I have 8 cards and 3 are store cards. I thnk I have too many but my take is (repeated in previous post) if you have a need for all of them, thats fine.
I will be closing 2 CC's this year since I'm moving away from 'subprime' CL's that are not growing and they have AF's.
If you also get overwhelmed while dealing with your cards, it means you have too many. Part of having cards is also the ability ot maintain/rotate them as needed to suit your benefits and aspirations with said cards.
The minute a card stop being of use to you and if it has an AF or some fees associated with it, cut it loose otherwise just keep it in your safe or SD.
@Jake0215 wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:
@KingAdrock wrote:If it's more cards than you will actually use or can keep track of, then it's too many. But that number is different for everyone.
But as far as getting rid of cards, I say if you have them, keep them. If there's no AF but you don't need it, introduce it to Mr. Sockdrawer. No sense losing util% and eventually AAoA for no reason.
This is my stance on it as well. I really don't see any reason to close a card that isn't costing you anything. People here say "well even after you close, it will report for 10 years." Yea, and then when those 10 years is up, the card is gone. If you had kept it open, it would be reporting on year 11, 12, 13, etc. If there's no AF, why is there any reason to close it?I currently have 5. Ive gotten in the habit of canceling a card that is not going to be used when I get a new card. First Premier was a year ago, bbrzm was in november. The new cards i have attained more than cover the lost utilization. My scores are high enough where it doesnt bother me that in 10 years i will lose the account. All the experts say between 3-5 is a good number. It keeps the maitenance of constantly worrying about payments at a minimum. Plus, my wallet only has a place for my ID, 5 cards, Debit card, and my insurance card. Its like it was meant to be.
i have some cards doublled up becasue of this. i think once i get rid of FP and BBRZMC ill be better off. and then i can get one or 2 more prime cards and close out cap1's or just one more primce card with a high limit and close out both cap1's
@afbar1114 wrote:how many credit cards do you have and i mean all of them..... charge/store/ credit...i have 10 or 11 but plan on closing 2 or 3 this year. but most are store cards and i only have 3 major credit cards and a amex
You don't consider Amex as a major CCC? 
.
In all honesty, as most posters have stated, it comes down to spending habits and personal preferences. I currently have 4 cards and waiting on 2 more a BCE or BCP and a Amex charge card. The way I use my cards based on cash back/rewards categories; I try to maximize the amounts of rewards I can get per purchase. So to me, cash back card are used more frequently then my "basic" card, which is used when I plan on carrying a balance and for BT purposes, given that it has the lowest APR. Also, for those large purchases I plan on using my Amex card to get an extended warranty in addition to a limited 90 day return policy.
@Anonymous wrote:
@afbar1114 wrote:how many credit cards do you have and i mean all of them..... charge/store/ credit...i have 10 or 11 but plan on closing 2 or 3 this year. but most are store cards and i only have 3 major credit cards and a amex
You don't consider Amex as a major CCC?
In all honesty, as most posters have stated, it comes down to spending habits and personal preferences. I currently have 4 cards and waiting on 2 more a BCE or BCP and a Amex charge card. The way I use my cards based on cash back/rewards categories; I try to maximize the amounts of rewards I can get per purchase. So to me, cash back card are used more frequently then my "basic" card, which is used when I plan on carrying a balance and for BT purposes, given that it has the lowest APR. Also, for those large purchases I plan on using my Amex card to get an extended warranty in addition to a limited 90 day return policy.
i think of it more as a debit card because i need to pay it off no matter what. but if thats the case then all i need is one more major "prime" card
@afbar1114 wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:
@afbar1114 wrote:how many credit cards do you have and i mean all of them..... charge/store/ credit...i have 10 or 11 but plan on closing 2 or 3 this year. but most are store cards and i only have 3 major credit cards and a amex
You don't consider Amex as a major CCC?
In all honesty, as most posters have stated, it comes down to spending habits and personal preferences. I currently have 4 cards and waiting on 2 more a BCE or BCP and a Amex charge card. The way I use my cards based on cash back/rewards categories; I try to maximize the amounts of rewards I can get per purchase. So to me, cash back card are used more frequently then my "basic" card, which is used when I plan on carrying a balance and for BT purposes, given that it has the lowest APR. Also, for those large purchases I plan on using my Amex card to get an extended warranty in addition to a limited 90 day return policy.
i think of it more as a debit card because i need to pay it off no matter what. but if thats the case then all i need is one more major "prime" card
You know there are revolver accounts 
. Most people actually prefer that compared to a revolver because it reinforces positive spending habits and reports to the CBs.
For me (and only for me, don't jump on me for this or tell me I'm wrong ) three is fine. I have Wells Fargo Platinum ($13.5K) NFCU nRewards ($15K) and AMEX Delta SkyMiles ($18K). Why do I need anything more? I really only have them to help my credit score - for 10 years all I had was a Government Travel Card that does not report and was only used for, well, government travel. I use all my cards as debit, although I am going to start running everything through AMEX for the miles. I also have a Care Credit ($3500) that my wife opened in my name while I was in Iraq, but it hasn't been used since 2007 I believe.
Three is enough for me and $46.5K is WAY more credit than I need. But I ain't giving any of it back!
Starting Score: TU 672 EQ 654 10/20/09
@DrJim wrote:For me (and only for me, don't jump on me for this or tell me I'm wrong
Three is enough for me and $46.5K is WAY more credit than I need. But I ain't giving any of it back!
Woahhhhh, $46.5k is 4x my annual income 
. Mind throwing some my way LOL. Oh and I have always wanted to visit Iraq, how was it there? LOL