How do you decide what to close?

[Anonymous]

Since I am avoiding cleaning my house I may as well keep posting today...

We have entirely too many credit cards, but I purposely opened a few with the shopping cart trick to reduce our utility. I have been concentrating on paying down current balances and not using any new cards, or adding anything new to any of our cards with the exception of a small charge here and there to keep activity on them. We still have a few cards that have higher balances, but after tax return we should be able to either pay those off, or pay off a loan (haven't decided the best choice yet on that).

I obviously know we don't want to close the older cards, but some of the newer cards are better than the older ones. Our credit scores have gone up significantly over the last year so I was able to get us in with USAA and Synchrony. I know that paying down will help scores go up even higher but that isn't my main focus just yet. We close on our house Monday and our bank has asked us to reduce the number of cards over the next few months by closing 1-2 of them every 6 months. I just don't know for sure how to strategically dump some to keep scores from tanking.

Here is the list:

• Military Exchange card - opened Sept 1997 (4 30 day late payments and one within the last 2 years) $5000 limit $2600 balance (Don't even need this card anymore, but the limit and the age will probably make this one a keeper)

• Marine Federal Credit  Plat Visa - opened August 2007 (1 30 day late payment over 4 years ago) $500 limit $149 balance (10 years and no CLI on this one because it is a hard pull on all 3 bureaus for increase - no thanks! Its age has kept me from telling them to shove it)

• Capital One Venture One MC - opened June 2011 (no late payments) $3000 limit $1400 balance (just asked for CLI on this one since it has been 6 months and got the new "too many recent inquiries" message even though I don't have any Equifax inquiries in the last 6 months )

• Menards store card (Cap One) - opened December 2015 (no late payments) $500 limit $250 balance (this one is just stupid because you can't do much at a home improvement store with $500 - considering chopping)

• Kohls store card (Cap One) - opened December 2015 (no late payments) $700 limit 0 balance (don't use this one much anymore because we live so far from a kohls and I forget to use my Kohls cash until its too late )

• USAA classic Amex - opened August 2016 (no lates) $500 limit 0 balance (just paid it off on the 8th - this one is tricky because since it is a classic, it won't get auto CLI but they will monitor the account after 18 months to see if it can be upgraded to a preferred card - iffy on how I feel about this guy)

• Capital One Quicksilver MC - opened August 2016 (no lates) $500 limit $44 balance (has not gone up in limit even after 5th statement cut even though I charge abour $200 in bills and pay almost completely in full - considering chopping this one)

• Wayfair Card opened August 2016 (no lates - opened with shopping cart trick) $900 limit 0 balance (No strong feelings either way for this card, but the $900 limit is helping utility)

• Pottery Barn card opened August 2016 (no lates - shopping cart trick) $1500 limit 0 balance (I have a strong love for allthepotterybarnthings so thinking about closing this one makes my heart hurt a little - I've never even used this card because I am scared it will become a bad habit)

• USAA Preferred Visa opened September 2016 (no lates - better card than the USAA Amex classic) $1000 limit $140 balance (about to hit 6 months on this one and crossing my fingers for a nice CLI)

• Walmart store card opened December 2016 (no lates - preapproved by mail) $800 limit 0 balance (We do almost all of our grocery store shopping at Walmart so the rewards could be worth keeping this one open if we charge and pay off)

I know most of them are recently opened, which is causing aaoa to be only about 5 years but we were young and stupid and thought paying off your credit cards then closing them made you look better than using them/paying them/keeping them open. Then for a long time we were in the mindset that no credit cards is a good thing and paying cash for everything was the way to go. So we have a long span of not using credit cards to help our credit. Another thank you to this board for explaining how credit cards can help your credit when used wisely! Again, I know we have some higher balances, but right now I'm just trying to figure out which ones would be best to close

Thanks in advance!!

[rmduhon]

Before you decide to get rid of the Cap1 card I just wanted you to be aware that the steps increase doesn't hit until the 6th statement.

[Anonymous]

Thanks! It should cut tomorrow so maybe it will show an increase! It's still one of the smaller ones though so it might have to go. Unless I wake up to another $3k cap one limit haha! Their usual is $750 after 6 months though so we shall see shortly what they do

[MrsCHX]

You have 6 new accounts in the last 6 months...CapOne doesn't just look at Equifax. They triple pull at account opening and soft pull the 3 at different times. I've had my CapOne cards for a year and I have various sp's on all 3 bureaus. 

At any rate, you'll get your steps and once your accounts show some age and you pay the Cap One balance off, you'll probably see more movement.

I've been rebuliding too and am considering closing some cards. For me it's looking at what I actually use vs what I don't. And what benefits are provided. e.g. I don't use AE much but 1) it's a $3,500 limit so great padding and 2) can convert to a Visa/MC (I don't remember which). Now, I wouldn't use their visa/mc much but still, it may hang around for that reason. I think my comenity store cards have to go as I don't see a huge benefit. And Merrick will go later this year. Nothing wrong with that card I just know it won't grow very far from it's original $700 limit, plus it has an annual fee.

[junebug225]

Your aaoa has taken the hit already so closing any of your cards want effect that. Closing older cards is not necessarily bad because accounts in good standing will stay on your report for 10 years. However your utilization will be effected as you close cards. I would be sure to zero out any cards you are planning to close and continue paying down your balances because the better your utilization at the time you close a card the less negative effect on your score in MOST cases. I would start with the lowest limit cards first.

[Anonymous]

I was reading that Kohl's pretty much caps out at a fairly low limit as well so I'm pretty sure I'll chop that one.

When I got my response from cap one it specifically mentioned too many inquiries on equifax. I have less on equifax than I have on exp so if they soft pulled all 3 wouldn't they have mentioned experian?

It's fairly new that they've been coming back with that as a response. I've seen other threads about it :/ I'm almost sure I have a total of 9 or 10 inquiries and none in the last 6 months so it just seems odd to come back saying "recent inquiries" and citing equifax.

The 6 new accounts were not all hard pulls and none of them were equifax pulls. USAA pulled exp, Walmart was tu, PB and Wayfair were shopping cart trick - soft pulls, cap one was an equifax hard pull but it was the most recent equifax pull and that was back in July. Account reported in August so over 6 months. It would make sense if they said transunion or even experian because I do have hard pulls on those recently but to cite equifax on their response document was weird.

[gdale6]

Moving this to the main CC forum for better input

[Anonymous]

Thank you gdale!

---

@gdale6 wrote:
Moving this to the main CC forum for better input

---

[red259]

I'm not going to go through all your cards, so this is just in general what I do and may or may not apply to your situation. First cards I look at are the AF cards. Does the benefit of having the AF card offset the AF? If not then I look at PC options to a non-AF card and see if that is possible. Next I move on to non-Af cards. Normally I keep those open because I like having the credit lines for util purposes. However, in some cases I come up against the credit ceiling with lenders which can make it difficult getting new cards. In that situation I may consider closing non-AF cards. I don't have any store cards. I had one in the past and I closed it. If it was a card I used fairly often at a store then I would consider keeping it. If I was looking for more cards to close I would look at cards that have low limits or which the credit line will never grow.. If I have one lender who holds a lot of my cards I will be more likely to close a card with that lender than with a lender who I only have one card with. For example, I have a barclays arrival and that is my only card with them. I will likely keep that card open even though I don't use it just in case something goes bad with a lender like chase where I have several cards. Diversity is important to consider even when you are closing cards. 

[garagebandking]

OP you have some devent cards in that lineup...

I had Credit One and Merrick which were first on the chopping block after my rebuild...closed on the house last August and nixed those two after my post-close spree.

Now...I'm just looking at what I use and what I can do in regards to consolidating to higher limits and fewer cards while perhaps diversifying portfolio...most worried about preventing a utilization hit since I'm currently carrying around 25k in credit card debt (thanks new HVAC).

Pick cards you're going to use and benefit from...don't worry about prestige/image/etc...worry about making your money and your credit work for you...keep your utilization in check...don't close cards yet if doing so will tank your utilization...then grow what you have left...from there...if you're going to expand the portfolio...revert to step one and focus on what is going to be most beneficial to your spending patterns.

Too many of us, myself included...fell into the credit trap of opening a bunch of cards in excitement after a rebuild...only to later close a bunch because they're of little use.

Cap1 might be worth keeping as you still have the steps to look forward to and I've heard they rarely take adverse action and you can supposedly sock drawer those things for a long time without worrying about closure for inactivity...could be a nice pad to utilization if you grow it...not to mention the possibility of product changes and combining credit limits...mine however is probably on the chopping block next.

Store cards aren't necessarily a waste...I'm keeping Jcrew because I shop there and enjoy the promos and discounts...I'm axing Express because I no longer use it...and the Walmart cards has its own unique advantages...so again...if you're going to use it and its going to work for you...maybe keep it.