My grandpa's 'never close a credit card' advice cost me a better score for years

He told me in 2018 to keep my first Capital One card with a $300 limit open forever, but it took me until last year to realize the low limit was actually hurting my utilization ratio every single month.

3 comments

3 Comments

waderamirez7d ago

That $300 limit is brutal. My first card was a $500 secured card from Capital One and it took me 4 years to realize the same thing your grandpa didn't get. You get stuck because closing it drops your average age of accounts but keeping it tanks your utilization every month if you spend anything over $90. Did you end up closing it or did you just get a credit limit increase? I ask because I fought with Capital One for 2 years to raise my limit and they refused until I practically stopped using the card completely, then they magically bumped it to $3000. That low limit trap is a real killer and most people don't catch it until their score is already damaged.

nathan_kim7d ago

Hate to say it but you called it with Capital One. Exact same thing happened to me with a $300 secured card. I kept using it monthly under $90 and got nowhere. Eventually closed it after getting a better card and watched my score drop 40 points from the average age hit. @waderamirez your fix of barely using it then getting a bump makes me wish I tried that before giving up on it. That low limit loop is the worst design for people trying to build credit.

dianawilson6d ago

That "barely using it then getting a bump" thing worked for me too... took forever though.