Shoutout to that credit union near my house for finally making it click

I kept watching friends pile up store credit cards for the 10% discount and then wonder why their scores tanked. Last month the teller at my credit union straight up told me those accounts can hurt you because the credit limits are tiny and hard to manage.

3 comments

3 Comments

lunah125d ago

Exactly this. My friend got a store card for that 15% off on furniture and her limit was barely $300. She maxed it out once and her credit dropped 40 points overnight. Took her months to bounce back and she still regrets that "savings.

diana_kim665d agoMost Upvoted

I get where you're coming from, but I see it a little differently. That 15% off is real money if you're buying a $2,000 sofa, not some $50 lamp. The trick is to pay the card off the same day you use it, not just when the bill comes. I've had a store card for years and my credit actually went up because I kept the balance low and never missed a payment. Your friend's problem wasn't the card, it was maxing it out and letting it report that way.

shanef345d agoTop Commenter

Wild, I've had the exact opposite experience. I got a store card for a mattress a few years back, $800 limit, and it actually helped my credit. The secret is you treat it like a debit card, not a credit card. I put a small purchase on it like once a month to keep it active and pay it off the next week. My score went up about 30 points in six months because it added a little history and a mix of accounts. The 15% off was just a bonus, but the credit boost was the real win.