[Samdari]

Originally Posted by albionmoonlight

I understand that the usual caveats apply about getting financial advice from a football-game message board.

That said, my question is narrow and factual, so I am hoping for a narrow and factual answer.

My understanding is that available credit positively affects credit scores. I have also been led to believe that if you do not use a credit card, then the amount of credit available on that card may not be counted toward your "available credit" for credit score purposes.

We have some credit cards that we used for balance transfers back in the day and that now lie fallow. I have two questions:

(1) Are my understandings above correct? If we don't keep using all of our available credit, might it not all be working for us in the best way possible vis a vis credit scores?

(2) If so, how often does a credit card need to be used to be consider "active" for these purposes? I would just as soon not use these cards all the time and clutter up my life. Can I just use one at the grocery every few months and pay off the balance on time? Do I have to actually be using the cards every month? Can I just do it every six months?

Any insight would be appreciated. My google-fu on this question has been thwarted by the eleventy-billion offers for FREE CREDIT REPORTS!!!11!!! that swamp the browser anytime I type in any marginally relevant term.

Thanks a ton.

According to my wife - who is a commercial credit risk analyst - unused credit will not positively affect credit scores. Since the company evaluating you is trying to determine your ability to repay loans it may extend to you, this is a risk for them, since it represents payments you could have to make without any further application/evaluation from another company. While she does not think it is a one-to-one open credit=debt relationship, she is positive that open, unused credit is not a positive asset to your credit score.