My husband and I both have our own credit cards. Every other month we get increases that we did not ask for. My $5,000 limit is now $9,000, my husbands is $11,000. We do not need this much credit. If I call and have it lowered to the original $5,000, how will it look on my credit report? I do not trust my spending willpower when it is close to the holidays.
I personally don't know for sure how it would look on your credit report but I would have to assume that there definately won't be a negative effect. I must commend you on your credit sense. Most people fail to realize their credit limits. I personally have NO BUSINESS with a card with a limit over $5k. I make bank but having a card w/ a limit over $5k is just too inviting. Believe me.....been there, done that (courtesy of First USA!). I'm STILL repaying them. At one point, I think my balance was up to $7k or so. This was in 98 when I was making like $30k/yr. Now that I make a little more than double that, I know what my limits are and I don't plan on being in that kind of financial debt again.
WHO ISSUES YOUR CREDIT CARD??? I WOULD LOVE TO HAVE ONE!!! HAVE HAD DISCOVERCARD FOR ABOUT FIVE YEARS AND NEVER GOT A CREDIT LINE INCREASE EXCEPT ONCE, BUT I HAD TO DO AN APPLICATION AND CREDIT REPORT INQUIRY!!! To answer your question, you only would have a problem if you had charged like $8,000 at one time, so your "high balance" is $8,000, but your limit is $5,000 ***RED FLAG***
If you don't have the willpower, lock your card in a safe place, give it to your husband to hold or close the account. Good credit is a terrible thing to waste. There are ways of making money with your idle credit. I have built a company with my credit cards. CreditWorks is now working on its fifth year of paying 19.47% APR, we are proud of our record and our high limits. Looking to improve on my highest personal line of $14,000 from Chase. http://www.creditsense.com
