Credit and Credit Scores: A short lesson

[James Boston]

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yea, i think you've got it upside down. or i do.

Lets say I have $1000 on a CC with a $2000 limit. IF I have 4 more CC's that have $2000 limits each (but I never use them), I am helping my credit by only having a 1:10 ratio, as opposed to a 1:2.

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You're backwards, at least by my recollection of how it works. Look at it this way:

You have a $2000 CC with $1000 used. You go apply for a loan. They see that, at worst, you could run up another $1000 in debt. That's not so bad.

Now, you have $10,000 in CC lines with $1000 used. You apply for the same loan, but now you could rack up another $9000 in debt, which could put you in a situation where you would default on the loan you're applying for. That's worse.