Quizzle is a Knowledge Partner on Yahoo! Answers and frequently helps folks there with questions about personal finance and credit. One question that seems to come up frequently is: will closing credit card account boost my credit score?

The short answer is generally, no. Roughly 30 percent of your credit score is “amounts owed,” which includes the proportion of how much credit you use (total of all credit balances on your credit report) compared to how much credit is available to you (total of all credit limits on your credit report). The lower this proportion, the better.

If you have a bunch of credit available to you but don’t use a whole lot of it, it’s an indication that you’re able to responsibly manage your debt-load, which will figure positively into your score. However, if you close accounts, this proportion will rise and as a result, your credit score may fall.

For example, let’s say you have two credit cards. One has no balance and a credit limit of $5,000. The other has a balance of $10,000 and a credit limit of $15,000. In this scenario, you’re using 50 percent of the total credit available to you:

Balance 1 = $0
Balance 2 = $10,000
Balance total = $10,000

Limit 1 = $5,000
Limit 2 = $15,000
Limit total = $20,000

Balance total/limit total = $10,000/$20,000 = 0.50 or 50%

Now, let’s say you close the first credit card because you figure, hey, I don’t use it anyway. Now, you’re using 66.67 percent of the total credit available to you:

Balance 2 = $10,000
Balance total = $10,000

Limit 2 = $15,000
Limit total = $15,000

Balance total/limit total = $10,000/$15,000 = 0.67 or 67%

Because you didn’t have a balance on the first card, it didn’t affect your balance total. However, the credit available to you on that card was $5,000, which did factor into your limit total. When you closed the account, that $5,000 is taken away from your limit total, resulting in a higher proportion of credit used to credit available, and likely a ding to your credit score.

Credit math aside, if you feel like having several credit card accounts open is too much of a temptation and you’re not sure you will wisely use the credit available to you, closing an account or two may be an option. However, there are other ways of curving the craving that you should consider first to save your score. Why not take some scissors to that charge card burning a hole in your pocket?

Or, some folks will actually freeze their cards. If you find you have a tendency toward impulse buying, put your card in a plastic baggy full of water and stick it in the freeze. That way, when you’re thinking of buying the latest gizmo or fashion trend, you have to unfreeze the card first to get at the numbers, which may give you time to think over the purchase and reconsider.

Weighing whether to close a credit card account is probably a good indication that you’re making an effort to be responsible with your credit, so pat yourself on the back for that! As we’ve learned, there are other, more ideal options to save your credit score then closing those accounts. Instead, consider not using the cards at all (but keeping the accounts open) or cutting them up so you can’t possibly use them.

To find out how your credit’s faring, create a Quizzle account and we’ll give you a (totally) free credit report and score.