Quizzle is catching on and we want to share the attention. Looking for what our friends in the media are saying about Quizzle? Catch the latest Quizzle news on del.icio.us, a social bookmarking site where you can keep track of your interesting web finds and even share them with friends.

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It’s a common misconception that all credit inquiries — or any time your credit report is pulled — hurt your credit score. This isn’t true, however. Only “hard inquiries” will take a toll on your score. Hard inquiries are occasions when your credit report is pulled for the purposes of extending you credit or a loan offer. So when you open a new credit card account or apply for a loan, a “hard inquiry” will be made on your credit report.

A hard inquiry may negatively affect your credit score, but usually not by a lot. The exact amount of points isn’t known for sure, as credit bureaus closely guard the complex mathematical formulas they use to determine your credit score. However, about 10 percent of your score is determined by “new credit,” which includes credit inquiries. It’s quite common to see a 3-5 point deduction from your score for each hard inquiry.

There is an exception with hard inquiries, however, and that’s when you’re shopping for a home loan or car loan. If your credit report is pulled by several lenders within a short amount of time — generally within 30 days prior to scoring – those inquiries may be grouped together as one inquiry when it comes to your score (although they may be listed individually in the credit inquiry section of your credit report). So even though you may have had seven different lenders pull your credit report, your score will only get dinged once. Check out Bankrate for more info on loan shopping and credit. 

In contrast to hard inquiries, “soft inquiries” also exist and will NOT affect your score at all. This is when you go directly to a credit bureau or a credit-related website like Quizzle and pull your credit report for your own educational purposes. The inquiry itself may show up on a future credit report, but it’s a soft inquiry and is not factored into your score.

If you’ve had a hard inquiry or two made on your credit report recently, don’t fret! If you use your credit responsibly, your credit score will rebound fairly quickly. Just continue to pay at least the minimum payments on ALL your credit cards and loans every month, and your score should fare well.

Find out what your credit score is now with your free (soft inquiry) credit report from Quizzle. 

Tags: quizzle, credit, credit report, credit score, credit inquiries, hard inquiries, soft inquiries

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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.

Tags: quizzle, credit, credit report, credit score, credit cards, closing accounts, improve credit

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A number of Quizzlers have written in with some great ideas for the future of Quizzle and interesting stories about their experiences with the tool. One piece of Quizzle that really excites some folks is the free credit report and score.

Some people have never checked their credit before and some haven’t checked it in quite awhile, so when they get their report inside of Quizzle, there are often some surprises…

Have you checked your credit report in Quizzle and upon finding it wasn’t what you hoped for, started to make steps to improve your credit situation? Has your credit score gone up as a result?

Whether you’ve made a pledge to make all your payments on time every month, or you’ve actively paid down your debt, we want to hear from you! Send us a quick note with your story at feedback@quizzle.com or feel free to share your progress by entering a comment below.

Tags: quizzle, credit report, credit score, improve credit

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You asked for it. We built it. Quizzle is now ready for all our friends who do not own a home!

What you will get? Your free credit report and score, an estimate of how much home you may be able to afford, custom mortgage recommendations if you’re interested in purchasing a home, a custom big-picture budget, useful calculators and more.

And that’s just the beginning. Other great features are in the works, we promise! Have ideas for us about what you’d like to see? Let us know! Send us your great suggestions at feedback@quizzle.com. We’re listening — er, reading.

Tags: quizzle, rent, renters, homeowners

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