Help Please

[rarj13]

Hello,

It seems like a lot of people much smarter and more experiences in these areas then me are posting on this site so i thought I would run my situation by you guys and get some feedback.

So I currently have 7 Credit Cards and I'm trying to decide to app or wait until later. My AAOA will be two years next month. i have 14 total accounts. hopefully it wont budge too much going forward. I have 5 credit pulls according to credit karma. My fico score is 739 according to discover. 

My ideal goal is to maximize rewards with 4 cards and have 1 Visa, MC, Discover, and Amex hopefully all over 5k limits. If that is unrealistic then maybe I would leave the discover at home and use it for online portals and have a 2nd visa, mc or amex

My current cards are:

Sallie Mae MC 12,900: 5% up to $250 spent a month Gas, Groceries,  up to $750 spent on Bookstore(Amazon), 1% everything else

Cap One Venture Visa Sig 11k: 2% everything (redeem for travel only) Annual Fee $59. Got it waived this time , will probably downgrade it if i cant get it waived next year.

CSP Visa Sig 6500: I assume you know 95 dollar annual fee was waived this year i plan to use the points and downgrade it next year. 

DiscoverIT 3850: 5% rotating up to $1500 spent per quarter ( Gas currently) 1% everything else

Citi Forward Visa 3400: 5% uncapped on Restaurants, Movies, Music and Bookstores (Amazon)

Chase Freedom Visa 3000: 5% rotating up to $1500 spent per quarter ( Gas/Kohls currently) 1% everything else

PNC Cashbuilder VIsa 2500: 1.25% on everything

I am leaning towards 

Forward Visa, Sallie Mae MC, DiscoverIT and APP for Fidelity Amex for 2%?

or maybe

Forward Visa, APP for Double Cash MC, DiscoverIT, and APP for Amex Blue Cash or BCP depending on which one will make more sense with my grocery spending. I'm single now but when I'm married, which may be in the next year or so, I may hit the 250 mark on groceries with the sallie mae rather quickly in the month.

I dont need to make a move now, I'm just trying to plan out what i want to do.

Thoughts? Suggestions? Questions?

[jsucool76]

I would say garden for now...it can't hurt....Doesn't seem like you really "need" anything right now. Don't want to overload yourself with signup bonus spend requirements and end up going crazy. 

The citi forward is a great card, especially if you pair it with one of the AF thank you cards, you can transfer points to airline partners (otherwise the redemption options are "meh" at best) 

I would say the forward, the IT, maybe PC your venture to the quicksilver if you can't get the AF waived, and then the sallie mae card would be a good combo. 

for now though, rack up some UR points with the CSP and freedom combo. 

[rarj13]

Thanks for thew feedback. Yea i am using the CSP and Freedom combo for now. The main reasons I was thinking about pulling the trigger on the amex are the 3x cli and the backdating on future cards.

I don't want to make that move just because I am excited to be carrying an amex if it is unwise at this point though. 

[jsucool76]

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@rarj13 wrote:

Thanks for thew feedback. Yea i am using the CSP and Freedom combo for now. The main reasons I was thinking about pulling the trigger on the amex are the 3x cli and the backdating on future cards.

I don't want to make that move just because I am excited to be carrying an amex if it is unwise at this point though. 

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If you're up for it, it never hurts to get your membership date in with them. Maybe go for a PRG or something for the 1 year waived annual fee and signup bonus sinced I don't see a signup bonus for the BCE/BCP

[Anonymous]

The 3x CL is nice but you have a CSP. Amazing card and you have great Credit limits. 

I'd say garden and watch your score rise even more  

[keithB]

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@rarj13 wrote:

Hello,

It seems like a lot of people much smarter and more experiences in these areas then me are posting on this site so i thought I would run my situation by you guys and get some feedback.

So I currently have 7 Credit Cards and I'm trying to decide to app or wait until later. My AAOA will be two years next month. i have 14 total accounts. hopefully it wont budge too much going forward. I have 5 credit pulls according to credit karma. My fico score is 739 according to discover. 

My ideal goal is to maximize rewards with 4 cards and have 1 Visa, MC, Discover, and Amex hopefully all over 5k limits. If that is unrealistic then maybe I would leave the discover at home and use it for online portals and have a 2nd visa, mc or amex

My current cards are:

Sallie Mae MC 12,900: 5% up to $250 spent a month Gas, Groceries,  up to $750 spent on Bookstore(Amazon), 1% everything else

Cap One Venture Visa Sig 11k: 2% everything (redeem for travel only) Annual Fee $59. Got it waived this time , will probably downgrade it if i cant get it waived next year.

CSP Visa Sig 6500: I assume you know 95 dollar annual fee was waived this year i plan to use the points and downgrade it next year. 

DiscoverIT 3850: 5% rotating up to $1500 spent per quarter ( Gas currently) 1% everything else

Citi Forward Visa 3400: 5% uncapped on Restaurants, Movies, Music and Bookstores (Amazon)

Chase Freedom Visa 3000: 5% rotating up to $1500 spent per quarter ( Gas/Kohls currently) 1% everything else

PNC Cashbuilder VIsa 2500: 1.25% on everything

I am leaning towards 

Forward Visa, Sallie Mae MC, DiscoverIT and APP for Fidelity Amex for 2%?

or maybe

Forward Visa, APP for Double Cash MC, DiscoverIT, and APP for Amex Blue Cash or BCP depending on which one will make more sense with my grocery spending. I'm single now but when I'm married, which may be in the next year or so, I may hit the 250 mark on groceries with the sallie mae rather quickly in the month.

I dont need to make a move now, I'm just trying to plan out what i want to do.

Thoughts? Suggestions? Questions?

---

How many inquiries and how old? Discover is a TU score... I think I'd look into the other scores as well if you really want to plan this right. Any negatives? IF you really want the best terms, I'd say hold off as well. Depending on your last apps, I imagine you have some more room to grow in your scores.

But if you would have to grab something that can really help down the road, I'd say AMEX.  Take the bite now on the AMEX and in a few years time you can grab another to help AAoAs.

[rarj13]

According to CreditKarma my oldest open account is 8 years 3 months, average is 1 year 11 months, newest is 5 months (CSP)

No negatives 

I have 5 inquires according to CK

my Fako Score is 733 currently on CreditKarma, Discover says 739 for Transunion. I do not remember what my scores were when i apped for CSP, is there a way to check?

[jamesdwi]

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@rarj13 wrote:

Hello,

It seems like a lot of people much smarter and more experiences in these areas then me are posting on this site so i thought I would run my situation by you guys and get some feedback.

So I currently have 7 Credit Cards and I'm trying to decide to app or wait until later. My AAOA will be two years next month. i have 14 total accounts. hopefully it wont budge too much going forward. I have 5 credit pulls according to credit karma. My fico score is 739 according to discover. 

My ideal goal is to maximize rewards with 4 cards and have 1 Visa, MC, Discover, and Amex hopefully all over 5k limits. If that is unrealistic then maybe I would leave the discover at home and use it for online portals and have a 2nd visa, mc or amex

My current cards are:

Sallie Mae MC 12,900: 5% up to $250 spent a month Gas, Groceries,  up to $750 spent on Bookstore(Amazon), 1% everything else

Cap One Venture Visa Sig 11k: 2% everything (redeem for travel only) Annual Fee $59. Got it waived this time , will probably downgrade it if i cant get it waived next year.

CSP Visa Sig 6500: I assume you know 95 dollar annual fee was waived this year i plan to use the points and downgrade it next year. 

DiscoverIT 3850: 5% rotating up to $1500 spent per quarter ( Gas currently) 1% everything else

Citi Forward Visa 3400: 5% uncapped on Restaurants, Movies, Music and Bookstores (Amazon)

Chase Freedom Visa 3000: 5% rotating up to $1500 spent per quarter ( Gas/Kohls currently) 1% everything else

PNC Cashbuilder VIsa 2500: 1.25% on everything

I am leaning towards 

Forward Visa, Sallie Mae MC, DiscoverIT and APP for Fidelity Amex for 2%?

or maybe

Forward Visa, APP for Double Cash MC, DiscoverIT, and APP for Amex Blue Cash or BCP depending on which one will make more sense with my grocery spending. I'm single now but when I'm married, which may be in the next year or so, I may hit the 250 mark on groceries with the sallie mae rather quickly in the month.

I dont need to make a move now, I'm just trying to plan out what i want to do.

Thoughts? Suggestions? Questions?

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Wait at l least 6 months from your last card, for best results.

[keithB]

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is there a way to check?

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Subscribe to a myFICO service or purchase the score separately.  But I would suggest waiting until you are ready to actually apply - unless you like knowing where you are at at any given time - that's why I'm paying $19.95/month.

However, if your oldest HP is the same as your latest inquiry, go another 7 months before apping - Two years to max and let inquiries far off, but 1 year will get you to about 80% where you want to be.  If you can put it off 7 months, pay all your cards down to $0, with the exception of one @ 1-9%, keep payments clean, you will max out - I would bet a 30-40 point jump.

[celluloid17]

I would say go for the Fidelity Amex, but if you really want to get in with American Express, that's not the card to do it with as it's underwritten by FIA/Bank of America and not Centurion (American Express).  You want to take advantage of American Express backdating so you would need a "true" Amex to establish a Member Since Date that all of your future Amex cards will carry.  

Blue Cash Preferred might be the best card for you if you're anticipating your grocery spend to increase, but I wouldn't app for it until the time when you can justify the AF.

You don't really have a true powerhouse general spend card, but you have plenty of options to rack up travel points that could be more valuable than cashback (like UR points).  If the Citi Forward card you have ever gets nerfed, then I would see about a PC to the new Double Cash card.  Given what you already have, I wouldn't take a HP unless it's for a card that you would really use and that gives you benefits not currently covered by the cards in your portfolio.