topic Re: Advice Requested--Close CSP and Others? in Credit Cards

Advice Requested--Close CSP and Others?

shanac — Sun, 19 Feb 2017 05:06:41 GMT

Greetings all.

I'm looking to close some of my credit card accounts soon. I'm all for sock drawering cards but I'm thinking this is a lot of available credit and it just seems easier if I close them instead of having to keep track of charging something on them every so often to keep them open. I've been doing that so far but I want to simplify things. I'd love to have your input. I'll list all of my cards and note the ones I'm thinking of closing. Here goes:

1999 Amex BCP 18K
2007 Capital 1 Quicksilver 12.6K**
2012 Citi Dividend 9.2K*
2013 CSP 20K***
2013 Freedom 10K
2013 J Crew 4.1K *
2013 Nordstrom 22.5K
2014 Discover IT 7.5K*
2014 Barclay Rewards 24K*
2016 PRG
2015 Amex Blue Cash 16.2K****
2015 Banana Republic Luxe Visa 9.3K
2016 Bloomies Amex 8K
2017 CSR 34K (just applied for this card on 2/14 in branch)

*On the chopping block
**Considering keeping this one open due to the 2007 date even though I know closed cards can stay on my report for 10 years & count towards AAoA?
***Does it make sense to keep the CSP when I have the CSR now? I would reallocate the CSP CL to my Freedom (which I'm considering PCing to the FU) & CSR.*
****I would reallocate the majority/all of this limit to the BCP.

I have a reporting balance on my Freedom of $3900 which is a balance transfer that ends later this year and a balance of $1200 reporting on the Discover from an AU's charges (to be paid off next week). Everything else is at a zero balance.

I've been using the Barclay card to pay for my utlities and cell bill. The 2x points have been useful in applying towards the statement for a credit and occasionally gift cards. None of my other cards offer an incentive for the payment of utlities or cell but I don't mind losing this "perk".

Also, we spend a lot on groceries and I use the BCP from January - August/September when I reach the 6K spend cap. Then I switch to the BC for Aug/Sept - Dec for the 3% cashback. I'm willing to close the BC because I want to reign in our grocery spend. I'd like to bring it down to $500/month. Actually, I think that just might be impossible for my family. I may need to keep this card open for a few more months. Grocery shopping is my least favorite chore and I tend to go to the closest store out of convenience rather than drive further and shop around. I've heard that Aldi's has gone organic and has low prices so I will give this store a try at the end of the month to see if I notice a big savings and will reevaluate closing this card at a later date.

I hope I've given enough info. Please share your thoughts and thanks so much!

Re: Advice Requested--Close CSP and Others?

Anonymous — Sun, 19 Feb 2017 14:23:49 GMT

@shanac wrote:
Greetings all.

I'm looking to close some of my credit card accounts soon. I'm all for sock drawering cards but I'm thinking this is a lot of available credit and it just seems easier if I close them instead of having to keep track of charging something on them every so often to keep them open. I've been doing that so far but I want to simplify things. I'd love to have your input. I'll list all of my cards and note the ones I'm thinking of closing. Here goes:

1999 Amex BCP 18K
2007 Capital 1 Quicksilver 12.6K**
2012 Citi Dividend 9.2K*
2013 CSP 20K***
2013 Freedom 10K
2013 J Crew 4.1K *
2013 Nordstrom 22.5K
2014 Discover IT 7.5K*
2014 Barclay Rewards 24K*
2016 PRG
2015 Amex Blue Cash 16.2K****
2015 Banana Republic Luxe Visa 9.3K
2016 Bloomies Amex 8K
2017 CSR 34K (just applied for this card on 2/14 in branch)

*On the chopping block
**Considering keeping this one open due to the 2007 date even though I know closed cards can stay on my report for 10 years & count towards AAoA?
***Does it make sense to keep the CSP when I have the CSR now? I would reallocate the CSP CL to my Freedom (which I'm considering PCing to the FU) & CSR.*
****I would reallocate the majority/all of this limit to the BCP.

I have a reporting balance on my Freedom of $3900 which is a balance transfer that ends later this year and a balance of $1200 reporting on the Discover from an AU's charges (to be paid off next week). Everything else is at a zero balance.

I've been using the Barclay card to pay for my utlities and cell bill. The 2x points have been useful in applying towards the statement for a credit and occasionally gift cards. None of my other cards offer an incentive for the payment of utlities or cell but I don't mind losing this "perk".

Also, we spend a lot on groceries and I use the BCP from January - August/September when I reach the 6K spend cap. Then I switch to the BC for Aug/Sept - Dec for the 3% cashback. I'm willing to close the BC because I want to reign in our grocery spend. I'd like to bring it down to $500/month. Actually, I think that just might be impossible for my family. I may need to keep this card open for a few more months. Grocery shopping is my least favorite chore and I tend to go to the closest store out of convenience rather than drive further and shop around. I've heard that Aldi's has gone organic and has low prices so I will give this store a try at the end of the month to see if I notice a big savings and will reevaluate closing this card at a later date.

I hope I've given enough info. Please share your thoughts and thanks so much!

Definitely axe the CSP in some form. Completely useless now that you have the CSR. I would not though transfer the limit to the Freedom. $10K is more than enough limit for the Freedom given that the bonus categories are limited each quarter. If I were me, I'd PC it to the Freedom Unlimited so that you have the trifecta of UR earning cards on the personal side and then move all but $5K to the CSR. The CSR is the type of a card that you might incur large charges as it is a travel card so that extra limit will allow you flexibility and a buffer on the card.

If if you don't care about keeping open the Barclays then I would go ahead and close all those listed in green.

Definitely close the Blue Cash and move the limit to the BCP

If you are not using the QS in any form, I would close that as well and not worry about the AAoA. In ten years your other cards will have aged and closing the QS will not hurt your AAoA in any significant way.

Re: Advice Requested--Close CSP and Others?

shanac — Sun, 19 Feb 2017 16:46:32 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
@shanac wrote:
Greetings all.

I'm looking to close some of my credit card accounts soon. I'm all for sock drawering cards but I'm thinking this is a lot of available credit and it just seems easier if I close them instead of having to keep track of charging something on them every so often to keep them open. I've been doing that so far but I want to simplify things. I'd love to have your input. I'll list all of my cards and note the ones I'm thinking of closing. Here goes:

1999 Amex BCP 18K
2007 Capital 1 Quicksilver 12.6K**
2012 Citi Dividend 9.2K*
2013 CSP 20K***
2013 Freedom 10K
2013 J Crew 4.1K *
2013 Nordstrom 22.5K
2014 Discover IT 7.5K*
2014 Barclay Rewards 24K*
2016 PRG
2015 Amex Blue Cash 16.2K****
2015 Banana Republic Luxe Visa 9.3K
2016 Bloomies Amex 8K
2017 CSR 34K (just applied for this card on 2/14 in branch)

*On the chopping block
**Considering keeping this one open due to the 2007 date even though I know closed cards can stay on my report for 10 years & count towards AAoA?
***Does it make sense to keep the CSP when I have the CSR now? I would reallocate the CSP CL to my Freedom (which I'm considering PCing to the FU) & CSR.*
****I would reallocate the majority/all of this limit to the BCP.

I have a reporting balance on my Freedom of $3900 which is a balance transfer that ends later this year and a balance of $1200 reporting on the Discover from an AU's charges (to be paid off next week). Everything else is at a zero balance.

I've been using the Barclay card to pay for my utlities and cell bill. The 2x points have been useful in applying towards the statement for a credit and occasionally gift cards. None of my other cards offer an incentive for the payment of utlities or cell but I don't mind losing this "perk".

Also, we spend a lot on groceries and I use the BCP from January - August/September when I reach the 6K spend cap. Then I switch to the BC for Aug/Sept - Dec for the 3% cashback. I'm willing to close the BC because I want to reign in our grocery spend. I'd like to bring it down to $500/month. Actually, I think that just might be impossible for my family. I may need to keep this card open for a few more months. Grocery shopping is my least favorite chore and I tend to go to the closest store out of convenience rather than drive further and shop around. I've heard that Aldi's has gone organic and has low prices so I will give this store a try at the end of the month to see if I notice a big savings and will reevaluate closing this card at a later date.

I hope I've given enough info. Please share your thoughts and thanks so much!

Definitely axe the CSP in some form. Completely useless now that you have the CSR. I would not though transfer the limit to the Freedom. $10K is more than enough limit for the Freedom given that the bonus categories are limited each quarter. If I were me, I'd PC it to the Freedom Unlimited so that you have the trifecta of UR earning cards on the personal side and then move all but $5K to the CSR. The CSR is the type of a card that you might incur large charges as it is a travel card so that extra limit will allow you flexibility and a buffer on the card.

If if you don't care about keeping open the Barclays then I would go ahead and close all those listed in green.

Definitely close the Blue Cash and move the limit to the BCP

If you are not using the QS in any form, I would close that as well and not worry about the AAoA. In ten years your other cards will have aged and closing the QS will not hurt your AAoA in any significant way.

Irish80, thanks for taking time to read all of that! If I understand correctly, you said I could PC the CSP at 20K to the Freedom Unlimited and then move 15K to the CSR leaving 5K on the FU?

Re: Advice Requested--Close CSP and Others?

bourgogne — Sun, 19 Feb 2017 17:03:13 GMT

Irish80, thanks for taking time to read all of that! If I understand correctly, you said I could PC the CSP at 20K to the Freedom Unlimited and then move 15K to the CSR leaving 5K on the FU?

Hi, your csp might have to be >1year old to pc and you might have to drop down to a no-af sapphire before doing the pc. I would move the limits out before doing any sort of drop/pc moves to the csr but that is just me. I also heard that there was a cap set on the amount one could either move or total out for the csr in the amount of $35K. maybe this does not matter in your case but it came up the other day when my banker was doing this very same thing via the phone to some dept at chase. the # $35K came up loud and clear.

Re: Advice Requested--Close CSP and Others?

Anonymous — Sun, 19 Feb 2017 17:08:41 GMT

@shanac wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:
@shanac wrote:
Greetings all.

I'm looking to close some of my credit card accounts soon. I'm all for sock drawering cards but I'm thinking this is a lot of available credit and it just seems easier if I close them instead of having to keep track of charging something on them every so often to keep them open. I've been doing that so far but I want to simplify things. I'd love to have your input. I'll list all of my cards and note the ones I'm thinking of closing. Here goes:

1999 Amex BCP 18K
2007 Capital 1 Quicksilver 12.6K**
2012 Citi Dividend 9.2K*
2013 CSP 20K***
2013 Freedom 10K
2013 J Crew 4.1K *
2013 Nordstrom 22.5K
2014 Discover IT 7.5K*
2014 Barclay Rewards 24K*
2016 PRG
2015 Amex Blue Cash 16.2K****
2015 Banana Republic Luxe Visa 9.3K
2016 Bloomies Amex 8K
2017 CSR 34K (just applied for this card on 2/14 in branch)

*On the chopping block
**Considering keeping this one open due to the 2007 date even though I know closed cards can stay on my report for 10 years & count towards AAoA?
***Does it make sense to keep the CSP when I have the CSR now? I would reallocate the CSP CL to my Freedom (which I'm considering PCing to the FU) & CSR.*
****I would reallocate the majority/all of this limit to the BCP.

I have a reporting balance on my Freedom of $3900 which is a balance transfer that ends later this year and a balance of $1200 reporting on the Discover from an AU's charges (to be paid off next week). Everything else is at a zero balance.

I've been using the Barclay card to pay for my utlities and cell bill. The 2x points have been useful in applying towards the statement for a credit and occasionally gift cards. None of my other cards offer an incentive for the payment of utlities or cell but I don't mind losing this "perk".

Also, we spend a lot on groceries and I use the BCP from January - August/September when I reach the 6K spend cap. Then I switch to the BC for Aug/Sept - Dec for the 3% cashback. I'm willing to close the BC because I want to reign in our grocery spend. I'd like to bring it down to $500/month. Actually, I think that just might be impossible for my family. I may need to keep this card open for a few more months. Grocery shopping is my least favorite chore and I tend to go to the closest store out of convenience rather than drive further and shop around. I've heard that Aldi's has gone organic and has low prices so I will give this store a try at the end of the month to see if I notice a big savings and will reevaluate closing this card at a later date.

I hope I've given enough info. Please share your thoughts and thanks so much!

Definitely axe the CSP in some form. Completely useless now that you have the CSR. I would not though transfer the limit to the Freedom. $10K is more than enough limit for the Freedom given that the bonus categories are limited each quarter. If I were me, I'd PC it to the Freedom Unlimited so that you have the trifecta of UR earning cards on the personal side and then move all but $5K to the CSR. The CSR is the type of a card that you might incur large charges as it is a travel card so that extra limit will allow you flexibility and a buffer on the card.

If if you don't care about keeping open the Barclays then I would go ahead and close all those listed in green.

Definitely close the Blue Cash and move the limit to the BCP

If you are not using the QS in any form, I would close that as well and not worry about the AAoA. In ten years your other cards will have aged and closing the QS will not hurt your AAoA in any significant way.
Irish80, thanks for taking time to read all of that! If I understand correctly, you said I could PC the CSP at 20K to the Freedom Unlimited and then move 15K to the CSR leaving 5K on the FU?

Correct. Also when you do this make sure to call the JP Morgan line and not via a SM or regular Chase number. Explain to them what you want to do and they can guide thru the order that it is best to this. Good luck.

Re: Advice Requested--Close CSP and Others?

Anonymous — Sun, 19 Feb 2017 17:10:25 GMT

@bourgogne wrote:
Irish80, thanks for taking time to read all of that! If I understand correctly, you said I could PC the CSP at 20K to the Freedom Unlimited and then move 15K to the CSR leaving 5K on the FU?
Hi, your csp might have to be >1year old to pc and you might have to drop down to a no-af sapphire before doing the pc. I would move the limits out before doing any sort of drop/pc moves to the csr but that is just me. I also heard that there was a cap set on the amount one could either move or total out for the csr in the amount of $35K. maybe this does not matter in your case but it came up the other day when my banker was doing this very same thing via the phone to some dept at chase. the # $35K came up loud and clear.

OP opened the CSP in 2013 and there won't be any need to drop down to the CS first. I have seen others add limits to their CSR that gave them a total limit far in excess of $35K.

Re: Advice Requested--Close CSP and Others?

bourgogne — Sun, 19 Feb 2017 17:16:08 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
@bourgogne wrote:
Irish80, thanks for taking time to read all of that! If I understand correctly, you said I could PC the CSP at 20K to the Freedom Unlimited and then move 15K to the CSR leaving 5K on the FU?
Hi, your csp might have to be >1year old to pc and you might have to drop down to a no-af sapphire before doing the pc. I would move the limits out before doing any sort of drop/pc moves to the csr but that is just me. I also heard that there was a cap set on the amount one could either move or total out for the csr in the amount of $35K. maybe this does not matter in your case but it came up the other day when my banker was doing this very same thing via the phone to some dept at chase. the # $35K came up loud and clear.
OP opened the CSP in 2013 and there won't be any need to drop down to the CS first. I have seen others add limits to their CSR that gave them a total limit far in excess of $35K.
glossed over 2013 so that is good and maybe the 35K was just for me but it came right from the source last week just dont remember the exact context - could have been because my csp was not even 2 weeks old and there was a cap or something, I know I had to keep $1K there until 30 days passed before I could get the other $500 out. such a nice bank to deal with, everything is easy with them

Re: Advice Requested--Close CSP and Others?

Revelate — Sun, 19 Feb 2017 17:27:02 GMT

Only thing I would add is that check what your default spend items are as the Chase trifecta allows you to arbitrage some large payments (income / property tax) in your life, and for me 5K wouldn't be close to what I need personally.

I suspect the vast majority of people can use 20K on the FU and 33K or whatever it was on the CSR moreso than 48Kish on the CSR and 5K on the FU.

In my case it's 22K FU, 43K CSR, 4K Freedom. Actually I'd look at moving some of that 10K out of the Freedom too but that's me .

Re: Advice Requested--Close CSP and Others?

Anonymous — Sun, 19 Feb 2017 17:30:59 GMT

@Revelate wrote:
Only thing I would add is that check what your default spend items are as the Chase trifecta allows you to arbitrage some large payments (income / property tax) in your life, and for me 5K wouldn't be close to what I need personally.

I suspect the vast majority of people can use 20K on the FU and 33K or whatever it was on the CSR moreso than 48Kish on the CSR and 5K on the FU.

In my case it's 22K FU, 43K CSR, 4K Freedom. Actually I'd look at moving some of that 10K out of the Freedom too but that's me .

Good points. If you do intend to use the FU for some large non travel purchases then a higher limit could be advantageous. I agree that $5K on the Freedom is about the max you'll ever need on that card.

Re: Advice Requested--Close CSP and Others?

shanac — Sun, 19 Feb 2017 18:13:32 GMT

@Revelate wrote:
Only thing I would add is that check what your default spend items are as the Chase trifecta allows you to arbitrage some large payments (income / property tax) in your life, and for me 5K wouldn't be close to what I need personally.

I suspect the vast majority of people can use 20K on the FU and 33K or whatever it was on the CSR moreso than 48Kish on the CSR and 5K on the FU.

In my case it's 22K FU, 43K CSR, 4K Freedom. Actually I'd look at moving some of that 10K out of the Freedom too but that's me .

I was thinking 5K may be small for the FU so I definitely plan to allocate more to that card. Good point on the the Freedom's 10K limit. For now, I will leave that one be--for utilization purposes--until my BT is paid off.

Thank you!

Re: Advice Requested--Close CSP and Others?

stellar — Sun, 19 Feb 2017 18:41:14 GMT

Aldi's is an excellent grocery store and could possibly cut your groc bill in half. But you may want to double check to see if they take credit cards. They didn't used to.

Re: Advice Requested--Close CSP and Others?

Anonymous — Sun, 19 Feb 2017 18:48:02 GMT

I wouldn't keep the CSP if I have the CSR. Which I do.

Though if you're interested in cashing in on an extra $300 travel credit you might upgrade the CSP to CSR and downgrade the CSR (Which still refund partial AF on downgrades) -- I'm not sure how this would affect your relationship with Chase though so play at your own risk and or peril.

Re: Advice Requested--Close CSP and Others?

shanac — Sun, 19 Feb 2017 18:55:35 GMT

@stellar wrote:
Aldi's is an excellent grocery store and could possibly cut your groc bill in half. But you may want to double check to see if they take credit cards. They didn't used to.

Thanks for the tip! I just googled and it looks as if they now accept credit card payments. That would have been a huge game changer. I am so looking forward to a lower grocery bill.

Now please tell me about those cards in your siggy. Impressive! I'm worrying over managing 14! What's your system? Are they all current cards? Or wishlist?

Re: Advice Requested--Close CSP and Others?

shanac — Sun, 19 Feb 2017 19:03:29 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
I wouldn't keep the CSP if I have the CSR. Which I do.

Though if you're interested in cashing in on an extra $300 travel credit you might upgrade the CSP to CSR and downgrade the CSR (Which still refund partial AF on downgrades) -- I'm not sure how this would affect your relationship with Chase though so play at your own risk and or peril.

Thanks Nixon! I'm going to get rid of the CSP. I'll just PC to the FU and distribute limits to that and CSR. I won't chance upgrading.

31 tradelines...WOW! Big leagues. :-)

Re: Advice Requested--Close CSP and Others?

redpat — Sun, 19 Feb 2017 19:03:57 GMT

@shanac wrote:
Greetings all.

I'm looking to close some of my credit card accounts soon. I'm all for sock drawering cards but I'm thinking this is a lot of available credit and it just seems easier if I close them instead of having to keep track of charging something on them every so often to keep them open. I've been doing that so far but I want to simplify things. I'd love to have your input. I'll list all of my cards and note the ones I'm thinking of closing. Here goes:

1999 Amex BCP 18K
2007 Capital 1 Quicksilver 12.6K**
2012 Citi Dividend 9.2K*
2013 CSP 20K*** To FU
2013 Freedom 10K
2013 J Crew 4.1K *
2013 Nordstrom 22.5K
2014 Discover IT 7.5K*
2014 Barclay Rewards 24K*
2016 PRG
2015 Amex Blue Cash 16.2K**** Combine into BCP
2015 Banana Republic Luxe Visa 9.3K
2016 Bloomies Amex 8K
2017 CSR 34K (just applied for this card on 2/14 in branch)

Close in red and combine in green. No sense having a higher freedom I you only spend $1,500 a quarter so just flip the CSP to FU. Why have a higher CSR?

Store cards, meh!

Re: Advice Requested--Close CSP and Others?

Anonymous — Sun, 19 Feb 2017 19:07:39 GMT

I closed my Ritz Carlton recently after 2 years with no annual fee and 4 travel credits used up.

I pretty much did like you will do and just redistributed the CL to my newest Chase card (Fairmont)

Re: Advice Requested--Close CSP and Others?

Revelate — Sun, 19 Feb 2017 19:13:42 GMT

@shanac wrote:
@stellar wrote:
Aldi's is an excellent grocery store and could possibly cut your groc bill in half. But you may want to double check to see if they take credit cards. They didn't used to.
Thanks for the tip! I just googled and it looks as if they now accept credit card payments. That would have been a huge game changer. I am so looking forward to a lower grocery bill.

Now please tell me about those cards in your siggy. Impressive! I'm worrying over managing 14! What's your system? Are they all current cards? Or wishlist?

Huh, I hadn't heard of them and come to find they started expanding into my neck of the woods a year ago. +1 on thanks Stellar!

Re: Advice Requested--Close CSP and Others?

stellar — Sun, 19 Feb 2017 20:02:03 GMT

Well, since you guys are interested let me give you the full disclosure:

You need to bring a quarter for the cart, this cuts costs for Aldi since you have to link the cart to the others, aka return it to the cart corral to get your quarter back

They do leave boxes around to use as a pseudo basket in case you forgot your quarter

You must provide or purchase bags, they are like .10 each, also have the woven bags

Prices are about half as much

Fruits/vegies and meats can be lower quality (or not) just be selective

It is smaller than Publix or Kroger

There are usually less ppl there

The checkout ppl are super super fast and nice

They have euro brands mixed in as it is a euro grocery chain (german products etc)

Their store brand is usually as good or better than the name brand (very few exceptions)

I think they have some sams club brands also...kirkland

They do not usually have tofu anything, they do have soymilk

Their baked products are excellent

They change some of their frozen offerings ev couple weeks

They offer an assortment of home goods for ex: fitness accessories, basic clothing, plastic tables, toys, tools etc

They have a limited assortment of store brand and name brand toiletries, baby supplies, laundry, batteries, candles, pet food

They sell quite a bit of wine/champagne/beer

They sell name brand soda like Coke, Sprite etc and Gatorade

HTH

Re: Advice Requested--Close CSP and Others?

Chris679 — Sun, 19 Feb 2017 20:52:36 GMT

I would keep Cap One, once a year usage should be enough to keep it open. I would close any AF card that I don't use and any store card that I don't use.

Re: Advice Requested--Close CSP and Others?

redpat — Sun, 19 Feb 2017 21:08:49 GMT

@stellar wrote:
Well, since you guys are interested let me give you the full disclosure:

You need to bring a quarter for the cart, this cuts costs for Aldi since you have to link the cart to the others, aka return it to the cart corral to get your quarter back
They do leave boxes around to use as a pseudo basket in case you forgot your quarter
You must provide or purchase bags, they are like .10 each, also have the woven bags
Prices are about half as much
Fruits/vegies and meats can be lower quality (or not) just be selective
It is smaller than Publix or Kroger
There are usually less ppl there
The checkout ppl are super super fast and nice
They have euro brands mixed in as it is a euro grocery chain (german products etc)
Their store brand is usually as good or better than the name brand (very few exceptions)
I think they have some sams club brands also...kirkland
They do not usually have tofu anything, they do have soymilk
Their baked products are excellent
They change some of their frozen offerings ev couple weeks
They offer an assortment of home goods for ex: fitness accessories, basic clothing, plastic tables, toys, tools etc
They have a limited assortment of store brand and name brand toiletries, baby supplies, laundry, batteries, candles, pet food
They sell quite a bit of wine/champagne/beer
They sell name brand soda like Coke, Sprite etc and Gatorade

HTH

I would call the Aldi, "the knock off store of everything". It cracked me up when one opened and to see what they were all about in our area, pass.