I closed my accounts today

[wacdenney]

Well I closed 2 accounts today anyway...  I still have 14 left which is still a lot.  May look to close some more moving forward, but as of today goodbye Citi Simplicity and Barclaycard Rewards.  Don't let the door hit you on your way out of my portfolio! 

[juggar]

Why would you do such? 

[wacdenney]

Just trimming the fat to make my life more manageable.  I fall in to the "close them if they aren't useful" camp.  I know it's not as big of a clique as the "SD everything for eternity" people but then I was never really one of the cool kids anyways. 

I originally got the Simplicity card to do a BT that I never actually wound up doing and I was never able to find any evidence that it could be PCd to anything else so I'm tired of looking at it.  I got Barclaycard Rewards hoping to build a relationship that would help me get approved for Sallie Mae but it didn't help.  They didn't care...

The 2 cards simply no longer had a place in my strategy so I cut em loose.  Diamond Preffered barely survived, I will PC it to Double Cash next month and hopefully breath new life into it.  BofA only survived because it's my oldest account.  At this point, my CR shows nearly as many closed accounts as it does open ones.  I just don't like sitting on cards that no longer fit into my plan.  Just a different way of thinking I guess.

[juggar]

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@wacdenney wrote:

Just trimming the fat to make my life more manageable.  I fall in to the "close them if they aren't useful" camp.  I know it's not as big of a clique as the "SD everything for eternity" people but then I was never really one of the cool kids anyways. 

I originally got the Simplicity card to do a BT that I never actually wound up doing and I was never able to find any evidence that it could be PCd to anything else so I'm tired of looking at it.  I got Barclaycard Rewards hoping to build a relationship that would help me get approved for Sallie Mae but it didn't help.  They didn't care...

The 2 cards simply no longer had a place in my strategy so I cut em loose.  Diamond Preffered barely survived, I will PC it to Double Cash next month and hopefully breath new life into it.  BofA only survived because it's my oldest account.  At this point, my CR shows nearly as many closed accounts as it does open ones.  I just don't like sitting on cards that no longer fit into my plan.  Just a different way of thinking I guess.

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I dont think I would want that many closed accounts on my report ever... haha wouldnt that throw red flags to the credit analyst if you had to recon? 

I know if I was a credit analyst I would be asking you about the closed accounts as thats not normal behavior to close so many. 

[baller4life]

Not normal? WTH? He only closed 2 cards, not 12. Closed accts remain 10 yrs on your report. Analysts don't care about them. Besides it will say Closed By Consumer. No big deal. Some people don't want a gazillion cards to keep up with. Especially if they serve no purpose! Nothing wrong at all with trimming the fat. I will be doing the same next year.

[juggar]

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@baller4life wrote:

Not normal? WTH? He only closed 2 cards, not 12. Closed accts remain 10 yrs on your report. Analysts don't care about them. Besides it will say Closed By Consumer. No big deal. Some people don't want a gazillion cards to keep up with. Especially if they serve no purpose! Nothing wrong at all with trimming the fat. I will be doing the same next year.

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"At this point, my CR shows nearly as many closed accounts as it does open ones."

Please read the post before commenting thanks.... OP has closed more than two. 

I would be asking questions if he had like 10+ accounts closed in the last few years...

[Involver]

Closing accounts does not raise red flags unless you're repeatedly closing them with balances. If anything it shows you are trying to responsibly manage your accounts.

[baller4life]

Well I'm driving and missed that part. Sue me. Wac, If you're closing so many cards, why are you getting these particular cards in the first place? Sign up bonus?

[chalupaman]

Hey Wac. No shame in doing that. I've done the same thing with several cards I didn't need anymore or with cards that weren't growing or performing that well (like Fingerhut, Wal-Mart, and that Chevron card) and also what Baller said. The account still report either way for up to 10 years, it's utilization that's possibly affected in the short term. Also I always end up getting way better cards anyway so it's not really that big of a deal to me.

[Dw4250]

Good for you WAC. I am in the close them if you don't need them camp as well. I'm planning on trimming down to 8-10 cards, but am waiting until some of my cards hit one year old before closing (March 2015).

Frankly one of the biggest reasons is I'm tired on toting around this massive wallet with 16 credit card slots! Even though I've got several SDed, it's still a pain carrying around this mini trapper keeper.

Maybe if European man purses become suddenly fashionable (those guys always manage to look cool with those...lol) and I can throw all my cards in the purse. But I don't see those becoming "a la mode" anytime soon (at least not in suburban Minneapolis!!!)