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Old 03-12-2009, 11:55 AM
boosami boosami is offline
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In general, it's easiest to keep them open to be sure your FICO won't be affected. However, if it annoys you to keep them open, here's instructions to figure out if it will affect you.

1) Determine your total balance reported to the credit bureaus for revolving accounts. Credit cards, unsecured loans only.
2) Determine your total available limit on all those tradelines from above.
3) Calculate your overall utilization percentage (#1 divided by #2).
4) Determine your new total available limit, ignoring the cards you wish to close.
5) Calculate your new overall utilization percentage (#1 divided by #4).

Compare your current and new percentages. The new one will be higher. If it's less than 10% higher than the previous, cancelling those cards will not significantly impact your FICO. The higher the percentage is, the lower it potentially reduces your score.
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