I've been thinking about thinning out the CC's of mine. After only having 2 major CC's for years that were maxed out and never applied for cards, after they were paid off I went crazy with opening new ones in 2015. I actually already did close a few of them that I know I didn't need, but still have too many. I have $119k total credit and 1% usage across all cards. Many of my cards have 0% APR intro offers. Those cards I am not touching, in fact looking ahead I think each year I will get a 0% APR intro offer card if available.
Right now I have a PayPal Extras card that is by far my highest APR card at 19.9% and a $5k CL. It was opened in April 2015. This is a card that is first on the chopping block. Will I do any damage to my credit score short- or long-term by closing this and reducing my total credit limit down to $114k and also less than a year from opening it? I have the PayPal Credit which is a $2k limit, and a hidden TL, so I have a great backup for any rare occasion I purchase something on eBay or need to PayPal some money for important things like $10 on my DraftKings 
My other card I'm considering getting rid of, believe it or not, is my SM WMC. The perks for this card include gas purchases and grocery store purchases. I use my BJ's Perks MC for gas locally and get 10 cents off per gallon. My DW does the grocery shopping so this card really doesn't get much use, plus there's a lot of great unknowns about the SM right now. The APR on this card is 13.9% which isn't bad and I have a $9k limit on it. What I think I'm going to do is contact Barclay's and see if I can move that $9k over to the Ring, which is a 8% card with no real perks besides great APR. I've only had this card since July, so again less than one year.
Eliminating those two cards will put me down to 10 cards (including Lowes/HD cards). After my INQs from my app spree's i 2015 reach a year old (most in March and April), then I will consider an introductory 0% APR card. I keep getting PNC Bank offers for a 18 month 0% card and after that will be 11.9%. It's not a rewards card, but my QS and Discover are my two main reward ones.
I have a Capital One Platinum card that is my oldest TL opened in 2001. Many times I thought about consolidating that with my QS, but had to wait until the end of October for it to be 6 months old. Well, they have put a stop to consolidating for now. I've always wrestled with the idea that in 10 years that card would stop reporting and it would be a 30 year old card, and my other cards I acquired in 2015 would just be 10 years old and my AAoA would take a big hit. Of course, I'll be 65 years old in 10 years so does it really matter?
Other cards not getting much use are my AMEX Blue Cash and Chase Freedom, however they have 0% introductory APRs which means I'd keep them for a while longer anyway. They're mostly SD but probably going to use Chase Freedom for a Christmas purchase for DW that I can drag my feet on PIF since the 0% offer runs to July 2016.
Thoughts?
@Anonymous wrote:I've been thinking about thinning out the CC's of mine. After only having 2 major CC's for years that were maxed out and never applied for cards, after they were paid off I went crazy with opening new ones in 2015. I actually already did close a few of them that I know I didn't need, but still have too many. I have $119k total credit and 1% usage across all cards. Many of my cards have 0% APR intro offers. Those cards I am not touching, in fact looking ahead I think each year I will get a 0% APR intro offer card if available.
Right now I have a PayPal Extras card that is by far my highest APR card at 19.9% and a $5k CL. It was opened in April 2015. This is a card that is first on the chopping block. Will I do any damage to my credit score short- or long-term by closing this and reducing my total credit limit down to $114k and also less than a year from opening it? I have the PayPal Credit which is a $2k limit, and a hidden TL, so I have a great backup for any rare occasion I purchase something on eBay or need to PayPal some money for important things like $10 on my DraftKings
My other card I'm considering getting rid of, believe it or not, is my SM WMC. The perks for this card include gas purchases and grocery store purchases. I use my BJ's Perks MC for gas locally and get 10 cents off per gallon. My DW does the grocery shopping so this card really doesn't get much use, plus there's a lot of great unknowns about the SM right now. The APR on this card is 13.9% which isn't bad and I have a $9k limit on it. What I think I'm going to do is contact Barclay's and see if I can move that $9k over to the Ring, which is a 8% card with no real perks besides great APR. I've only had this card since July, so again less than one year.
Eliminating those two cards will put me down to 10 cards (including Lowes/HD cards). After my INQs from my app spree's i 2015 reach a year old (most in March and April), then I will consider an introductory 0% APR card. I keep getting PNC Bank offers for a 18 month 0% card and after that will be 11.9%. It's not a rewards card, but my QS and Discover are my two main reward ones.
I have a Capital One Platinum card that is my oldest TL opened in 2001. Many times I thought about consolidating that with my QS, but had to wait until the end of October for it to be 6 months old. Well, they have put a stop to consolidating for now. I've always wrestled with the idea that in 10 years that card would stop reporting and it would be a 30 year old card, and my other cards I acquired in 2015 would just be 10 years old and my AAoA would take a big hit. Of course, I'll be 65 years old in 10 years so does it really matter?
Other cards not getting much use are my AMEX Blue Cash and Chase Freedom, however they have 0% introductory APRs which means I'd keep them for a while longer anyway. They're mostly SD but probably going to use Chase Freedom for a Christmas purchase for DW that I can drag my feet on PIF since the 0% offer runs to July 2016.
Thoughts?
Just my thoughts. I know others will have helpful thoughts. I really like the idea of ten cards. I manage mine daily, but at some point in a year or two I will consider doing what you are doing. It will matter less to me to let some cards go when it is time because of my Chapter 13 in 2008. My cards at the time either were included or closed by the grantee for inactivity. Ten years is a good age for cards to have good scores. That would not be a concern for me. I want to do some combining of my BofA cards, but will wait until they are all a year old.
It sounds like you have made a sound evaluation of which cards you use and for what purpose. I also like the idea of adding a card in a year to have the zero interest. Personally, I like your plan. Good luck to you.
@Anonymous wrote:I've been thinking about thinning out the CC's of mine. After only having 2 major CC's for years that were maxed out and never applied for cards, after they were paid off I went crazy with opening new ones in 2015. I actually already did close a few of them that I know I didn't need, but still have too many. I have $119k total credit and 1% usage across all cards. Many of my cards have 0% APR intro offers. Those cards I am not touching, in fact looking ahead I think each year I will get a 0% APR intro offer card if available.
Right now I have a PayPal Extras card that is by far my highest APR card at 19.9% and a $5k CL. It was opened in April 2015. This is a card that is first on the chopping block. Will I do any damage to my credit score short- or long-term by closing this and reducing my total credit limit down to $114k and also less than a year from opening it? I have the PayPal Credit which is a $2k limit, and a hidden TL, so I have a great backup for any rare occasion I purchase something on eBay or need to PayPal some money for important things like $10 on my DraftKings
My other card I'm considering getting rid of, believe it or not, is my SM WMC. The perks for this card include gas purchases and grocery store purchases. I use my BJ's Perks MC for gas locally and get 10 cents off per gallon. My DW does the grocery shopping so this card really doesn't get much use, plus there's a lot of great unknowns about the SM right now. The APR on this card is 13.9% which isn't bad and I have a $9k limit on it. What I think I'm going to do is contact Barclay's and see if I can move that $9k over to the Ring, which is a 8% card with no real perks besides great APR. I've only had this card since July, so again less than one year.
Eliminating those two cards will put me down to 10 cards (including Lowes/HD cards). After my INQs from my app spree's i 2015 reach a year old (most in March and April), then I will consider an introductory 0% APR card. I keep getting PNC Bank offers for a 18 month 0% card and after that will be 11.9%. It's not a rewards card, but my QS and Discover are my two main reward ones.
I have a Capital One Platinum card that is my oldest TL opened in 2001. Many times I thought about consolidating that with my QS, but had to wait until the end of October for it to be 6 months old. Well, they have put a stop to consolidating for now. I've always wrestled with the idea that in 10 years that card would stop reporting and it would be a 30 year old card, and my other cards I acquired in 2015 would just be 10 years old and my AAoA would take a big hit. Of course, I'll be 65 years old in 10 years so does it really matter?
Other cards not getting much use are my AMEX Blue Cash and Chase Freedom, however they have 0% introductory APRs which means I'd keep them for a while longer anyway. They're mostly SD but probably going to use Chase Freedom for a Christmas purchase for DW that I can drag my feet on PIF since the 0% offer runs to July 2016.
Thoughts?
I say... let them be.
@SouthJamaica wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:I've been thinking about thinning out the CC's of mine. After only having 2 major CC's for years that were maxed out and never applied for cards, after they were paid off I went crazy with opening new ones in 2015. I actually already did close a few of them that I know I didn't need, but still have too many. I have $119k total credit and 1% usage across all cards. Many of my cards have 0% APR intro offers. Those cards I am not touching, in fact looking ahead I think each year I will get a 0% APR intro offer card if available.
Right now I have a PayPal Extras card that is by far my highest APR card at 19.9% and a $5k CL. It was opened in April 2015. This is a card that is first on the chopping block. Will I do any damage to my credit score short- or long-term by closing this and reducing my total credit limit down to $114k and also less than a year from opening it? I have the PayPal Credit which is a $2k limit, and a hidden TL, so I have a great backup for any rare occasion I purchase something on eBay or need to PayPal some money for important things like $10 on my DraftKings
My other card I'm considering getting rid of, believe it or not, is my SM WMC. The perks for this card include gas purchases and grocery store purchases. I use my BJ's Perks MC for gas locally and get 10 cents off per gallon. My DW does the grocery shopping so this card really doesn't get much use, plus there's a lot of great unknowns about the SM right now. The APR on this card is 13.9% which isn't bad and I have a $9k limit on it. What I think I'm going to do is contact Barclay's and see if I can move that $9k over to the Ring, which is a 8% card with no real perks besides great APR. I've only had this card since July, so again less than one year.
Eliminating those two cards will put me down to 10 cards (including Lowes/HD cards). After my INQs from my app spree's i 2015 reach a year old (most in March and April), then I will consider an introductory 0% APR card. I keep getting PNC Bank offers for a 18 month 0% card and after that will be 11.9%. It's not a rewards card, but my QS and Discover are my two main reward ones.
I have a Capital One Platinum card that is my oldest TL opened in 2001. Many times I thought about consolidating that with my QS, but had to wait until the end of October for it to be 6 months old. Well, they have put a stop to consolidating for now. I've always wrestled with the idea that in 10 years that card would stop reporting and it would be a 30 year old card, and my other cards I acquired in 2015 would just be 10 years old and my AAoA would take a big hit. Of course, I'll be 65 years old in 10 years so does it really matter?
Other cards not getting much use are my AMEX Blue Cash and Chase Freedom, however they have 0% introductory APRs which means I'd keep them for a while longer anyway. They're mostly SD but probably going to use Chase Freedom for a Christmas purchase for DW that I can drag my feet on PIF since the 0% offer runs to July 2016.
Thoughts?
I say... let them be.
Bull. If you aren't using them, get rid of them.
