topic Re: Ready to dump a few....what do you think I should chop? in Credit Cards

Ready to dump a few....what do you think I should chop?

907grown — Sun, 07 May 2017 06:52:46 GMT

I feel like it is time to dump some cards.... funny, 5 years ago I couldn't get a car loan, credit card, etc to save my life!! Hard work and the support on these forums is the "secret" to real credit repair!!
Cards I have/use
BOA AK Airlines- this is my everything card. My bills hit it, gas, groceries, almost everything. CL is 21,600.
Cap1 QS- paying off a balance transfer sitting on here. I owe 4500, CL 11,000.
Cap1 venture1-paid off, CL 7000. Have not been able to combine with QS , so I may just close it
Lowes- Paying it off, owe 840. closing this after payoff. CL 10,000 .
Amazon- Paid off CL 5000
Home Depot -paid off, CL 1900.00, plan to close
Freedom- paid off, CL 17,000
Slate-paid off, CL 8500, Planning to close this
Care credit--paid off - CL 5000 may close this, maybe not. You never know when you might need it.
Barclays reward -paid off, CL 8500. My longest card still open from my rebuild, get some decent balance transfer offers too. not closing
Barclays cash forward owe 900, CL 7500. Not sure about keeping this one.
Discover-paid off, CL 6000. Don't need this one
Amex BCE- owe 960, CL 5000.00, don't need it, rarely use it, only reason to keep it is it's my AMEX!!
I also have 2 credit union cards that are paid and I'm not closing those. I like my credit union and my card.
The plan is to pay off our credit card debt, by the way, ALL of the owed amounts listed above are at 0% interest and will be paid off before the special APR ends.
Have at it, what should I chop?

Re: Ready to dump a few....what do you think I should chop?

Gmood1 — Sun, 07 May 2017 08:13:41 GMT

I'd just pay them down and SD for now. Not a fan of Barclays, but they are your oldest account. Never know when you'll need something for the home. So the home improvement store cards would stay for sure. It's good to have some diversity.
Just my opinion. Unless it's keeping you up at night. I wouldn't worry about it.

Re: Ready to dump a few....what do you think I should chop?

sarge12 — Sun, 07 May 2017 09:08:50 GMT

I also am not a fan of barclays even though I have one. Like my Amex BCE for groceries. I am not a fan at all of closing any cards that have no AF unless for some reason the particular card has caused me some kind of problem. I do suspect that some of my cards will be eventually closed by the issuer due to lack of use, but I have seen no true evidence that closed by issuer is any worse than closed by user. I think for all practical purposes...closed is closed. The unused cards take up little space in SD. I have seen quite a few posters lately looking to thin the herd, and I'm not quite sure why this action is being taken by card holders, but if there is an advantage to it I wish someone would explain it to me.

Re: Ready to dump a few....what do you think I should chop?

HeavenOhio — Sun, 07 May 2017 10:41:04 GMT

@sarge12 wrote:
I have seen quite a few posters lately looking to thin the herd, and I'm not quite sure why this action is being taken by card holders, but if there is an advantage to it I wish someone would explain it to me.

When I went for my recent AMEX credit limit increase, their counteroffer left me with the impression that increasing my limits almost sixfold in the last nine months was quite enough. I requested a $7,000 increase, and they countered with $6,200, putting me at an even $60,000 in limits. That's too much to chalk up to coincidence.

But the two cards and $14,300 in limits that I closed out since then were on the chopping block anyway. They were retail cards that I really had no use for, especially considering the increased limits on my other cards. But thinking ahead, I'd like to app for another card or two in the next six to eighteen months. Given the hint from AMEX, I think shedding the unneeded limits puts me in a better position to do that.

Re: Ready to dump a few....what do you think I should chop?

AverageJoesCredit — Sun, 07 May 2017 12:30:17 GMT

Everything looks great, if theres no AF, id keep them but thats just me. Slate you can move over the CL and close. Keep trying the Cap One combo. I would keep the Disco as you can use it for BT if ever needed and it still can grow. At the end of the day, if you dont use it and dont want something no use in keeping it if it troubles you so

Re: Ready to dump a few....what do you think I should chop?

Gollum — Tue, 09 May 2017 10:49:24 GMT

@907grown wrote:
I feel like it is time to dump some cards.... funny, 5 years ago I couldn't get a car loan, credit card, etc to save my life!! Hard work and the support on these forums is the "secret" to real credit repair!!
Cards I have/use
BOA AK Airlines- this is my everything card. My bills hit it, gas, groceries, almost everything. CL is 21,600.
Cap1 QS- paying off a balance transfer sitting on here. I owe 4500, CL 11,000.
Cap1 venture1-paid off, CL 7000. Have not been able to combine with QS , so I may just close it
Lowes- Paying it off, owe 840. closing this after payoff. CL 10,000 .
Amazon- Paid off CL 5000
Home Depot -paid off, CL 1900.00, plan to close
Freedom- paid off, CL 17,000
Slate-paid off, CL 8500, Planning to close this
Care credit--paid off - CL 5000 may close this, maybe not. You never know when you might need it.
Barclays reward -paid off, CL 8500. My longest card still open from my rebuild, get some decent balance transfer offers too. not closing
Barclays cash forward owe 900, CL 7500. Not sure about keeping this one.
Discover-paid off, CL 6000. Don't need this one
Amex BCE- owe 960, CL 5000.00, don't need it, rarely use it, only reason to keep it is it's my AMEX!!
I also have 2 credit union cards that are paid and I'm not closing those. I like my credit union and my card.
The plan is to pay off our credit card debt, by the way, ALL of the owed amounts listed above are at 0% interest and will be paid off before the special APR ends.
Have at it, what should I chop?

Your credit situation looks good to me. You have what I consider to be many cards and high credit limits from major banks.

I would close the Care Credit card. That's an interest rate trap, as far as I am concerned, and you can always get approved by a dentist/whatever whenever you want. I would close all the store cards (Lowes, Amazon, and Home Depot) because I regard store cards as beginner credit cards. I would close whichever Capital One card you like least, because your credit is good enough that you don't need multiple Capital One cards. I would close both Barclays cards because I have not read anything good about Barclays. I would close the Discover card because I've never noticed anywhere that I could pay with a Discover card.

That would leave you with (my count) five major bank cards with high limits, plus your card(s) from your credit union.

People have various strategies regarding credit cards. My FICO score is 835.

Re: Ready to dump a few....what do you think I should chop?

Anonymous — Tue, 09 May 2017 13:20:19 GMT

Closed six cards last year and I have had no long term affects (note around ten years the potential exists for the reporting credit line to drop off). My file is thick so the effects should be a nonissue. But, one needs to pay attention to this. As to whether a credit file reads: "Closed by Credit Granter" or "Closed at Consumer's Request" has had zero effect on my credit file and in the past I had a lot of them. This like everything else in credit is YMMV.

Re: Ready to dump a few....what do you think I should chop?

Dalmus — Tue, 09 May 2017 13:58:02 GMT

While I get that Barclay's has a bad rap around here, I personally have not experienced any of the AA that seems to plague others (furiously knocking on wood...). And I've hardly been what we consider a "good" customer of theres... I've opened many accounts since them, balance transferred to and from them, made huge payments, made payments slightly above minimum, and I got an auto CLI a couple months ago. They are truly a YMMV card.

I have mixed feelings on store cards... Mostly because generally, any rewards you get from them are matched by a good major rewards card. My exception would be the Amazon store card, as its ALWAYS 5%, you don't have to wait for a category to come around for that. The 0% financing on larger purchases is handy, too, if you don't have any 0% BT offers on and of your majors.

How long has the VentureOne been paid off? I've found that Cap1 won't allow ME to combine cards until a full statement cycle with a 0 balance has reported.

I'm not a fan of miles cards, but that's because I don't fly or stay in hotels often (I have a vacation property 3 hours from home).

Care Credit... I'm torn on that one. Its nice to have 0% purchases on major Vet bills or medical emegencies for you, but its useless otherwise...

Discover... I like my Discover. The 5% categories are generally categories I actually use.

Re: Ready to dump a few....what do you think I should chop?

Anonymous — Tue, 09 May 2017 14:51:55 GMT

As a homeowner id keep lowes. Your bank cards are 0% now but what if something breaks this coming winter when everything is charging interest if a balance is carried?

Re: Ready to dump a few....what do you think I should chop?

Anonymous — Tue, 09 May 2017 15:43:20 GMT

I would personally close- Cap1 Venture, Amazon, Home Depot because of the small limit (I would keep the Lowes in case you have a major reno or something goes wrong), Care Credit, see if you can combine the Freedom and Slate limit than close Slate (I have no idea if Chase allows that though), Barclay's Cash Forward. The ones I would keep are below:

BOA AK Airlines- this is my everything card. My bills hit it, gas, groceries, almost everything. CL is 21,600.
Cap1 QS- paying off a balance transfer sitting on here. I owe 4500, CL 11,000.
Lowes- Paying it off, owe 840. closing this after payoff. CL 10,000 .
Freedom- paid off, CL 17,000
Barclays reward -paid off, CL 8500. My longest card still open from my rebuild, get some decent balance transfer offers too. not closing
Discover-paid off, CL 6000. Don't need this one
Amex BCE- owe 960, CL 5000.00, don't need it, rarely use it, only reason to keep it is it's my AMEX!!

Re: Ready to dump a few....what do you think I should chop?

austinguy907 — Tue, 09 May 2017 18:13:54 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
As a homeowner id keep lowes. Your bank cards are 0% now but what if something breaks this coming winter when everything is charging interest if a balance is carried?

@Anonymous is good for 0% offers all the time. When one expires you just call or chat with them and they'll offer another 12 months @ 0%.