 TITLE: Should You Cancel Unused Credit Cards or Keep Them? CONTENT: When It Makes Sense to Keep an Unused Credit Card\n-------------------------------------------------\nParticularly if you're planning to apply for new credit soon—in the form of a mortgage or an auto loan, for instance—keeping unused credit cards open can help protect a good credit score.\nCheck your credit report to identify your oldest credit card account and plan, in most cases, to keep it open. That's also a smart idea when the card you're considering closing has a high credit limit and cancelling it would greatly reduce your amount of available credit.\nIf you're concerned about the temptation to spend, place the card in a space that's hard to access, such as a safe deposit box, and only make one card available for emergencies. You may want to consider using cash for most purchases but placing a single recurring charge on your credit card, such as your Netflix payment, and paying it off each month by automatic debit. That will help keep your credit utilization low, your payment history spotless and your credit score in good shape.\nIf you're truly unable to control your spending and closing the account seems like the only way to appropriately manage your finances, doing so could be worth the short-term credit impact. An unused card with a high annual fee that you can't afford is also generally safe to close, as is a newly opened account that you don't use. Cancelling it will have less of a negative impact on your credit score than closing an older account. END