I agree that credit scores are a joke and need to be abolished. One should not be punished for paying off and closing credit card accounts, as one currently is. Plus, you could pay your mortgage, car loan, and every other household bill on time for decades, yet, miss one credit card payment and your "score" will take a huge hit.... it's ridiculous. We have allowed credit card companies to control the American population.

[MayorQuimby]

08:38 AM on 02/27/2010

Please watch the video I posted below people.

Banks collect INTEREST without DOING ANYTHING! They don't LEND you anything. The new CREDIT is created out of thin air!!!

[StephenJK]

06:26 AM on 02/27/2010

I agree with everyone here that FICO score is worthless. Screw the racket. Everyone should cut their cards up and go commando. Cash money and that is it. Say no to lifetime imprisonment to debt cycles. Not until they make it fair for us. Which will be never.

[brooklyncitizen]

08:28 PM on 02/28/2010

Here's the trick: if you cannot pay on time don't swipe the card.

[Leigh49]

08:03 PM on 02/26/2010

Someone needs to start an anti-FICO movement. It's such a sham.

[Leigh49]

07:59 PM on 02/26/2010

This sounds like a ploy to get people to keep their multitude of cards. I don't care how it affects my score, I canceled all but one. That's all I need for emergencies. If they don't like it, tuff.

[McGruff]

06:37 PM on 02/26/2010

_UCK your credit score !

Everybody should walk away from their upside down mortgages ... and stop paying their usury credit cards today !

Just imagine if everybody did ... everybody would have low credit scores ... then what would the Wall Street driven corporations do ? ... who would they threaten ? ... who would they sell their products to ?

Consumers should turn this paradigm on its head.

[MayorQuimby]

05:27 PM on 02/26/2010

WATCH and wake up. Most important video you can watch:

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-2550156453790090544&ei=XEmIS5HSNI7nlQfnwvVM&q=money+as+debt&client=safari#

[livingfree]

05:18 PM on 02/26/2010

At this point, who cares about a FICO score? I can live with it or without it. It will be on my terms and not theirs. If everybody adapt this attitude, they will stop jacking people.

[MayorQuimby]

05:20 PM on 02/26/2010

Think of FICO as a COLLAR around your neck because that's what it is. You have to PAY for the PRIVILEGE to borrow money into existence off of which the banks collect profits by lending money they NEVER EVEN HAD in the first place?!?!?!?!?!

THIS IS FREAKIN' INSANE!!!!

[quindy]

05:51 PM on 02/26/2010

Talk also about big brother is watching. These banks know our every move. I don't know if equivalent of FICO exists anywhere else in the world.