Nobody dreams of waking up buried under 29% APR and a mountain of shame. But here we are—dreading every credit card statement like it’s a jury summons. Here’s the $16,000 truth (yep, that’s the average U.S. household credit card debt): Credit cards aren’t the problem. It’s how we use them that gets us stuck. So, …
Question: Dear Steve, I have three credit card accounts, all with Citibank. Two of them are closed. The one open account has a credit limit of $1700. I am just $140 below the limit on it. The other two are at about 40% or less. I am getting dinged on my FICO score as they …
This excerpt helps to explain why it’s best to keep your credit card balances low, even if you have to spread them over a larger pool of cards. The lesson to be learned from the credit scoring and credit bureaus themselves, keep your balances lower than 30% — “You don’t need a lot of credit …