Plan for credit card closings...expert advise please

[Anonymous]

My current UTL is 13%.  In Sept, I plan to change that to 0-2% and keep it that way...and apply for increases every 6 months on current accounts.
See my accounts below. This is just the beginning of my plan, but I want some opinions/advise since all my cards are listed below.  I also have $19K balance car loan and $47 student loan in deferment because I'm still in school.  I want to close the following and the reasons are beside them:
1. Merrick Bank- high APR. 1 increase in 22 months
2. Show MC- high APR.
3. Legacy Visa- high APR
4. Fingerhut- never used it and never will
5. Target only bc no increase in 22 months..still at $200

[Anonymous]

Close um all. Never probably should've opened them. Once you get a couple of prime cards, I'd definitely end those sub prime and all the store CC's you know you'll never use.

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

My current UTL is 13%.  In Sept, I plan to change that to 0-2% and keep it that way...and apply for increases every 6 months on current accounts.
See my accounts below. This is just the beginning of my plan, but I want some opinions/advise since all my cards are listed below.  I also have $19K balance car loan and $47 student loan in deferment because I'm still in school.  I want to close the following and the reasons are beside them:
1. Merrick Bank- high APR. 1 increase in 22 months
2. Show MC- high APR.
3. Legacy Visa- high APR
4. Fingerhut- never used it and never will
5. Target only bc no increase in 22 months..still at $200

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Close them & work on getting higher cl's on your other cards.  

[Anonymous]

Thank you for your opinions on this I was planning to wait until 24 months have passed on each.

[Anonymous]

I would call and ask for APR reductions on them all and let them know that if it isn't reduced you want the account closed.  That may scare 1-2 of them into a reduction and the rest you obviously do not need anyway.  Once you start getting several prime cards I would look at closing those store cards slowly.  Say you get a Citi card with a 5K limit, I would look at closing 5K worth of the store cards that you do not see your self using.  If you use the card say once a quarter even it might be worth keeping open and growing the limit but if you do not no point exists to have the thing.  Most store cards have absolutly no perks and the ONLY ones I would keep open even if I did shop at that establishment are the ones that offer an attainable benefit shopping there.  Otherwise it is more beneficial to use your favorite cash back or miles card at that establishment.

[Anonymous]

That does make sense! I thought some of the store cards were great because they offered perks or incentives but I get better cash back with Chase, Barclay capital1 and Discover

[Anonymous]

How slow are you talking for closing the store cards? I have no experience doing that so I am not sure how often is a good pace

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:
How slow are you talking for closing the store cards? I have no experience doing that so I am not sure how often is a good pace

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I don't think pace necessarily matters.  I have seen posts on here where people called and closed 10+ trade lines in the same day.  I myself just closed the BP card that I just received since I got the store card version and will never shop at BP enough to obtain any kind of benefit from it and plan on closing American Eagle, Shell, and Texaco cards for the same reason within the next month or so.  It is important that you time your closures after any new card or increase on a card you plan to keep posts to your credit so that you do not decrease your overall available credit to avoid any negative impact on your score.  The lines will stay on your report for 10 years after closure as long as they are a positive line so you will also not receive any kind of AAoA decrease for 10 years basically, and by that time you should have enough positive reporting accounts that it will have an insignificant effect on your score when that happens.  If I were in your shoes I would call Synchrony Credit Solutions and see about getting increases on your Synchrony lines, especially that Lowes card.  Swing for the fences in limit as they will counter with the most they can extend to you and I still haven't received a counter from Lowes going from $350-10K in just a few months since account opening.  Only charge I have ever put on it was $6 last month.  It is a store card I would keep around especially if you plan to own a house as the 5% off is good or on larger purchases they offer the great promotional financing.  The number for them is located in the back door thread or you can PM me and I will give it to you.  I believe they are open 24/7 as I have called them all kinds of crazy times being a 2nd shift worker and a night owl and have never encountered them being closed.  Post back if you do as I am always happy to see people get Luv from the Synchrony well.