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Putting my 11 cards to rest until March-UPDATE- I cannot do this.

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creditwherecreditisdue
Senior Contributor

Re: Putting my 11 cards to rest until March


concert_debt wrote:

best advice i ever heard (but i'm no expert, so people feel free to educate me if this is wrong!) -  whatever you wanna buy, pay that money in advance on whatever card you want to use, then go buy itthat way you look REALLY good to the cards, little or no finance charges, it's almost exactly like paying in cash, BUT you have a record of your payment (the cc payment) in case of any disputes, and you earn whatever points and your accounts aren't inactive!

 

.....however, i have never been financially solvent enough to put this into practice.... but i got the advice from a teacher whose sister did the aforementioned...


Welcome to the forums.

 

PIF'ing accounts is a wise practice. Paying in advance of charging is actually not that good an idea. Generally speaking CCC's do not like credit balances. That's why most of them don't make it very easy to make payments that exceed your balance. The main reason to post a payment in advance of a charge is to be able to pump more through an account than the CL would otherwise let you do.

Message 21 of 65
pattycake
Established Contributor

Re: Putting my 11 cards to rest until March

If you have Target, they will close your account for inactivity. They told me that they were doing me a favor by only slashing my CL by $2K since I hadn't used it in six months.

My Citi ExxonMobil card was closed last week, and I found out only because I got an SW alert.

pattycake's FICOs: 6/2/10 - TU: 708; EX: ???; EQ: 749
Message 22 of 65
creditwherecreditisdue
Senior Contributor

Re: Putting my 11 cards to rest until March


@pattycake wrote:
My Citi ExxonMobil card was closed last week, and I found out only because I got an SW alert.

This was part of a massive sweep. They dumped tons of these cards.

Message 23 of 65
DI
Super Contributor

Re: Putting my 11 cards to rest until March


@creditwherecreditisdue wrote:

@pattycake wrote:
My Citi ExxonMobil card was closed last week, and I found out only because I got an SW alert.

This was part of a massive sweep. They dumped tons of these cards.


Can this thread be about my "Putting my 11 cards to rest until March"?    Just joking....Hi CWCIDSmiley Happy

Message 24 of 65
creditwherecreditisdue
Senior Contributor

Re: Putting my 11 cards to rest until March


@DI wrote:

@creditwherecreditisdue wrote:

@pattycake wrote:
My Citi ExxonMobil card was closed last week, and I found out only because I got an SW alert.

This was part of a massive sweep. They dumped tons of these cards.


Can this thread be about my "Putting my 11 cards to rest until March"?    Just joking....Hi CWCIDSmiley Happy


No one likes to feel alone!

 

Smiley Wink

Message 25 of 65
DI
Super Contributor

Re: Putting my 11 cards to rest until March-UPDATE- I cannot do this.

I cannot do this.  There's too much risk involve using a debit card only. 
Message 26 of 65
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: Putting my 11 cards to rest until March-UPDATE- I cannot do this.

DI,

 

You don't have to use all 11 cards.  You could elect 1 as your main use card.

 

Also, you could put an auto pay for 1 small bill on each major (electric, water, internet, cell, cable, satellite, etc) and then use each cards "auto-pay" to "pay entire balance automatically" to make sure that you don't have to log in to each account each month.  It would be for "expected" amounts that you normally pay cash for anyway and not involve any extra effort of steps.

 

IMO  Smiley Wink

 

 

Message 27 of 65
haulingthescoreup
Moderator Emerita

Re: Putting my 11 cards to rest until March-UPDATE- I cannot do this.

If I recall your original plan, where you assigned recurring bills to most of the cards and had a few left over, it sounded like it would work. If you wind up with 4 cards not covering cell phone bills or whatever, just alternate 2 per month. That will keep them active, while preventing your brain from melting down from trying to keep track of everything. Ask if you can switch the statement dates or due dates of the cards assigned to recurring bills to the same date, so that you will always have just one date to pay your regular bills. Then the others won't be so much to schedule in.

Give this six months. By then, I'll bet a few cards will start to suggest themselves as candidates for closure. Smiley Wink

But I agree, keeping track of a debit card for everything is a PITA. Even when you enter the amount in your checkbook as you're sitting in your car, it's so variable as to when the debit actually posts. I've definitely gotten spoiled by the convenience of CC's. One payment, one checkbook subtraction, one time a month per card.

* Credit is a wonderful servant, but a terrible master. * Who's the boss --you or your credit?
FICO's: EQ 781 - TU 793 - EX 779 (from PSECU) - Done credit hunting; having fun with credit gardening. - EQ 590 on 5/14/2007
Message 28 of 65
jefftca925
Established Contributor

Re: Putting my 11 cards to rest until March-UPDATE- I cannot do this.

I have considered not putting anything on a credit card and only using my debit card for purchases but one thing you have to keep in mind.  A lot of identity theft is occurring with debit cards nowadays and there isn't the amount of protection that you get when you use a credit card for the same purpose.  You basicly have to notify the bank if your card is stolen or compromised and often you won't know until your account is cleaned out.  Credit cards don't have that problem.  Just something to think about...

CCs: Chase Freedom VS 12.9k, CSP VISA Sg 13k, BofA Amex 24.5k, Discover 12.5k, US Bank Cash+ Visa Sg 17k, Macy's Amex 8k/1.5k, Gap Visa 10k, Best Buy 11.1k, Citi TY MC 10.8k, Citi AA Amex 6k, Nordstrom VS 10k, Costco Amex 12k, BofA CR VS 5k, Amex BCP 13.5k, Amex ED 5k, Sears MC 9k, HD 7k, Target 600, Amazon 7k, US Bank MC 15k, US Airways MC 8k, NFL Visa 4k, Patelco Visa 10k, Penfed PR VS 44.6k, Chase Hyatt VS 8k, Citi Simplicity 13.3k, PayPal MC 7.5k, BBVA Visa 4k, WF VS 14k, FNBO Amex 14.1k, OCCU VISA 15k, TR Visa Sg 16.3k, C1 QS Visa 11k, FRN MC 15k, HSN 4k, Saks WEMC 10k/4k, Chase Ink 18k, Arrival WEMC 10k, Ebates VS 8k, Orbitz VS 12k, NASA V 30k, USBk FP VS 21.5k, DC 30k, VirgAm 15k, Sams MC 15k, Amex Bz Gold, Amex SC 10k, BofW Bz MC 18k
Message 29 of 65
DI
Super Contributor

Re: Putting my 11 cards to rest until March-UPDATE- I cannot do this.


@jefftca925 wrote:

I have considered not putting anything on a credit card and only using my debit card for purchases but one thing you have to keep in mind.  A lot of identity theft is occurring with debit cards nowadays and there isn't the amount of protection that you get when you use a credit card for the same purpose.  You basicly have to notify the bank if your card is stolen or compromised and often you won't know until your account is cleaned out.  Credit cards don't have that problem.  Just something to think about...


Exactly!  That's why I changed my mind.  I don't want to put everything on my debit card.
Message 30 of 65
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