to other low-interest or even to zero-interest cards. Opening additional accounts can harm your score. • Reduce your overall debt: Consider using your credit cards less, and begin paying off your balances, starting with the accounts that charge the highest interest rates. • Apply only for the accounts you need: It’s better for your credit score to have some credit cards and installment loans, but don’t randomly open new accounts in an attempt to increase your credit mix. • Limit new accounts: Some people continually open new accounts in the belief that it will increase the credit available to them. This is especially true of new credit users. It looks better to manage a few accounts responsibly over a long period. Adding many new accounts looks reckless and decreases your average “account age,” possibly lowering your score. • Don’t continually shop for rates: It’s fine to shop for the best interest rate but do it in a compressed time for a particular loan. FICO can tell whether you’re searching for a single loan or searching for multiple credit lines, partly by how your searches are spread out over time. • It’s fine to check your credit report: Requesting and accessing your own credit report won’t hurt your score if you order your report directly from a credit reporting agency or other organization authorized to supply reports to consumers. • Closed accounts don’t disappear: Closing accounts is a poor short-term strategy for increasing your credit score. Closed accounts still show up on your credit report and can make your record look worse. • Create payment reminders: If you’ve had difficulties
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