When trying to keep your finances in check it can be tempting to cancel a credit card, but it could have negative repercussions for your credit score. Two of the main factors that go into calculating your credit score are credit utilization (which makes up a whopping 30%) and the length of your credit history (which makes up 15% of your score).

Credit utilization refers to how much credit you owe relative to your overall credit limit. Generally speaking, you want to owe less than 30% of your total credit limit. Clearly, the more cards you have, the larger your credit limit will be and the easier it will be to stay below that 30% level, thus giving you a better credit score.

Because credit history is another factor taken into account for your credit score, you don’t want to cancel a credit card that you’ve had for a long time. So, before you cancel, just be sure to consider the possible negative effect it may have on your overall credit score.