I have fair credit, own several credit cards, want to improve my credit. What are the best practices to handle owned amounts?

Answered on August 05, 2010
Updated on August 05, 2010
The content is accurate at the time of publication and is subject to change.
Amy Miller Amy Miller
First of all, you should keep all your balances low, your credit utilization ratio is based on all of your open lines of credit, outstanding balances and credit unused. A high outstanding balance can hurt your credit score, and the best move of course would be to pay it down. If you have unused credit cards, do not cancel them, having the same outstanding balance with fewer open credit cards may cause a drop in your credit score. At the same time getting new credit cards that you do not need is not a good solution either.
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