Did I just shoot myself in the foot?

[Elindocain]

Good afternoon!

First of all, thank you for all of the valuable information provided on this site...it's wonderful!

Beginning of this week I had 7 cards:

American Express Costco -  opened 7/12      Limit: $5,000 Balance: $0

Chase Freedom -  opened 7/11                       Limit: $2,800 Balance: $0

Barclays NFL Card - opened 12/11                 Limit: $2,250 Balance: $50

Credit Union - opened 1/11                               Limit: $3,200 Balance: $1800

Macys - opened 5/10                                           Limit: $500    Balance: $400

Capital One Plat - opened 1/11                         Limit: $1,750  Balance: $0    ($3 monthly fee)

Orchard Bank (HSBC) - opened 1/11               Limit $600      Balance: $0    ($59 annual fee)

I just cancelled the two cards with annual fees on them.  With the except of my Credit Union card, all of the other cards are paid in full within 1-2 months of each charge. Managing 6 cards and trying to charge "a little on them just to keep them active" was a hassle.

So, besides the utilization hit was this the right decision? 

Credit Scores: Experian FAKO 734. Credit Karma 670. 

Thanks!

[daybreakgonesXe]

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@Elindocain wrote:

Good afternoon!

First of all, thank you for all of the valuable information provided on this site...it's wonderful!

Beginning of this week I had 7 cards:

American Express Costco -  opened 7/12      Limit: $5,000 Balance: $0

Chase Freedom -  opened 7/11                       Limit: $2,800 Balance: $0

Barclays NFL Card - opened 12/11                 Limit: $2,250 Balance: $50

Credit Union - opened 1/11                               Limit: $3,200 Balance: $1800

Macys - opened 5/10                                           Limit: $500    Balance: $400

Capital One Plat - opened 1/11                         Limit: $1,750  Balance: $0    ($3 monthly fee)

Orchard Bank (HSBC) - opened 1/11               Limit $600      Balance: $0    ($59 annual fee)

I just cancelled the two cards with annual fees on them.  With the except of my Credit Union card, all of the other cards are paid in full within 1-2 months of each charge. Managing 6 cards and trying to charge "a little on them just to keep them active" was a hassle.

So, besides the utilization hit was this the right decision? 

Credit Scores: Experian FAKO 734. Credit Karma 670. 

Thanks!

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Personally I think it is! If you really don't need the cards and obviously have great prime cards, why bother with them? Your credit will take a slight hit for a month or two then pop back up! As long as those Cap One/Orchard Bank accounts were in great shape with no baddies, it will continue to report positive info for another 10 years! You're on a great track! From here on out gardening will only increase your scores! :3

[distantarray]

people over react on this forum for things like HP and Cancelingn credit cards, in the end they have minimal affects to your credit report in majority of the cases. People here think 5% is HUGE and MUST have THIS REWARDS card. but even my 5% Bestbuy purchase only made me $50 for $1,000 purchase which does help, but when people freak out about 1 or 1.5 % I wanna bang my head against the wall sometimes lol it adds up yes but for most people it'll take A LONG time to add up.

[dodgerslv]

IMO...you made the right decision....those tradelines will remain on your file for 10 years as positive accounts....you have enough credit and debt is low so you are in great shape!

[Mustangfrank]

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@distantarray wrote:

people over react on this forum for things like HP and Cancelingn credit cards, in the end they have minimal affects to your credit report in majority of the cases. People here think 5% is HUGE and MUST have THIS REWARDS card. but even my 5% Bestbuy purchase only made me $50 for $1,000 purchase which does help, but when people freak out about 1 or 1.5 % I wanna bang my head against the wall sometimes lol it adds up yes but for most people it'll take A LONG time to add up.

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+100

[ccnewcc]

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@dodgerslv wrote:

IMO...you made the right decision....those tradelines will remain on your file for 10 years as positive accounts....you have enough credit and debt is low so you are in great shape!

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+1

If/when CCs start to become more of a hassle or too many to manage correctly, then don't second guess yourself.  Pull the weeds and get to a number of CCs that will work for you.

[webhopper]

Personally, I think you made the right choice...  Its only beneficial to have multiple cards IF you can manage them without feeling burdened and overwhelmed.  Its much better to close them out than to risk missing a payment deadline.

Closing a CC (credit cards) does not lower your FICO scores in and of itself. When deciding to close a CC there are two important things to consider. In the short-term, closing a CC can have an adverse affect on your UTIL percentage calculations and this in itself can definitely lower your scores. In the long-term, a closed CC in good standing (nothing derogatory reporting) with a $0 balance will generally be deleted from your CRs (credit reports) after 10 years. Once this account is deleted, you lose the history and age and this might lower your scores.

[Cdnewmanpac]

1. The difference in your utilization is 13% to 16%. No way this is going to impact your scores, so no real penalty there.

2. Have you asked for a CLI on your Amex? If not, I would do that today. You have a zero balance and several other cards with reasonable limits. You can ask for up to 3x your current credit limit and you can do it from their web site with an instant decision. Even doubling your Amex CL would more than offset the impact of the two closed cards.