How many credit cards is too much?

[Anonymous]

 I'm 18yrs old and i have 6 credit cards with 5 of them reporting $0 balance.is this cards too much or is this cards gonna help my credit score?.

ALSO HOW MANY CARDS IS TOO MUCH?.

THANKS! 

[Anonymous]

i would say you are good however i would wait a year before opening more

[Anonymous]

The only set # for amount of CC is:   IMO  you should have at least 3 CC.  If you have more then that it is good as CC carry more weight with scores!!!

Never max any of them out!!  FICO likes to see total Bal  under 9%  and FICO like to see some UTIL and some Bal $0.

Let the cards age. New CCs are concidered new for 1 year.  The amount of CL does not hurt your scores as long as UTIL is low!!

[treski]

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@Anonymous wrote:

ALSO HOW MANY CARDS IS TOO MUCH?.

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You have too many cards when you cannot comfortably handle them all.  I have read of people in the forums who actually have around 20, which would be far too overwhelming for me.  I currently have just 2.  I think 4 will be about my personal limit.

It just depends on how much of your time you're willing to stay on top of them, IMHO. 

In my experience, I procrastinate and forget payments, so I think the fewer the better for me.  I'm holding out for 2 prime cards and working on my report so that I'm in a position to beg for CLIs. 

I think 6 cards at 18 years old is probably fine for now.

[tunseeker1]

I have a total of 32 cards including store cards. I use them all for different reasons.

I like to have cards for stores that let them know I was there and then they send me discounts.

[Miner]

Don't get a card for the sake of getting another card and becoming a collector.  With you cards, you should have a plan for what you want to achieve with your credit and only obtain those cards that help you fulfill it.  I mostly have rewards cards where the rewards on each card benefit me differently (ie. they aren't all the same which is pointless).

Unlike some here, I've never had more then 5 CCs at any one time and have had as few as 2 at different points in my life.

Message Edited by Miner on 10-30-2008 10:14 AM

[Anonymous]

Right now I have the most I've ever had at one time (accumulation thru the years, I guess).

five revolving credit cards

one open credit (AMEX)

two revolving charge (Macy's and Exxon/Mobil)

I actually feel like I have two too many right now, but I'm trying to optimize my FICO over the next two years, and this mix works best for me in that regard (UTIL and Credit Mix, specifically). After that, I'll probably close two of em (but not the oldest ones!).