One Key to Keeping Good Credit
Doesn’t it seem like every time you go to a clothing store, or even a department store, they are trying to get you to sign up for their store credit card at every corner and every register? I have a few stores in mind when I’m saying this, that try to push their store card on you every single time you stop in when you ring out your merchandise.
What I really love is that if you politely turn them down, sometimes they look at you as if you’re crazy for turning down such a great deal, or great deals to come. Well, hey guess what, my overall credit score means a lot more to me than getting ten percent off this order right now, ok? And all the coupons in the world aren’t worth potentially adding too much credit to my repertoire, alright?
I’ve gotten to the point where if they get pushy after I say no the first time without explanation, I then say, it’s too much to keep track of and I don’t like having more credit cards than I need, and that one they can usually identify with. Albeit, there are still a few that get pushy even beyond this point at which time I totally tune out their sales pitches.
You see, if you give in to every little sales pitch about how great a store credit card is, then you just may be damaging your credit score. Try to only sign up for the ones that you’ll truly use, and more importantly, pay off before the intro rate wears off or the zero percent deal goes away so you aren’t paying any interest.
Basically, I only have a few of these store credit cards, and most of the time it was so that I could finance something large into monthly payments with an introductory zero percent rate so I could break down the lump sum over six months or more. That’s the only reason I have them.
Either that, or if it’s a place I happen to frequent, say a place I always buy clothes from that offers great discounts only to credit card members, then I’ll do it. But not if it’s a place I barely go to, do I sign up just to get some great bait deal! It’s not worth it, and in the end, if you give in to every one, you really could be damaging your credit score, so it’s just not worth it.
