Saturday, October 30, 2010

paper or plastic?*

I am, once again, considering closing one of my credit accounts. I have two credit cards and I don't want either of them, but I'm strangely afraid to not have any credit cards. So, I'm asking for opinions today: should I close the account that has the higher (oh-so-freaking-sky-high) interest rate? Are there any arguments for keeping open credit card accounts? All I keep thinking is, "What if I need that credit card for something?"

As far as I know, my parents haven't had/used credit cards for about fifteen years (I could be wrong), so I know it's possible to get by without. Let me step back a moment, so I don't sound entirely too silly: I know there are many, many people who don't have credit cards. It's just that I don't usually talk to people about their finances. I hope I'm not asking something too uncomfortable here, but I feel like I need some more input before I cancel the account and cut up the card.

I thank you in advance for any input. Grazie, gracias, thanks!

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* We tend to use our debit cards more often than we use cash, but "plastic or plastic?" just doesn't quite work. So, for the purposes of this, let us pretend that plastic = credit cards and paper = debit/cash. I thank you.

2 comments:

kate said...

Don't close the account as long as it doesn't have a yearly fee or anything. It's strange but closing accounts actually reflects badly on your credit. So I say, keep the card but don't carry it.
If it has any kind of fee associated with it, get rid of it. It's not worth it to pay to keep something that you're not doing anything with.
Does that help?

v said...

Yes. Not only does that help, but it's exactly what I was thinking. I know that closing an account dings my credit, but I do have a fee and I don't want to pay it. Also, I never carry my credit cards with me. I want to get rid of both of my credit cards, but I'm not sure I'm ready for that yet. (Why?)