topic Re: Get a third card? in Credit Cards

Get a third card?

jas312 — Fri, 02 Dec 2016 14:25:04 GMT

Hi All,

Background:

Age: 24

Credit History: Approx 5 years

TU FICO: Has hovered between 800 and 815 for the past year.

Never carried a balance, paid interest, made a late payment, etc.

Cards: 2 (Barclays w/ ~$6500 limit, ELAN w/ ~$4500 limit)

Loans: Two auto loans paid in full years ago. One current. ~$14k balance out of original amount of $26k. Thought about paying it off but letting it ride out for more history. Interest is fairly low, so it's not costing me much.

Inquiries: 0-1 depending on which bureau you look at.

I've been thinking about getting a third card. My Barclay's is a store card (LL Bean) so rewards are not great for anywhere outside of that store. The other card I don't use because rewards are terrible, I keep it open for emergencies in case the first card fails me, but it's just been sitting at a 0 balance for probably a year. So, I've looked at a Citi Double-Cash or Discover IT because either one would benefit me more than my current cards. I doubt I'd have an issue qualifying for either with a good limit. Don't care a bit about interest since I'll never carry a balance. Could be 90% for all I care.

The thing is, I'm also planning on going for a mortgage in the spring. So I don't want to jeapordize the interest rate or anything on that. I'd love to walk in there with a score over 800.

Opinions?

Thanks!

Re: Get a third card?

Anonymous — Fri, 02 Dec 2016 14:58:56 GMT

What do you plan on using the card for? I can understand the double cash especially if you will pay in full every month but in my opinion there are better cards than the discover it (which i have) especially after the first year

Re: Get a third card?

Anonymous — Fri, 02 Dec 2016 15:01:16 GMT

I have a Discover It, not the biggest fan. I tend to use my BCP way way more than my Discover. I would go for the Citi over the Discover, but that's just my humble opinion

Re: Get a third card?

jas312 — Fri, 02 Dec 2016 15:02:19 GMT

Absolutely everything. Right now I pay everything with my Barclay's card (bills, gas, food, etc.) and pay in full at the end of the month.

It does work out okay because I get enough rewards where I never have to buy coats or hiking boots or anything out of pocket, but I feel I can do better than 1% with something else.

Re: Get a third card?

Anonymous — Fri, 02 Dec 2016 15:03:33 GMT

im with smc im a big fan of blue cash (dont have yet) what is your break down of spending in different categories?

Re: Get a third card?

jas312 — Fri, 02 Dec 2016 15:13:43 GMT

About 43% is "Everyday spending" (This appears to be mostly gas and groceries, but my AT&T bill is lumped in here as well)

About 25% "Other" (Home depot, tractor supply, looks like a bunch of miscellaneous stores)

About 15% "Merchandise" (Department stores, Amazon, also notice Time Warner bill is here)

About 7% "Restaurants/Entertainment"

The other 10% is between travel, automotive, and healthcare.

Total spending is about $17k over the past 12 months.

Re: Get a third card?

Anonymous — Fri, 02 Dec 2016 15:21:57 GMT

I have the Citi Secured as well that I acquired last May 2016, now that my credit has greatly improved I was thinking of cancelling it as well. No card benefits, and can't work around with my $200 CL without going over 30% utilization. So I just simply took it out of my wallet, kept in in the closet and just added my Netflix bill to autopay with that card to gain monthly activity.

Also feeling hopeless on the future graduation of the card. I've been reading that Cit has really not done any good things after graduation. Some Citi rep even suggested me to just apply for an unsecured one since I qualify anyways.

Re: Get a third card?

Anonymous — Fri, 02 Dec 2016 15:47:40 GMT

Is everyone missing the part about the mortgage app?

I have read here many times that you should have no new accounts within one year of apping for a mortgage, so I would hold off until that closes. Right after you have keys in hand though I would get a few new cards with better rewards.

Re: Get a third card?

newhis — Fri, 02 Dec 2016 16:30:05 GMT

The most important thing is your future mortgage.

I have read many many times that do not apply for anything at least 6 months.

Do you plan to get the mortgage in 6 months?

Don't pay your car loan in full before your mortgage. A file without an open loan could drop up to 30 points.

If your mortgage is in more than 6 months, then you could apply for 1 more card. If it is less than 6 months, then wait for your mortgage and then apply for 2-3 cards if you want to get better rewards in things you pay.

17k on credit cards is not that much. For example:

- if you get Citi 2% card, you will get $340 a year

- if you get Chase Freedom Unlimited you will get $255 a year, but have a bonus of up to $325 for new clients, and down the road you may get one of the Sapphire cards and get 25% or 50% more out of your points. Almost 4 years for Citi DC to match the Chase card. For me is better to go with Chase first, then in 3-4 years, if there is no other 2% or more card, go with Citi DC. BTW I don't have the FU yet, but will be my next card for sure.

Of course, if you get a few cards to get better rewards than only a 2% card for everything, the Chase Unlimited is better option against Citi DC for more years.

Good luck with your mortgage and the cards you want to get.

I personally wait for the mortgage, then apply fo (at least 2)r:

- Chase Freedom Unlimited (with $300 bonus)

- Amex Blue Cash Everyday (try the best bonus at the time, right now there are 3 offers: up to $300, $350 and $450 back)

- Discover IT (is great for first year, double the categories 5% and discover deals 5-15%)

Re: Get a third card?

jas312 — Fri, 02 Dec 2016 18:09:55 GMT

Exactly as I suspected. I shouldn't do anything until I have the mortgage and the closing is over with.

At that point, I may stick with what I have. Think it'll be time for a new truck 2-3 years after the mortgage, but I don't want to finance that. I'd rather pay cash less the value of mine. Or maybe a little $10k loan if I decide to keep my current one as a beater at that point.

Re: Get a third card?

austinguy907 — Mon, 05 Dec 2016 08:17:04 GMT

Mortgage shouldn't scare you away from a 3rd card at this point. What should be an idea though is a possible refi on your truck to reduce your monthly payments amount if you're looking at some higher end properties. I found myself in a catch 22 situation of shopping and forgetting that dam car payment factors into it even with a higher income. I got capped at 360K mortgage and if I paid off the car or refi'd it could've gone up to 525-550K but, I did end up finding something for 350K after some back and forth. Also, a 3rd card will strengthen your profile for the mortgage showing you can manage multiple revovling lines and also, some UW's look for 3+ revolvers in addition to an installment history when reviewing a file. Definitiely worhwhile to work with a Broker over a Banker when it comes to a sparse file for more options and shopping the loan. Discover is a good grower if you treat them right.

More Discover info here --->>>> http://ficoforums.myfico.com/t5/Credit-Cards/Discover-unOfficial-Data-Points/td-p/4802538

Re: Get a third card?

jas312 — Mon, 05 Dec 2016 12:54:39 GMT

Thanks.

Going to leave the truck as-is for now. I may just pay it in full once I have the house depending on my cash on hand at that time. I'm only looking at ~$175k tops and every calculator I've tried says I have plenty of room based on where I'd be capped. Don't want to go higher than that anyway--want to keep my monthly expenses such that I can still put some money into savings every month.

Re: Get a third card?

Anonymous — Mon, 05 Dec 2016 17:30:53 GMT

I agree that the mortgage should be your primary focus if that's what you have on your plate in the next year. Afterwards though if you're looking for great rewards then a couple that are already listed would be good with your spending habits.

Chase Freedom (not the unlimited)-5% cash back on rotating categories that change quarterly. 1% on everything else all the time.

Discover It- 5% cash back on rotating categories that change quarterly. 1% on everything else all the time. Customer service is top notch.

Amex blue cash preferred-6% on groceries, 3% on gas at the pump and 2% on everything else. Does have an af though.

If you're looking for better returns on gas at the pump I would also recommend Penfed platinum cash rewards card. It offers 5% on fuel all the time. Worth just having the card for fuel alone.

Good luck with your mortgage, and good luck with your next choice on rewards cards!

Re: Get a third card?

Anonymous — Mon, 05 Dec 2016 17:42:59 GMT

@jas312 wrote:
Absolutely everything. Right now I pay everything with my Barclay's card (bills, gas, food, etc.) and pay in full at the end of the month.

It does work out okay because I get enough rewards where I never have to buy coats or hiking boots or anything out of pocket, but I feel I can do better than 1% with something else.

If you use your Barclays card for those types of transactions, and if you pay everything in full each month, why not looking at the PRG by Amex? You could diversify your portfolio and add MR points into the mix. AMEX PRG has a 50k offer right now.

Re: Get a third card?

SouthJamaica — Mon, 05 Dec 2016 17:48:08 GMT

@jas312 wrote:
Hi All,

Background:
Age: 24
Credit History: Approx 5 years
TU FICO: Has hovered between 800 and 815 for the past year.
Never carried a balance, paid interest, made a late payment, etc.
Cards: 2 (Barclays w/ ~$6500 limit, ELAN w/ ~$4500 limit)
Loans: Two auto loans paid in full years ago. One current. ~$14k balance out of original amount of $26k. Thought about paying it off but letting it ride out for more history. Interest is fairly low, so it's not costing me much.
Inquiries: 0-1 depending on which bureau you look at.

I've been thinking about getting a third card. My Barclay's is a store card (LL Bean) so rewards are not great for anywhere outside of that store. The other card I don't use because rewards are terrible, I keep it open for emergencies in case the first card fails me, but it's just been sitting at a 0 balance for probably a year. So, I've looked at a Citi Double-Cash or Discover IT because either one would benefit me more than my current cards. I doubt I'd have an issue qualifying for either with a good limit. Don't care a bit about interest since I'll never carry a balance. Could be 90% for all I care.

The thing is, I'm also planning on going for a mortgage in the spring. So I don't want to jeapordize the interest rate or anything on that. I'd love to walk in there with a score over 800.

Opinions?

Thanks!

Since you're going for a mortgage I wouldn't make any changes until after you close on that. The cash you'd get on a cash back card is chickenfeed.

If you really want to maximize your scores to the utmost, pay your open car loan down to $2340.

Re: Get a third card?

Anonymous — Mon, 05 Dec 2016 19:25:42 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
Is everyone missing the part about the mortgage app?

I have read here many times that you should have no new accounts within one year of apping for a mortgage, so I would hold off until that closes. Right after you have keys in hand though I would get a few new cards with better rewards.