Husband vs. Wife: About Those Store Credit Cards

Mr. Fuchs says: He also said that though opening a store card can itself hurt your credit by making you appear “credit hungry,” actually having cards you don’t use helps your credit. It shows just the opposite—that you are not credit hungry and can, in fact, turn away from temptation.

Mrs. Fuchs says: Well, except for Barney’s…

Mr. Fuchs says: Don’t remind me. So what should we do? I’m a little worried because store cards were always riskier loans and in the current environment, defaults have been higher than on non-branded credit cards. They are likely to be closed down with a greater degree of frequency, but it’s hard to get a bead on when, why and how. Those Sears cards are handled by Citigroup (Stock Quote: C) and a spokesman there wouldn’t even release their policy on closing inactive accounts, because he said it was proprietary. Like the special sauce at McDonald’s (Stock Quote: MCD), I guess. You say that you’ll be diligent in checking, but with three kids and work, we’ve learned about promises of diligence in financial planning.

Mrs. Fuchs says: Yeah, it is not always as easy as it seems.

Mr. Fuchs says: Then again, the advantage of having cards you don’t use assisting your credit report seems silly to give up. Katz said that as long as you are pretty good about checking for the zero balance, just close one inactive card down a year. You’ll eventually rid yourself of the potential headache, while taking advantage of the credit boost along the way.

Mrs. Fuchs says: Sounds like a plan.

Mr. Fuchs says: And how.

Mrs. Fuchs: Now next time, honey? Stay out of my wallet.