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Credit Line Increase

dukebound85

dukebound85

macrumors Core
Original poster
Jul 17, 2005
19,218
4,342
5045 feet above sea level
So I have 2 credit cards

On my Citi, I requested a CLI and automatically increased my limit up 1500 more by just clicking a button, no hard check

My other card needs to do a hard inquiry so I didnt bother

Have you done your automated CLI recently?:)
 
No, but how come you're asking or is it just random conversation?
 
No, but now that you mention it, I think I'll start a thread asking MR forum members whether I should or not.
 
My credit cards seem to randomly do it on their own. Opened up my first B of A credit card at 18. 2500 dollar limit.

When I was 24, it had grown to 24,xxx or so. Without me doing a thing. Same thing happened with another card I got just for overdraft use on a joint account with my GF. Started at 5000, 3 years later it was at 25,000 with no input from me and <1,000 of charges total.

I had them take the limits down in case of theft, put them at 5,000. 2 years later back up to 25,000.

During this time I have never had a bill of over 8000 and rarely carried a balance.

Odd.
 
Nah. I decreased my credit lines. Combined, they are at zero. All cash, all the time, baby!

I used to have one from MBNA that was crazy. About 2-3 times a year, they would raise the limit by about another $1k. I think it was at something like $15k when I closed the account.
 
My credit limits randomly increase on their own. Oddly enough, both times they've been increased was when I was on vacation (once in Europe, the other time in SF) without any notice/inquiries.
 
At one point I could have run up credit card bills of £35000 had I wanted to. However, as that affects your credit score on a mortgage application last year I made a point of closing down lines of credit that I would never use, and cancelled a couple of cards as part of that. I still have £7500 available on one card as a safety net and don't expect that to increase.
 
Like 1.5 years ago, I had a card that was at 9.6k limit but was reduced to 5k through no fault of my own. They said I never get near that amt on my card so they reduced my availiable credit

wasn't a fan of that tbh as I was using that card when I moved so the balnce to CL ratio was relatively higher
 
Mine have increased seemingly at random. It's no use to me, though. I would never keep a balance that I couldn't pay off the same month. Never had a balance much over $2,500, in fact, and that was from when I bought my current Mac.

If you need to deliberately increase your credit line, you're probably on the way to spiralling credit card debt.

One thing worth noting, though, is that your credit rating is partially based on the ratio of your current debt to the total credit available to you -- so if your credit card limit increases but your balances don't, that's good for your credit rating.
 
Nope. Don't need to.
 

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dukebound85 said:
So I have 2 credit cards

On my Citi, I requested a CLI and automatically increased my limit up 1500 more by just clicking a button, no hard check

My other card needs to do a hard inquiry so I didnt bother

Have you done your automated CLI recently?:)
Click to expand...

Why would you be so stupid as to make it easier to go further in debt?
 
Credit cards serve a purpose.

As long as you maintain a zero balance (pay off any charges that you make) credit cards can be wonderful tools.

Additionally, they also provide a quick source of cash if needed in an emergency. Of course you have to pay off your debt, but nice to have when you need funds now in an emergency.

FWIW, it's easy to get credit when you don't need it and hard when you need it.
 
Shivetya said:
Why would you be so stupid as to make it easier to go further in debt?
Click to expand...

Whoa dude you need to chillax. Not everyone uses credit in such a way that is irresponsible. Credit has it's purposes if you can't see that I'm not sure you're really at liberty to call people stupid.
 
Shivetya said:
Why would you be so stupid as to make it easier to go further in debt?
Click to expand...
Your comment indicates that you might have issues with credit cards and running up debt.

If properly used, credit cards are wonderful tool. And in some cases, almost required for certain tasks.
 
Plus paying on a credit card often provides extra insurance on a purchase, something which is invaluable these days with company insolvencies being so high.
 
Queso said:
Plus paying on a credit card often provides extra insurance on a purchase, something which is invaluable these days with company insolvencies being so high.
Click to expand...
Good point.

Plus sometimes, credit cards are so convenient vs. carry cash or maybe writing a check.
 
No increases for me as I don't use credit cards. Been there, done that, still paying for it today. I know this is a debated issue and I've shared more in other threads. Simply put, I avoid consumer credit and loathe debt.
 
I opened my first credit card when I started university (you know those people with the clipboards hanging out in the hallways, trying to entice you to sign up with free stuff). My limit at the time was $500. Over time they kept automatically increasing the limits, so now I've got two cards each with well over $20K limits. I keep thinking I should call and bring it back down to something more reasonable, like maybe $10,000, but I haven't bothered.

Agreed that credit cards can be indispensable (online shopping with purchase protection, for example, or for shopping in foreign currencies) and the credit rating that you build up is mandatory if you want to do bigger things in the future like qualify for a mortgage or car loan.

Like any tool, however, it can be abused, and it's far too easy and tempting to overspend and carry a balance that takes you years to pay off. Of course this is totally in the credit card company's favour, since they're charging you up to 30% interest, so they're part of the gang of people saying "spend! spend!" Every single month my credit card bill is accompanied by a set of three "checks" that they keep encouraging me to use to buy myself something nice. Every single month I rip them up. The only person who can control your spending is you, so be careful how you use it!
 
notjustjay said:
The only person who can control your spending is you, so be careful how you use it!
Click to expand...
True, but that doesn't change however high or low your credit limit is. I posted earlier about my one-time £35000 possible spend, but there was never a time when I went anywhere near that. People fall into the trap when they assume that just because they could spend that money they should do.

The golden rule is only to use the cards when you have the money to pay the bills anyway. Even if you're putting a £5000 purchase on the card it's not a problem providing you have that £5000 to hand when the bill arrives on your doormat.
 
mscriv said:
No increases for me as I don't use credit cards. Been there, done that, still paying for it today. I know this is a debated issue and I've shared more in other threads. Simply put, I avoid consumer credit and loathe debt.
Click to expand...
Understand. For some individuals this is the best course of action.

notjustjay said:
The only person who can control your spending is you, so be careful how you use it!
Click to expand...
True.

Queso said:
The golden rule is only to use the cards when you have the money to pay the bills anyway. Even if you're putting a £5000 purchase on the card it's not a problem providing you have that £5000 to hand when the bill arrives on your doormat.
Click to expand...
Agree.

The exception might be a business situation where you need funds now that will take 2-3 months to pay off and the interest is acceptable.

BTW, years ago I knew of a lady who purchased a home with credit cards (cash advances). She used 30 cards. Then when payments were due, she used 30 more to pay the first 30 off. Then when the second 30 came due, she used a third set of 30 to pay off.

Meanwhile she used another set of cards to pay for improvements which increased the home's value and she sold it before the third set of thirty came due for a nice tidy profit.

Interesting use of OPM (Other People's Money).
 
Queso said:
True, but that doesn't change however high or low your credit limit is. I posted earlier about my one-time £35000 possible spend, but there was never a time when I went anywhere near that. People fall into the trap when they assume that just because they could spend that money they should do.
Click to expand...

Exactly. That's why I said "the only person who can control your spending is yourself". I know some people who would do exactly that and spend it all just "because it was there". Not intentionally, surely, but this comes up and that comes up and how convenient it is to have the card and suddenly they're in debt up to their ears. For those people, I would strongly recommend lowering their credit limit to something reasonable so that they're never tempted beyond what they can handle.

Whereas someone like yourself could have £35000 or whatever amount available and you're smart enough to know not to try and actually spend that much, then it doesn't really matter what your credit limit is or should be.

BTW, years ago I knew of a lady who purchased a home with credit cards (cash advances). She used 30 cards. Then when payments were due, she used 30 more to pay the first 30 off. Then when the second 30 came due, she used a third set of 30 to pay off.
Click to expand...

Dear Lord, trying to keep track of all those bills and accounts would give me a headache :eek:
 
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