Upping Your Credit Limit

[Am]

Does that hurt your credit score? I heard somewhere that it did but I can't remember the source so I don't know how reliable it was. The credit card company says it wont but I don't trust them.

[xkrazybaby67x]

good question. i'm stalking this thread until there is an answer

[Jenna]

I'm pretty sure upping your credit limit is a GOOD thing. What matters is how much debt you have compared to how much available credit.

So if you have $8,000 credit card debt on all your cards & and your available credit on all is $8,000..that's bad..

BUT if you have say $3,000 CC debt on all & your available credit is $8,000 thats good.

I know on my credit report..they say one factor that makes my score stay high is the credit cards that have high limits.

[Roxie0816]

but i'd like to know. I thought it wasn't how much credit you have available to use, but what percent of that you charge or whatever.

[Am]

Originally Posted by Jenna I'm pretty sure upping your credit limit is a GOOD thing. What matters is how much debt you have compared to how much available credit. So if you have $8,000 credit card debt on all your cards & and your available credit on all is $8,000..that's bad.. BUT if you have say $3,000 CC debt on all & your available credit is $8,000 thats good. I know on my credit report..they say one factor that makes my score stay high is the credit cards that have high limits.

That's what I'm reading now. Maybe I got confused with having more credit cards open?

Thanks.

[Jenna]

Originally Posted by Roxie0816 but i'd like to know. I thought it wasn't how much credit you have available to use, but what percent of that you charge or whatever.

it is what you charge that matters.. it's a ratio of what you charge compared to what's available so the higher the ratio, the lower your score I believe.

The more credit you have available unused..the better

at least that's what I got from Oprah

[*Kate*]

The ratio of debt to availabel credit is what matters. So if you up your limit and don't max it out that is a good thing.

[carolinagirll]

No it's a good thing. If all your credit cards are max out or have high balances then that's not good but having more then one is fine.

[Trey]

You just don't want to have TOOOO much open credit. That hurt us when we went to buy a home, they said we had the "potential" to spend a lot of money because we had so much open credit.

As long as you keep the balance down, it's cool. I believe 30% or less of the available credit line is what you should shoot to stay under to keep your score the best it can be.

[mushortgurl03]

Actually, it's better to have a higher limit and only use up to 50% of your limit. If you use anymore than that it tends to do damage to your credit score. However, what helps if you are over that 50 percentile, like myself, is if you pay your minimum balance or more AND the payment is always on schedule. Scores fluctuate as the consumer fluctuates.