Hello, I am a 17 year old male, and I have had credit for almost a year now. I started last July by co-signing a Visa w/ my mom at the local credit Union. Then, Capital One sent me an offer to get one of their cards. I applied and was approved, and oddly, I was given 2 accounts (both are still active). I took out an Auto Loan in November 2000 from a second credit union and got their Visa Card in January. I just applied for the Nextcard today, and was approved for the Nextcard w/ the 9.99% APR. Are 5 credit cards too many? The Capital One has the highest rate, should I cancel both of them? I need some guidance, as I want to maintain as good of credit as I can. By the way, I have never missed a payment on the loan or any of the cards. How many inquiries are good and bad. I only have like 6, and they are all at least 8 months old, besides the Nextcard. It's kind of funny, because my credit report says I was born in 1982, when I was born in 84.

It sounds like your building a great credit history, at a really young age. I would suggest that you maybe cut back to 2 or 3 of your most attractive cards. Just so you do not overextend yourself or forget to pay one of them. Inquiries can be bad if you have numerous inquiries in a short period of time and you do not have any accounts. This probably means you are desperate for credit and you are not being accepted for accounts. In your case you don't have to worry about this. Good Luck. Colin

It won't hurt if I cancel a couple right at the same time, would it? I would still have the loan and other cards going at it. Get back to me, and thanks for the advice. The Nextcard has the higest limit, of $2000.

Canceling two cards at the same time would not be a problem. It sounds like you have your credit under control. Nice work..