not true, if you charge x dollars and pay in full the balance every month, you build a payment history. you do not need to carry a balance on the card to register the payment history in your credit score. this really is not a top factor in your score, it is a mid-tier factor, your utility bills, car payments, etc alone give you a payment history, keep them on time. Being able to show credit availability ie unused credit on your open cards helps, so ok to keep accounts open, stop using the cards if you are unable to be disciplined at paying the balances, and not use at all. If having credit cards is too tempting to not use, you are always better off just closing them, the lack of payment history will be better than the poor payment history any day 🙂
