Growing Your Borrowing Limit Means Giving Yourself The Possibility Spend Outside Your Means, Right?

By Renna MacLaren


Not necessarily. Increasing your credit limit could have a number of benefits if you manage your credit wisely.

The FICO credit scoring model will ding your credit history if the amount of credit you've used is near to the total amount of credit open to you. That's because it looks at you to be at risk of maxing out your cards and having problems making future payments. You may know that these risks don't actually apply to you, but that's how the scoring model works.

When you've got a $2,000 credit limit and you regularly end up with a monthly bill of approximately $1,800, you're using 90% of your readily available credit. Increasing your borrowing limit will reduce that portion and should boost your credit score.

When you're not using a majority of your available credit, you appear to be financially responsible to the credit bureaus and your credit ranking should grow. If your credit score is higher, you will have a better possibility of getting approved for a credit card, car loan or house loan down the road. You'll also have a better chance of getting a lower rate of interest, since your credit score can determine whether you'll be given the best available rate or a higher, risk-adjusted rate.

Getting a credit limit well over your usual spending amount provides a resource if you have an authentic emergency that you can't pay for with cash. Say you're travelling and you must change your plans and return back home immediately - it probably won't be cheap to modify your plane ticket, and it's simpler to pay for an airplane ticket with a credit card.

When you consistently pay off your balance in full and on time but you're not putting all your expenses on your credit card, it may be time to start. Having a greater credit limit can help you do that. The conventional wisdom claims that you shouldn't charge everyday expenses like groceries and gas to your charge card, but that advice only applies if you're carrying an account balance - it's designed to help you avoid making a bad problem even worse.

When you never have a credit card balance, paying for recurring expenses on your credit cards won't set you back anything and can allow you to earn more rewards.

Boosting your credit limit just means giving yourself the chance to spend beyond your means, right? Possibly not. Improving your credit limit may have a number of upsides if you manage your credit wisely.




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