The bank will look at all your credit available....even if you are not using them as you could at anytime. Thats why they are reluctant to give you anymore credit. Better to be rid of cards and get lower rate on an LC.

Close them.....you can always get another once your score is up if you had too. Avoid the temptation.....you really only need one.

Looks better to bank won;t be able to say you have to much credit available if you wanted to get a lower interest LC or loan.

Thanks for replying.

They are all in a safe, except for one that I use for Online purchases (but I transfer the money from my chequing account as soon as I buy). I haven't used the others at all in years.

Should I close the accounts as I pay them off or leave them open?

Cut them up now....keep the lowest rate one for emergency.

Keep that card at around 20% of the limit at all times....never higher unless it is an actual emergency.
Pay it down quicly as possible and always try to pay what ever you charge on it in full within 30 days.

Now that the holidays have passed, I am committing myself to paying off my credit card debt - on my own. I recently returned to work full time, after a year off on parental leave.

I have a total of 17k in cc debt. Never a late payment, always pay a little more than the minimum. I don't have bad credit, but the bank told me i would not qualify for a loan or credit card if I applied because I already owe too much. I made a budget and opened a savings account to put money into and use it to pay off debt in chunks.

My plan is to pay them off one by one, starting with the highest interest rate. And snowball the payments to the next card, and so on. My question is: what do info with these cards as I pay them off. Should I lower the limits, close the accounts completely or leave them as is? I would like to keep one or two for emergency situations. My goal is to improve my credit as best as possible.

Thank you!