How Many Credit Cards Should You Have - By: Suzy Vanstrusen

People have the wrong belief that having more credit cards would eventually make their credit score higher. But the truth is, the number of credit cards in your account is not much of a factor with regards to your scores.

What enhances a person's credit score is the way he handles his credit. In short, timeliness of your credit cards payments along with the punctuality of your payments to your other creditors is what will enhance your credit score.

The type of credit you have in your account is also a factor that can boost your credit. For instance, if you have a mortgage loan, a car loan and one or two credit cards in your account, that will be an advantage because it shows your capability to manage different accounts effectively. Having different types of credit is very impressive thus be sure that you can also handle the payments of all of them. Otherwise, it will not be considered as an excellent credit report.

It won't actually make a difference if you have lots of credit cards for all of it will be counted or considered as one. It will definitely have an effect in your score once you are having difficulties in handling all of these payments.

SO, what is the ideal number of credit cards a person should have? Ideally, one or two should be enough to give a person the option to make advance purchases time and again. If you have two, you should keep the other one strictly for emergency purposes only. Use it occasionally on small purchases to keep the account from closing especially if you've had that for a long time.

You can use your other credit card for your purchases and on paying your bills especially if it's a reward credit card. The important thing to remember about reward credit cards is that they often come with high interest rates, so you need to be sure that you can repay your balances in full on or before your due date of payment. The best way to handle the payments of these credits is to immediately keep a portion of your salary to pay them off. This way, you can sure that you will not carry over any balances on your credit card and avoid paying the interest rate altogether.

Having a credit card can let you shop more safely for the obvious reason that you won't have to bring cash with you but use it wisely and just charge an amount that you are certain that you can pay back on time. Plan your purchases and write them down so you can calculate the total in advance.

If the current credit cards you have come with high rates, then it's best if you would apply for a new one with lower rates and better deals. But don't close out your older credit cards because they're an important part of your credit history. Instead, keep them with you and use it on small purchases just to prevent from closing on its own.

Copyright (c) 2009 Suzy Vanstrusen

About the Author

Suzy Vanstrusen is a credit analyst and a writer of the website EZCreditRepairSolutions.com and has been providing consumers with tips and tricks in repairing your credit. Check the site for more free credit repair tips and credit repair services.

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