More Money?! Should You Ask for a Credit Increase or Not?

Now, I have a little bit of experience with this as I was approximately $30,000 in debt, okay, a little over $25,000, coming out of college and now I’m completely debt free, of course, except for mortgage and what not, which no matter what they tell you, is still a debt, even though it’s considered an asset.

But if you’re looking and you’re thinking about asking for a credit increase, let me be the first to say that while I’m not financial expert, I have recovered from a very big debt and I can tell you that’s the absolute last thing you want to do.

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Why increase your credit? That’s basically saying “I need more room to add more stuff on that I can’t afford.”

Instead, you need to figure out how you can pay it down and then ask for the credit decrease and really, you can find scripts out there to get through all these conversations. People know the right way to say things and I think most of it can be found free but if you can find something that’s a couple bucks it’s worth it for what you save.

What you should do instead of trying to get a credit increase is call, follow one of these scripts and get an APR decrease or maybe even consolidation or payoff. But the easiest thing, straight up, if you’ve got 15 minutes to wait for your turn on the phone, is to ask for an APR decrease.

You may get somewhere as little as a couple percent or as much as double digit percentage decrease. Every little bit helps save you more money so you can apply that money over to paying it off. But yes, if you’re thinking about increasing the limit to free up the space that you need to buy things, unless you’re a super-duper cash-strapped small business that has absolutely no other option at this very minute, which is a very small percentage, and you need the money, then you need to go get a loan at your local credit union or bank.

If they won’t approve you, that’s probably a good sign that no, you don’t need more money, no, you don’t need to use your credit card. You need to focus on cutting back on things, saving more money and paying off those credit cards. It’s tough.

I’ve been scrimping and scrounging for years but now it’s a whole heck of a lot easier. I’ve paid off stuff and now I can focus on making money instead and saving up for the future. It’s a path that’s been done by a lot of people and there’s a lot of bright awesomeness on the other side of it but you have to get out of the mindset of “How can I spend more money?” It’s stuff you don’t need. I know some people are paying bills and these are bills that they need but it’s coming ahead of other things that aren’t needed.

Don’t ask for a credit increase. Call. Get your APR lowered and do the boring yet awesome thing to get you back to square and in control of your own life, not under the thumb of some corporate, money-grubbing credit company. Sure, they have their good uses but man, they have you under control. Get out from under that thumb, take back your life. It’s just money. It’s a tool. Use it, don’t let it use you.