{"id":355658,"date":"2018-01-08T17:00:10","date_gmt":"2018-01-09T00:00:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.creditrepair.com\/blog\/?p=355658"},"modified":"2022-02-08T13:51:17","modified_gmt":"2022-02-08T20:51:17","slug":"thinking-about-opening-another-credit-card-ask-yourself-these-4-questions-first","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.creditrepair.com\/blog\/credit-card\/thinking-about-opening-another-credit-card-ask-yourself-these-4-questions-first\/","title":{"rendered":"Questions to Ask When Opening Another Credit Card"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-355072\" src=\"https:\/\/www.creditrepair.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/Multiple-Credit-Cards.jpg\" alt=\"New Credit Card\" width=\"500\" height=\"332\"><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If you got your first credit card several years ago and have managed it well, you may be thinking it\u2019s time to get a second credit card. Maybe you\u2019re earning more income and feel you can handle more spending. Or maybe you heard that spreading your balance over multiple cards can actually help your credit. &nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">But before you open a new card, first consider your reasons for doing so. Buying on credit comes with major responsibilities which will double when you get another card. Are you really ready for that? &nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Here\u2019s what to ask yourself before you get another credit card:<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><b>1: Do you need to boost your credit score?<\/b><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If your answer is yes, it\u2019s important to know that a new credit card can both help and hurt your credit score. Here\u2019s how:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Applying for <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.creditcards.com\/credit-card-news\/fico-score-new-credit-loan-inquiry-1270.php\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">new credit<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> drops a few points from your credit score each time. And doing it too often alerts the credit bureaus that you may be having financial difficulties or are irresponsible with your spending.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Also, if you plan to buy a car or home in the near future, applying for new credit right before going through a loan approval process looks bad to lenders.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">However, your credit score could improve if a second card helps reduce your <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.investopedia.com\/terms\/c\/credit-utilization-rate.asp\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">credit utilization ratio<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> \u2014 or how much of your available credit you\u2019ve used. Bringing your ratio down to 30 percent or under by splitting your current balance between two cards can bump up your score.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><b>2: Do you need a backup in case of emergency?<\/b><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Life is full of unexpected challenges. You could lose your job, get sick, get divorced, or need a sudden, major repair \u2014 any of which can send your finances into a tailspin.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">While it\u2019s never advised to pay for everyday necessities on credit, there may be times when it\u2019s necessary just to make it through a personal crisis. But be careful because <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.thebalance.com\/what-it-means-to-max-out-your-credit-card-960726\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">maxing out<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> your credit card will damage your credit.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">To avoid reaching or going over your credit limit in a crisis, it\u2019s probably acceptable to have two credit cards \u2014 a primary and a backup. You can split costs between them and keep your balances lower on each to avoid unduly hurting your credit.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><b>3: Are you eager to earn rewards?<\/b><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Maybe you\u2019ve got travel goals on the horizon or want cash back on purchases. Many credit card companies offer perks, <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nerdwallet.com\/blog\/credit-cards\/choose-rewards-credit-card\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">rewards<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, and introductory bonuses that are hard to refuse. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Before you apply for the next offer you get in the mail, do the following:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Thoroughly read through the credit card company\u2019s terms. For example, some rewards cards come with hefty annual fees. If you don\u2019t earn enough points on spending to offset the annual fee, it may not be worth it.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If you\u2019re serious about traveling, choose a card that can freely and easily be used overseas.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Give yourself a reality check. If your credit score isn\u2019t so great or you\u2019ll be in danger of overspending just to rack up points, think twice.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><b>4: Are you struggling with debt?<\/b><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It may go without saying, but if you\u2019re overextended with debt, getting a second credit card is not a good idea. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Having a high <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.consumerfinance.gov\/ask-cfpb\/what-is-a-debt-to-income-ratio-why-is-the-43-debt-to-income-ratio-important-en-1791\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">debt-to-income ratio<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> \u2014 how much debt you have vs. how much income you earn \u2014 is bad for your credit. And some credit card companies may deny you because of it. Even if you have a solid payment history, too much debt can signal riskiness to creditors. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It\u2019s best to <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.credit.com\/debt\/how-to-pay-off-credit-card-debt\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">pay down your existing debt<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> first. Once you have less debt, and you\u2019re committed to reining in your spending, then you can think about a second card. <\/span><\/p>\n<h2><b>Responsibility equals good credit<\/b><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">No matter what, it\u2019s important to make all your payments on time and keep your monthly balances low. If taking on a second credit card will make it hard to do both, then you should reconsider. It\u2019s not worth having to <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.creditrepair.com\/blog\/credit-score\/where-should-you-get-your-credit-score\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">repair your credit score<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> down the road. <\/span><\/p>\n<p>Carry on the conversation on our social media platforms. Like and follow us on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/creditrepaircom\/\">Facebook<\/a> and leave us a tweet on <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/creditrepair\">Twitter<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>If you got your first credit card several years ago and have managed it well, you may be thinking it\u2019s time to get a second credit card. Maybe you\u2019re earning more income and feel you can handle more spending. Or maybe you heard that spreading your balance over multiple cards can actually help your credit. [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":35,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[455],"tags":[342,238,52,399],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v17.5 (Yoast SEO v18.5.1) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Questions to Ask When Opening Another Credit Card - CreditRepair.com<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.creditrepair.com\/blog\/credit-card\/thinking-about-opening-another-credit-card-ask-yourself-these-4-questions-first\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Questions to Ask When Opening Another Credit Card\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"If you got your first credit card several years ago and have managed it well, you may be thinking it\u2019s time to get a second credit card. 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