Boosting your credit limit may have a number of upsides if you manage your credit properly.
The FICO credit scoring model will ding your credit history if the amount of credit you've used is near to the total amount of credit open to you. That's because it looks at you to be at risk of maxing out your cards and having problems making future payments. You may know that these risks don't actually apply to you, but that's how the scoring model works.
When you've got a $2,000 credit limit and you regularly end up with a monthly bill of approximately $1,800, you're using 90% of your readily available credit. Increasing your borrowing limit will reduce that portion and should boost your credit score. Paying down that $1800 to $1500 will also decrease your debt-to-credit ratio which can boost your score as well. That's the best way to build credit- approach the issue from both angles and your results will exponentially compound just like combining diet and exercise (which is challenging to do as well, but also worth the results!).
When you're not using a majority of your available credit, you appear to be financially responsible to the credit bureaus and your credit ranking should grow. If your credit score is higher, you will have a better possibility of getting approved for a credit card, car loan or house loan down the road. You'll also have a better chance of getting a lower rate of interest, since your credit score can determine whether you'll be given the best available rate or a higher, risk-adjusted rate.
Developing a credit limit well in excess of your usual spending amount offers you a resource if you have a real emergency that you just can't pay for with cash. Say you're traveling and you need to change your plans and return back home immediately - it probably won't be cheap to change your plane ticket, and it's much easier to pay for an airplane ticket with a credit card. Just be sure to take emergencies like this into account after your balance goes up on your card and pay them back down immediately in case you enter another period where you need to use credit in an emergency.
If you consistently pay off your balance in full and on time but you're not putting all of your current expenses on your credit card, it could be time to start. Having a higher credit limit can help you do that. The traditional wisdom states that you shouldn't charge everyday expenses like groceries and gas to your credit card, but that advice only applies if you're carrying an account balance - it's intended to help you avoid making a bad problem worse.
Whenever you do not have a charge card balance, having to pay for recurring expenses in your charge cards will not cost you anything and may permit you to earn more rewards. This will increase your overall credit worthiness.
Improving your borrowing limit means giving yourself the opportunity to spend outside your means, right? Not so. Enhancing your borrowing limit may have many benefits if you use credit sensibly.
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