Jim and I were going over the bills, making vacation plans based on the bills, and getting our credit cards organized yesterday. Good times, eh? We have quite few credit cards that are open, with available credit, that we haven’t used in years. I decided to take a look online to see if I could find advice on what we should do with those old accounts – cancel them? Continue to leave them open? I don’t like to make any changes to my credit cards without knowing how it will affect my credit score.

Thanks to this site featuring credit card offers and free credit advice, I found what I was looking for, and verified that canceling those unused cards CAN hurt my score. (In a nutshell, it’s better to have $10,000 in available credit you’re not using, versus $5,000 in available credit you’re not using. Credit scores tend to reward your discipline and restraint.) If you ever need advice on credit and credit cards, be sure to check out ApexCreditCards.com. I found some great articles on everything from how to compare credit cards to understanding your credit score. Their credit card calculator will be a real eye opener for any of you paying just the minimum payment each month. You’ll be shocked at how long it will take you to pay off that balance!

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