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@jsucool76 wrote:
I just have an unhealthy addiction. The problem that arises for me is, when i take out my wallet to pay for something, and a friend or family member sees all my cards they immediately assume I'm in debt. Hurts my ego.
So many people think that because you have a lot of cards, they're automatically all maxed out. Everyone always says "well why do you need all of them?"
Because i want 5% at restaurants, and bookstores, and gas, and home improvement, and restaurants again, and again, and gas again. XD... Mainly just because I can. Lol
Hee hee! I like that response!
Wow! 19 cards is about 15 more than I care to deal with! Impressed that you juggle it all so well!
I use my cards for the rewards. Specifically for cashback.
I may not have the huge budget some of the other users do, but every little bit saved helps. When I shop online I also try to use a referral site so I can get even more cashback.
Within the last six months, after exposing myself to the temptations of MyFico, I went from having two cards to having seven.
I know, a lot of people around here app for seven cards before breakfast and think nothing of it. For me, seven felt like too many. I found myself making spreadsheets to track them all, constantly checking my autopay setups, and still worrying that I'd miss a payment.
Having seven cards and 6% utilization did great things for my score, but I kept thinking about canceling some of the cards, and the only reason I didn't was that they're all good cards. No sub-primes, no big fees. I'm not a big spender, though, and it felt stupid having all those cards.
Then an opportunity came up to get a nice little foreclosed house dirt cheap. I needed a few thousand dollars that I didn't have. I was able to pull it off only because I had all those cards. It wasn't just having the available credit, either, but having the particular combination of cards -- one that I could write a small BT check on, one that I could take a large cash advance on, another that I could then BT those funds to at a very good rate so I could avoid paying the terrible cash advance interest.
Ironically the two cards I was most thinking of canceling were two of the most useful.
Now I'm in more debt, but still under 20% util, and I have a house that will soon be very livable.
@Gunnar419 wrote:Within the last six months, after exposing myself to the temptations of MyFico, I went from having two cards to having seven.
I know, a lot of people around here app for seven cards before breakfast and think nothing of it. For me, seven felt like too many. I found myself making spreadsheets to track them all, constantly checking my autopay setups, and still worrying that I'd miss a payment.
Having seven cards and 6% utilization did great things for my score, but I kept thinking about canceling some of the cards, and the only reason I didn't was that they're all good cards. No sub-primes, no big fees. I'm not a big spender, though, and it felt stupid having all those cards.
Then an opportunity came up to get a nice little foreclosed house dirt cheap. I needed a few thousand dollars that I didn't have. I was able to pull it off only because I had all those cards. It wasn't just having the available credit, either, but having the particular combination of cards -- one that I could write a small BT check on, one that I could take a large cash advance on, another that I could then BT those funds to at a very good rate so I could avoid paying the terrible cash advance interest.
Ironically the two cards I was most thinking of canceling were two of the most useful.
Now I'm in more debt, but still under 20% util, and I have a house that will soon be very livable.
Ah, but that's the beauty of the "game".
With good enough credit, you can easily app for a card that allows for 0% balance transfer and offset at least some of your debt to a low or no interest account.
Ah, but that's the beauty of the "game".
With good enough credit, you can easily app for a card that allows for 0% balance transfer and offset at least some of your debt to a low or no interest account.
Agreed. I didn't mention it in the post you quoted, but the debt for the house ended up being financed mostly at 0% thanks to BT availability. The flexibility those cards gave me was fantastic.
I have 14. Some I don't ever use and down the road when I get higher limits and don't need the help with UT I can close them. I have a spreadsheet that I made for everything, it's really easy for me to keep track this way. In additional to the due dates and reporting dates I list my real balance, the reported balance, my UT... and so on... I have them color coded according to the ones I PIF with my paycheck on the 15th, and likewise for my end of the month paycheck. Super simple. (But then I also obsess about keeping it orderly, haha)
@kroberts67 wrote:I have 14. Some I don't ever use and down the road when I get higher limits and don't need the help with UT I can close them. I have a spreadsheet that I made for everything, it's really easy for me to keep track this way. In additional to the due dates and reporting dates I list my real balance, the reported balance, my UT... and so on... I have them color coded according to the ones I PIF with my paycheck on the 15th, and likewise for my end of the month paycheck. Super simple. (But then I also obsess about keeping it orderly, haha)
We must be related! My spreadsheet has all the same fields for EVERY pay period projected out to the end of 2015. Even have a special section for my BlueBird.
@NJTurnpike wrote:
@kroberts67 wrote:I have 14. Some I don't ever use and down the road when I get higher limits and don't need the help with UT I can close them. I have a spreadsheet that I made for everything, it's really easy for me to keep track this way. In additional to the due dates and reporting dates I list my real balance, the reported balance, my UT... and so on... I have them color coded according to the ones I PIF with my paycheck on the 15th, and likewise for my end of the month paycheck. Super simple. (But then I also obsess about keeping it orderly, haha)
We must be related! My spreadsheet has all the same fields for EVERY pay period projected out to the end of 2015. Even have a special section for my BlueBird.
Or, to maximize your finances:
a) put all credit cards on auto pay, full balance on due date
b) with the time saved from not updating the spreadsheet, go and get a part-time minimum wage job!
This might help paint a picture.. it's not 100% accurate obviously as YMMV but it does put things into perspective
http://blog.creditkarma.com/wp-content/infographic.jpg