I closed my accounts today

joedtx · ‎11-13-2014

@NRB525 wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:
@HiLine wrote:
I totally understand people's desire to close credit cards they do not use or need. I view this as the same thing as throwing away stuff that you no longer use; at this point anything becomes trash. Having more makes people stressful. The OP has a fine credit history, I'm sure. Closing these cards are not going to do his credit any harm.

After being on this forum for a while, you can get the illusion that everyone has perfect credit or needs or wants to have prefect credit. You can become obssessed with making your credit perfect and helping people get perfect credit. The truth is, this process takes a lot of will power and personal attention; it takes away the time and energy you could spend somewhere else. For the vast majority of people, 3-4 credit cards is all they need and want and feel comfortable managing. Anything beyond this can cause stress.

I really never thought about this until I started my blog and tried to step in my readers' shoes. I have also tried to talk my friends into getting their 2nd credit card, and listening to their reasoning made me realize how uncomfortable it is for most people to step into this credit territory. If managing 2 credit cards sounds that uncomfortable, how would the general population feel about handling 10 or more credit cards?

Most of the time, squeezing a couple of extra points of credit score just isn't worth the effort for most people.
I can't imagine picking just one or two credit cards. Yuck.
Change the question: What are the top two cards you would keep above all others? And why?

Me: BofA AMEX (lowest APR), Gold SkyMiles (It's an AMEX... it gets me in Delta lounges and no the plane slightly faster on the rare times I fly)

Forgive me for asking but what is so Special about these Lounges?

NRB525 · ‎11-14-2014

@joedtx wrote:
@NRB525 wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:
@HiLine wrote:
I totally understand people's desire to close credit cards they do not use or need. I view this as the same thing as throwing away stuff that you no longer use; at this point anything becomes trash. Having more makes people stressful. The OP has a fine credit history, I'm sure. Closing these cards are not going to do his credit any harm.

After being on this forum for a while, you can get the illusion that everyone has perfect credit or needs or wants to have prefect credit. You can become obssessed with making your credit perfect and helping people get perfect credit. The truth is, this process takes a lot of will power and personal attention; it takes away the time and energy you could spend somewhere else. For the vast majority of people, 3-4 credit cards is all they need and want and feel comfortable managing. Anything beyond this can cause stress.

I really never thought about this until I started my blog and tried to step in my readers' shoes. I have also tried to talk my friends into getting their 2nd credit card, and listening to their reasoning made me realize how uncomfortable it is for most people to step into this credit territory. If managing 2 credit cards sounds that uncomfortable, how would the general population feel about handling 10 or more credit cards?

Most of the time, squeezing a couple of extra points of credit score just isn't worth the effort for most people.
I can't imagine picking just one or two credit cards. Yuck.
Change the question: What are the top two cards you would keep above all others? And why?

Me: BofA AMEX (lowest APR), Gold SkyMiles (It's an AMEX... it gets me in Delta lounges and no the plane slightly faster on the rare times I fly)
Forgive me for asking but what is so Special about these Lounges?

If you've never visited an airport lounge, well...

After you've experienced an airport lounge, sitting in the regular waiting area is like sitting in a bus terminal. Not quite so bad, because the TSA security keeps the panhandlers out, but not so far off.

High Bal Jan 2009 $116k on $146k limits 80% Util.
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April 2018 $18k on $344k 5% util EQ 806 TU 810 EX 812
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April 2022 EQ=811 TU=807 EX=805 - TU VS 3.0 765

taxi818 · ‎11-14-2014

@NRB525 wrote:
@joedtx wrote:
@NRB525 wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:
@HiLine wrote:
I totally understand people's desire to close credit cards they do not use or need. I view this as the same thing as throwing away stuff that you no longer use; at this point anything becomes trash. Having more makes people stressful. The OP has a fine credit history, I'm sure. Closing these cards are not going to do his credit any harm.

After being on this forum for a while, you can get the illusion that everyone has perfect credit or needs or wants to have prefect credit. You can become obssessed with making your credit perfect and helping people get perfect credit. The truth is, this process takes a lot of will power and personal attention; it takes away the time and energy you could spend somewhere else. For the vast majority of people, 3-4 credit cards is all they need and want and feel comfortable managing. Anything beyond this can cause stress.

I really never thought about this until I started my blog and tried to step in my readers' shoes. I have also tried to talk my friends into getting their 2nd credit card, and listening to their reasoning made me realize how uncomfortable it is for most people to step into this credit territory. If managing 2 credit cards sounds that uncomfortable, how would the general population feel about handling 10 or more credit cards?

Most of the time, squeezing a couple of extra points of credit score just isn't worth the effort for most people.
I can't imagine picking just one or two credit cards. Yuck.
Change the question: What are the top two cards you would keep above all others? And why?

Me: BofA AMEX (lowest APR), Gold SkyMiles (It's an AMEX... it gets me in Delta lounges and no the plane slightly faster on the rare times I fly)
Forgive me for asking but what is so Special about these Lounges?
If you've never visited an airport lounge, well...

After you've experienced an airport lounge, sitting in the regular waiting area is like sitting in a bus terminal. Not quite so bad, because the TSA security keeps the panhandlers out, but not so far off.

Yes. Can even take a nice shower in some lounges. Including free drinks and food. Nice adult beverages. Outstanding.

elim · ‎11-14-2014

@HiLine wrote:
I totally understand people's desire to close credit cards they do not use or need. I view this as the same thing as throwing away stuff that you no longer use; at this point anything becomes trash. Having more makes people stressful. The OP has a fine credit history, I'm sure. Closing these cards are not going to do his credit any harm.

After being on this forum for a while, you can get the illusion that everyone has perfect credit or needs or wants to have prefect credit. You can become obssessed with making your credit perfect and helping people get perfect credit. The truth is, this process takes a lot of will power and personal attention; it takes away the time and energy you could spend somewhere else. For the vast majority of people, 3-4 credit cards is all they need and want and feel comfortable managing. Anything beyond this can cause stress.

I really never thought about this until I started my blog and tried to step in my readers' shoes. I have also tried to talk my friends into getting their 2nd credit card, and listening to their reasoning made me realize how uncomfortable it is for most people to step into this credit territory. If managing 2 credit cards sounds that uncomfortable, how would the general population feel about handling 10 or more credit cards?

Most of the time, squeezing a couple of extra points of credit score just isn't worth the effort for most people.

My profile is pretty slim compared to some here (4 bank/cu accounts, auto, boats, household and 9 cards). Each time I added accounts, I get the wave of self satisfaction and gratification, followed of course by the added stress (sometimes even overwhelmed). Right now the phase for me is almost therapeutics and very satisfying... successfully managing accounts has become very simple and healthy. It really takes no time at all these days. I'm early in my journey and can see a time when closing the snail accounts that just won't grow or don't fit into my life anymore will be wanted and I will have no problem shutting them down.

nice post hi-line...

congrats op on cleaning house.