July Credit AMA [Ask Me Anything] live with user @CreditAddict - Part Two

[Anonymous]

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@Creditaddict wrote:

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@kdm31091 wrote:

If you are only carrying a couple cards, what is the purpose for having so many?  It would seem difficult to rack up meaningful points on that many accounts for it to be worth having them. Curious what your thought process is.

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It's almost a game!

I hit 100 accounts which was somewhat a goal that just seemed funny and then I paired down.

now I have 2 goals:

1 Million in Unsecured Credit Cards

Chase Palladium

Why? because it's almost a game and why not!?

but I go many many months without using most of them and then if I think of it I try to grab one and use it for something, like last week I was seeing that Macy's Amex dropped off my report as an open account, so I grabbed it and charged lunch on it and then put it back into my folder!

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Don't you get worried about fraud?  How many accounts have you had compromised at one time if any...

[Anonymous]

How do you manage all you credit cards? do you track which one you haven't used to prevent closure? 

[Anonymous]

After all these cards, do you still get that twinge in the pit of your stomache while watching the little wheel spin on a new app?

[Creditaddict]

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@Anonymous wrote:

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@Creditaddict wrote:

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@kdm31091 wrote:

If you are only carrying a couple cards, what is the purpose for having so many?  It would seem difficult to rack up meaningful points on that many accounts for it to be worth having them. Curious what your thought process is.

---

It's almost a game!

I hit 100 accounts which was somewhat a goal that just seemed funny and then I paired down.

now I have 2 goals:

1 Million in Unsecured Credit Cards

Chase Palladium

Why? because it's almost a game and why not!?

but I go many many months without using most of them and then if I think of it I try to grab one and use it for something, like last week I was seeing that Macy's Amex dropped off my report as an open account, so I grabbed it and charged lunch on it and then put it back into my folder!

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Don't you get worried about fraud?  How many accounts have you had compromised at one time if any...

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Nope!

I have never had more than 1 account get compromised and our biggest was Navy Checking (not credit) when we moved someone stole box of checks but I literally had her name and address and her citi credit card bill because she was paying HER CREDIT CARD... Navy was fantastic and even let me keep the account open another day for one of our moving checks to clear before closing it out and during that extra day the lady made more charges and Navy refunded it all in 24 hours!

[Anonymous]

I hope this is not too intrusive but on average, how much spend do you put on your cards a month?

[Creditaddict]

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@Anonymous wrote:

How do you manage all you credit cards? do you track which one you haven't used to prevent closure? 

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No, I'm actually not that on top of it when it comes to tracking them, knowing the balances, and all that stuff (shhh, that's my secret)

I just flip through my book once in a while or I see an email with a sale somewhere and think I need to order something!

Like this past weekend, I received a $25 postcard for my next West Elm purchase... I hadn't used that card for a while so I went into the store and spent $28 and charged the difference on my West Elm card and I will let the statement cut and then pay balance and call robo lady for cli!!!

[Creditaddict]

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@Anonymous wrote:

After all these cards, do you still get that twinge in the pit of your stomache while watching the little wheel spin on a new app?

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OF COURSE!

But after leasing 2 cars tier 1 now, I don't worry about the bigger purchases anymore!

and I'm not afraid to answer questions about why so many inquiries or new accounts.

I'm like really Chase, you are the bank that backs 15 different cards, don't ask me why I need them all!! JK but really that's how I answer usually based on which bank it is and how many other accounts I have with them.

[Creditaddict]

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@Anonymous wrote:

I hope this is not too intrusive but on average, how much spend do you put on your cards a month?

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That depends how out of control huzbie and I are being that month

When we opened Amex Platinum I switched all spend and bills to that thinking I needed to hit the bonus in 90 days... We spent $5500 in 20ish days.  I feel like that was a big bad month for us!

I would like to say we average closer to $2-$3k but I'm not sure we actually ever seem too

[Anonymous]

Based on your response to @Captool, what is the craziest thing an analyst manually reviwing your credit has ever said to you?

[Creditaddict]

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@Anonymous wrote:

@Anonymous on your response to @Anonymous, what is the craziest thing an analyst manually reviwing your credit has ever said to you?

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Usually, it's the people not making the final decisions that will say the craziest things... Mercedes general manager was funny... He was like I have been doing this for over 25 years and I see a lot of credit reports and I have NEVER seen someone with 126 accounts... and you are so young!

Then I handed him my Ritz Card to pay the deposit and he said oh, I have a black card too and pulls out his wallet and pulls out the Barclay "The Black Card" and I just "Oh, You need to upgrade!"