topic Re: I need to simplify my life, need some guidance. in Credit Cards

I need to simplify my life, need some guidance.

Anonymous — Tue, 05 Feb 2019 09:23:01 GMT

I would like to keep ONLY six cards, and close the rest. I’m primarily in the Cash back scene.

So here they are:
1) Amex Everyday $2000 oldest account
2) Chase Amazon Prime $2000 (amazon only)
3) Discover it $3,500
4) Amex Magnet $2000
5) Amex Everyday $2000
6) Amex Gold (pink gold edition) high ANF
7) Venture $6000
8) Citi diamond $5,500 (got offer to pc it)
9) BOA Cash rewards $1,500
10) Uber visa $500 (wish it had higher limit)
11) PayPal Cash (not activated) $300
12) Fidelity Rewards $2000

That’s toooo many cards and I just want to simplify my life.
Must keep are Uber Visa since being a college student I eat out ALOT
and Chase Amazon Prime b/c well.... amazon. Lol.
I definitely would like to not pay an ANual fee so the gold and venture will probably geg cut but the venture is my highest limit.
Or I can PC the Citi to a Citi Rewards+ that’s the one I’m being offered.

So what do you guys recommend?
1: Chase Amazon
2: Uber Visa
3: Fidelity Rewards.
4:??????
5:?????
6:?????

I will appreciate any feedback.

Re: I need to simplify my life, need some guidance.

coldfusion — Tue, 05 Feb 2019 10:48:39 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
I would like to keep ONLY six cards, and close the rest. I’m primarily in the Cash back scene.

So here they are:
1) Amex Everyday $2000 oldest account
2) Chase Amazon Prime $2000 (amazon only)
3) Discover it $3,500
4) Amex Magnet $2000
5) Amex Everyday $2000
6) Amex Gold (pink gold edition) high ANF
7) Venture $6000
8) Citi diamond $5,500 (got offer to pc it)
9) BOA Cash rewards $1,500
10) Uber visa $500 (wish it had higher limit)
11) PayPal Cash (not activated) $300
12) Fidelity Rewards $2000

That’s toooo many cards and I just want to simplify my life.
Must keep are Uber Visa since being a college student I eat out ALOT
and Chase Amazon Prime b/c well.... amazon. Lol.
I definitely would like to not pay an ANual fee so the gold and venture will probably geg cut but the venture is my highest limit.
Or I can PC the Citi to a Citi Rewards+ that’s the one I’m being offered.

So what do you guys recommend?
1: Chase Amazon
2: Uber Visa
3: Fidelity Rewards.
4:??????
5:?????
6:?????

I will appreciate any feedback.

Keep in mind that it's bad form to close a card that is less than a year old, for those cards with an AR (AMEX Gold, Venture) wait until the AR posts and then close the card within 30 days. Off the top of my head I'd probably look to do something like keeping these cards:

Chase Amazon (Amazon spend)

Uber Visa (restaurant spend)

BoA Cash Rewards (3% category spend, update monthly as desired)

Discover IT (rotating 5% category spend)

PC the Citi Diamond to a DoubleCash, else close it. If you close it, keep the Paypal Cashback and plan to regularly request SP CLIs. The goal is to have a 2% cashback card for unstructured spend.

AMEX Magnet. You could argue the Fidelity card instead but IMO AMEX >> Elan.

Close the Gold Card, the Venture, and the Fidelity card. You'd also either close the Diamond or the Paypal Cashback.

Re: I need to simplify my life, need some guidance.

Anonymous — Tue, 05 Feb 2019 11:21:39 GMT

Well, if you want to keep the Venture since it has the highest CL, I would see about a PC to Savor. You get 4% back on dining and entertainment. It has a $95 AF, which you could justify depending on how much CB you earn. The SavorOne has no AF with 3% back on those categories, as well.

You could also see about consolidating your Amex cards by moving your CL’s to one (either the oldest or the the one that gets the most CB/rewards), not 100% sure you can do that though. I’m not a fan of the charge cards, just my personal preference.

For sure would PC the Citi and I would keep the Disco. Disco has been good to me lately. Ask me again about them in 3mo though. Lol.

I am by no means an expert, I just read a lot. Others will have more helpful advice and hopefully correct me if I’m wrong. Hope this helps a little. Good luck!

Re: I need to simplify my life, need some guidance.

kdm31091 — Tue, 05 Feb 2019 11:32:30 GMT

Do the Amex MR points do you any good? If not, the Everyday and Gold cards can definitely go. That said, if the Gold is new (being the pink version I assume it is new) I would let it sit for a year before actually closing it. MR points aren't really cash back so if you want cash back I think those cards are easy pickings to get rid of.

PC the Citi Diamond to a Double Cash. That makes the Paypal Cash useless, and so you can close the Paypal. The Fidelity is also redundant. The Cash Magnet has little purpose too for you unless you want to keep an Amex long term for some reason.

Re: I need to simplify my life, need some guidance.

UpperNwGuy — Tue, 05 Feb 2019 11:56:37 GMT

Keep Fidelity and Uber. Maybe keep BoA Cash Rewards. Maybe keep Chase Amazon. Close all the other cards.

Re: I need to simplify my life, need some guidance.

NRB525 — Tue, 05 Feb 2019 13:06:09 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
I would like to keep ONLY six cards, and close the rest. I’m primarily in the Cash back scene.

So here they are:
1) Amex Everyday $2000 oldest account
2) Chase Amazon Prime $2000 (amazon only)
3) Discover it $3,500
4) Amex Magnet $2000
5) Amex Everyday $2000
6) Amex Gold (pink gold edition) high ANF
7) Venture $6000
8) Citi diamond $5,500 (got offer to pc it)
9) BOA Cash rewards $1,500
10) Uber visa $500 (wish it had higher limit)
11) PayPal Cash (not activated) $300
12) Fidelity Rewards $2000

That’s toooo many cards and I just want to simplify my life.
Must keep are Uber Visa since being a college student I eat out ALOT
and Chase Amazon Prime b/c well.... amazon. Lol.
I definitely would like to not pay an ANual fee so the gold and venture will probably geg cut but the venture is my highest limit.
Or I can PC the Citi to a Citi Rewards+ that’s the one I’m being offered.

So what do you guys recommend?
1: Chase Amazon
2: Uber Visa
3: Fidelity Rewards.
4:??????
5:?????
6:?????

I will appreciate any feedback.

Several of these cards, the four AMEX specifically, came with recent sign-up bonuses, especially the Gold, correct?

If you now want to shift gears to cash back, the AMEX cards are not really going to align well, and you may end up closing them. That is fine, but I would guess if you close 3 SUB AMEX cards quickly, you can forget about SUB for new AMEX cards, when your emphasis switches back to travel rewards after graduation.

And FWIW, 4% on an Uber card is not quite the same thing as 4 MR on a Gold. The AF on the Gold comes with available credits to utilize that value in different ways.

In the same way one needs to think carefully before an app, that same level of care is needed when closing non-Credit One cards. Today’s card environment has many pitfalls.

Re: I need to simplify my life, need some guidance.

xaximus — Tue, 05 Feb 2019 13:47:50 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
I would like to keep ONLY six cards, and close the rest. I’m primarily in the Cash back scene.

So here they are:
1) Amex Everyday $2000 oldest account - Combine 1 and 5
2) Chase Amazon Prime $2000 (amazon only) - Keep
3) Discover it $3,500 - Keep
4) Amex Magnet $2000 - SD
5) Amex Everyday $2000 - combine 1 and 5
6) Amex Gold (pink gold edition) high ANF- Close
7) Venture $6000 - PC to SavorOne
8) Citi diamond $5,500 (got offer to pc it) - PC to 2%
9) BOA Cash rewards $1,500 - Keep
10) Uber visa $500 (wish it had higher limit) - Keep
11) PayPal Cash (not activated) $300 - SD
12) Fidelity Rewards $2000 - SD

That’s toooo many cards and I just want to simplify my life.
Must keep are Uber Visa since being a college student I eat out ALOT
and Chase Amazon Prime b/c well.... amazon. Lol.
I definitely would like to not pay an ANual fee so the gold and venture will probably geg cut but the venture is my highest limit.
Or I can PC the Citi to a Citi Rewards+ that’s the one I’m being offered.

So what do you guys recommend?
1: Chase Amazon
2: Uber Visa
3: Fidelity Rewards.
4:??????
5:?????
6:?????

I will appreciate any feedback.

Any card you've had for less then a year, I wouldn't close. PC the ones that have AFs down to non-AF cards. SD the ones that you don't want or need for now until they hit atleast 1 year. After that, it's upto you on if you wanna close or just keep then in SD. I would put a small recurring charge on the SD cards and pay off. I'm guessing your AAoA isn't long so closing cards this early isn't the best idea. Build on what you have and as it gets older, you can make more changes.

Re: I need to simplify my life, need some guidance.

budugu — Tue, 05 Feb 2019 16:09:34 GMT

I would say PC Citi dividend to double cash. And venture to venture 1 (some fee free one) and close the rest. If you are a student (spending 10-15k year?) that should cover you.

Ps: without getting black listed by Amex. Conventional Wisdom seems to be don’t close with in the year.

Re: I need to simplify my life, need some guidance.

Kforce — Tue, 05 Feb 2019 17:02:30 GMT

@UpperNwGuy wrote:
Keep Fidelity and Uber. Maybe keep BoA Cash Rewards. Maybe keep Chase Amazon. Close all the other cards.

+ 1

I would trim down, and keep only three.

My picks, Fidelity, Uber. and Chase Amazon.

Re: I need to simplify my life, need some guidance.

HeavenOhio — Tue, 05 Feb 2019 17:23:10 GMT

@Anonymousand @xaximus, Capital One hasn't offered Savor or SavorOne PCs since the cards were revamped last August. In the meantime, an offer to PC the Venture to a Quicksilver is probably available. Down the road, I'd bet that Savor and SavorOne PCs will likely be offered. The Quicksilver can be PC'ed again at that point.

@Anonymous, could you provide either your account ages or opening dates? It'd be good to see if AoOA (age of oldest account) should be considered. I agree with the posts above that cards on your list should be a year old before closing. If a card you'd like to close is less than a year old, simply put it on the chopping block until it ages.

For the record, I don't think the one-year rule needs to apply to every card. I think that store cards and starter cards can be closed whenever if they no longer serve a purpose. And predatory cards should be closed as soon as possible. Cards that earn sign-up bonuses should be held onto.

Re: I need to simplify my life, need some guidance.

Anonymous — Tue, 05 Feb 2019 17:27:26 GMT

@HeavenOhio Thank you for correcting me. I didn’t know that.

Re: I need to simplify my life, need some guidance.

xaximus — Tue, 05 Feb 2019 17:48:46 GMT

@HeavenOhio wrote:
@Anonymousand @xaximus, Capital One hasn't offered Savor or SavorOne PCs since the cards were revamped last August. In the meantime, an offer to PC the Venture to a Quicksilver is probably available. Down the road, I'd bet that Savor and SavorOne PCs will likely be offered. The Quicksilver can be PC'ed again at that point.

Completely forgot about this once again! I reached out to Cap1 and they said it may be open in 6 months or so, but nothing anytime soon.

Re: I need to simplify my life, need some guidance.

Anonymous — Wed, 06 Feb 2019 01:54:38 GMT

okay i forgot to say this but the Gold card will be two years old in april, the venture will be a year in august.

another thing that i forgot to mention is that the Magnet, Everyday cash and BOA Cash rewards are being used for school expenses, since they have over a year of 0apr i would like tpo have kept in under one card but the limit was not big enough specially the BOA so thats why im spreading the semester between those 3 cards until i get reimbursed for the semester at the end of may.

so yes the magnet and the Everday cash are less than a year old. also the venture and BOA. the rest are two or more years old.

Re: I need to simplify my life, need some guidance.

Anonymous — Fri, 08 Feb 2019 19:52:10 GMT

You have a lot of good answers that might be generally correct... But you really haven't said anything about your spending habits except for eating out.

I'd rather have 4x MR points on gold than 4% on Uber. The gold with a "high" AF is only 30 dollars after 100 airline credit, 120 dining credit.

Amazon, chase is good, I prefer my Amazon business card through Amex.

You haven't really said anything else about your spending so I'm limited to what I can make for recommendations.

Also, keep in mind any of these cards you close without product changing or combining will affect your utilization drastically as it sounds like you have at least a couple 0% cards that are maxed out already.