topic Re: Help decide what to keep/close!!! in Credit Cards

Help decide what to keep/close!!!

Anonymous — Wed, 27 Oct 2021 05:47:28 GMT

Hi all!! I'm fairly new to credit but think I've done pretty good the last 2 years..... I've went from hell no's to a ton of approvals. I believe I'm now up to 13-14 cards and I'm not sure if I need them all. In my head banks/cards don't want to see someone have a million cards with low limits, but I don't fully understand credit yet. These forums have helped me tremendously. I've tried to put them in my signature but I keep messing it up. Im not sure to list what I have for opinions or not. Can you all give insights on what's best or how to navigate this? I feel like I don't need 2 Amazon cards but I only got the first because I thought I would never be approved by chase..... I cold append and just got it😕. All these HP will take forever to fall off lol. I've had extreme success this month alone with like 6 cards... I know I need to chill big time.

Re: Help decide what to keep/close!!!

Anonymous — Wed, 27 Oct 2021 11:52:14 GMT

I think u shoul decide it by yourself. Only you know which cards you use more often.

If you don`t know it for sure, you can just see the statistics in your banks online. Cause, I think, the more cards you have, the bigger is risk to be attacked by skammers.

Re: Help decide what to keep/close!!!

Brian_Earl_Spilner — Wed, 27 Oct 2021 13:02:34 GMT

You should start by listing all the cards with date opened. Also, what are your biggest spending categories?

Re: Help decide what to keep/close!!!

Hoben02 — Wed, 27 Oct 2021 14:34:54 GMT

I use credit cards to get rewards for travel. I organize my cards thru the app CardPointers it tells me what to use for what categories to maximize rewards try that to get an idea

Re: Help decide what to keep/close!!!

greatscott85 — Wed, 27 Oct 2021 17:23:27 GMT

@Anonymous You could always just list them out via text entry in your signature, instead of getting "fancy" with images. I think we could probably help you if we knew what you had with limits/apr (perhaps you PIF?) and opened date.

Re: Help decide what to keep/close!!!

RSX — Wed, 27 Oct 2021 17:28:45 GMT

without seeing the list = hard to say

and if you just got 6 in this past month - STOP apping for at least 12 months

given the one detail on Amazon cards, i would easily say KEEP the Chase Amazon and close the other one, which i am guessing is the Synchrony one

Re: Help decide what to keep/close!!!

Anonymous — Thu, 28 Oct 2021 05:56:08 GMT

I have them listed now in photos.

Re: Help decide what to keep/close!!!

NRB525 — Thu, 28 Oct 2021 10:39:49 GMT

OP it looks like you have 5 Capital One cards. One might be your oldest, hopefully with no Annual Fee. There are probably some low limits in there, and perhaps no rewards, or same rewards rate? I would not suggest acting too quickly, but a low limit Capital One card with Annual Fee that is not your oldest, or not older by years, would be the first to close.

The rest of the cards are not out of line for building credit. Each card does require monitoring to make sure you don't miss any payments, but many of us handle this many and more cards. The advice to stop applying for a year is good. Those INQ will fade for scoring purposes in a year, and aging of the accounts will also help.

Re: Help decide what to keep/close!!!

BearsCubsOtters — Thu, 28 Oct 2021 11:20:21 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
Hi all!! I'm fairly new to credit but think I've done pretty good the last 2 years..... I've went from hell no's to a ton of approvals. I believe I'm now up to 13-14 cards and I'm not sure if I need them all. In my head banks/cards don't want to see someone have a million cards with low limits, but I don't fully understand credit yet. These forums have helped me tremendously. I've tried to put them in my signature but I keep messing it up. Im not sure to list what I have for opinions or not. Can you all give insights on what's best or how to navigate this? I feel like I don't need 2 Amazon cards but I only got the first because I thought I would never be approved by chase..... I cold append and just got it😕. All these HP will take forever to fall off lol. I've had extreme success this month alone with like 6 cards... I know I need to chill big time.

It looks like you have 12 cards. And from what you have written here, it seems you are more interested in fine-tuning your credit than you are with overall rewards.

There are a lot of varibles to consider. One of the most important would be debt-to-credit ratio. Meaning, how much revolving debt are you allowing to report to the credit bureaus each month and what is your total overall reporting credit limits.

This is important because you never want your credit cards to report balances of 30% or more of your overall credit lines.

Don't worry too much about card age when making your decision to close....even when closed they assist with the average age of account and they will report up to 10 years which allows other accounts to age.

You will have to decide for yourself which to keep and close based on the above. If you are in a place right now where, with all those cards in your signature you only have, lets say $8,000 total credit, you may want to keep all of them until you can get the Chase Amazon and Citi Double Cash increased. On the other hand, if you could afford to get rid of a few cards that you are not using and you have a good balance of debt vs credit, then I would get rid of a few of the lesser cards and prepare, in time, for new, better cards.

Simple answer: I'd close: both Credit One cards, Childrens Place, Victoria's Secret and the Synch Amazon card.

And as others have said, maybe gardening (not apping for new credit) for about a year would do wonders for your credit and you may at that time obtain higher limit cards with better rewards.

Re: Help decide what to keep/close!!!

Anonymalous — Thu, 28 Oct 2021 16:13:47 GMT

@NRB525 wrote:
OP it looks like you have 5 Capital One cards. One might be your oldest, hopefully with no Annual Fee. There are probably some low limits in there, and perhaps no rewards, or same rewards rate? I would not suggest acting too quickly, but a low limit Capital One card with Annual Fee that is not your oldest, or not older by years, would be the first to close.

The rest of the cards are not out of line for building credit. Each card does require monitoring to make sure you don't miss any payments, but many of us handle this many and more cards. The advice to stop applying for a year is good. Those INQ will fade for scoring purposes in a year, and aging of the accounts will also help.

Sounds like you mistook the 2 Credit One cards for Capital One cards. Their deceptive trademark and trade dress worked! But more seriously, Credit One is a subprime bank and is notorious for nickel and diming, so those two cards are good candidates for the chopping block, especially if they have annual fees. But OP hasn't provided any detail on age/credit limits/annual fees, and it's often better to just sock drawer cards without annual fees.

Re: Help decide what to keep/close!!!

greatscott85 — Thu, 28 Oct 2021 16:45:50 GMT

@Anonymous Thanks for getting them listed! The Childrens Place card seems just ok, unless you are consistently shopping there, I'd second to dump it. Same thing with the Victoria Secret card, minimal rewards unless you spend a decent amount there. The Citi DC will get you 2% which is likely better than those rewards programs and on multiple types of transactions. Of course, if you love them, keep 'em!

The Amazon store vs Amazon Chase is a bit interesting. Obviously the 5% on Amazon overlaps and the Chase card offers wayyyy more use and cash back. I guess it's notable that the Amazon store card is much easier to get a CLI on. It's an SP from Synchrony and likely grows faster than the Chase one. Chase is an HP for CLI. I think you could keep both for a while and see where your spending habits take you.

Also as stated, dump the CreditOne cards. Just my 2c!

Re: Help decide what to keep/close!!!

Anonymous — Thu, 28 Oct 2021 17:09:25 GMT

None of my Cap1 cards have fees.

Re: Help decide what to keep/close!!!

Anonymous — Thu, 28 Oct 2021 18:26:49 GMT

@NRB525 wrote:
OP it looks like you have 5 Capital One cards. One might be your oldest, hopefully with no Annual Fee. There are probably some low limits in there, and perhaps no rewards, or same rewards rate? I would not suggest acting too quickly, but a low limit Capital One card with Annual Fee that is not your oldest, or not older by years, would be the first to close.

The rest of the cards are not out of line for building credit. Each card does require monitoring to make sure you don't miss any payments, but many of us handle this many and more cards. The advice to stop applying for a year is good. Those INQ will fade for scoring purposes in a year, and aging of the accounts will also help.

4 are Cap1 and yes 1 of them is my oldest

Re: Help decide what to keep/close!!!

Anonymous — Thu, 28 Oct 2021 18:28:06 GMT

@BearsCubsOtters wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:
Hi all!! I'm fairly new to credit but think I've done pretty good the last 2 years..... I've went from hell no's to a ton of approvals. I believe I'm now up to 13-14 cards and I'm not sure if I need them all. In my head banks/cards don't want to see someone have a million cards with low limits, but I don't fully understand credit yet. These forums have helped me tremendously. I've tried to put them in my signature but I keep messing it up. Im not sure to list what I have for opinions or not. Can you all give insights on what's best or how to navigate this? I feel like I don't need 2 Amazon cards but I only got the first because I thought I would never be approved by chase..... I cold append and just got it😕. All these HP will take forever to fall off lol. I've had extreme success this month alone with like 6 cards... I know I need to chill big time.
It looks like you have 12 cards. And from what you have written here, it seems you are more interested in fine-tuning your credit than you are with overall rewards.

There are a lot of varibles to consider. One of the most important would be debt-to-credit ratio. Meaning, how much revolving debt are you allowing to report to the credit bureaus each month and what is your total overall reporting credit limits.

This is important because you never want your credit cards to report balances of 30% or more of your overall credit lines.

Don't worry too much about card age when making your decision to close....even when closed they assist with the average age of account and they will report up to 10 years which allows other accounts to age.

You will have to decide for yourself which to keep and close based on the above. If you are in a place right now where, with all those cards in your signature you only have, lets say $8,000 total credit, you may want to keep all of them until you can get the Chase Amazon and Citi Double Cash increased. On the other hand, if you could afford to get rid of a few cards that you are not using and you have a good balance of debt vs credit, then I would get rid of a few of the lesser cards and prepare, in time, for new, better cards.

Simple answer: I'd close: both Credit One cards, Childrens Place, Victoria's Secret and the Synch Amazon card.

And as others have said, maybe gardening (not apping for new credit) for about a year would do wonders for your credit and you may at that time obtain higher limit cards with better rewards.

I am at 9-12% as of now. My newest Amazon chase hasn't started reporting tho so I imagine it will be lower next month

Re: Help decide what to keep/close!!!

Anonymous — Thu, 28 Oct 2021 17:26:45 GMT

Exact ones I've considered as well! I'm around 13k in total limits. My 2 highest are each 3k, Walmart and my new Amazon Chase. I thought I was excited about the Walmart one but when I got the Chase card......... That was my hallelujah lol. I didn't expect it but figured what the heck! I was on a roll and what's 1 more HP. Citi is low at $600 and I plan to call ask request CLI soon as I receive the physical card. Im sure to most they're no big deal but Walmart, Lowe's, Citi and Chase........ the feeling of accomplishment I got is ah-mazing!!! Any advice on how to better chances of future CLI? I don't know if I should put spend on all or focus on 1-2. Do I use below 30% paying off monthly or do I run 1 card up, paying in full each month for 3-6 months? Thank you guys!!

Re: Help decide what to keep/close!!!

Anonymous — Thu, 28 Oct 2021 18:28:53 GMT

@Anonymalous wrote:
@NRB525 wrote:
OP it looks like you have 5 Capital One cards. One might be your oldest, hopefully with no Annual Fee. There are probably some low limits in there, and perhaps no rewards, or same rewards rate? I would not suggest acting too quickly, but a low limit Capital One card with Annual Fee that is not your oldest, or not older by years, would be the first to close.

The rest of the cards are not out of line for building credit. Each card does require monitoring to make sure you don't miss any payments, but many of us handle this many and more cards. The advice to stop applying for a year is good. Those INQ will fade for scoring purposes in a year, and aging of the accounts will also help.
Sounds like you mistook the 2 Credit One cards for Capital One cards. Their deceptive trademark and trade dress worked! But more seriously, Credit One is a subprime bank and is notorious for nickel and diming, so those two cards are good candidates for the chopping block, especially if they have annual fees. But OP hasn't provided any detail on age/credit limits/annual fees, and it's often better to just sock drawer cards without annual fees.

No I knew what they were when I got the 2. One is $39 the other maybe 79 I think. I am ready to drop them bring my only annual fee cards. My oldest Cap1 is around 2y2m, Cred1, 1y 1m, 3 are about to hit a year and the rest are somewhere in between. Newest this month. Average age maybe 9-11 months now I'm not sure.

Re: Help decide what to keep/close!!!

RSX — Thu, 28 Oct 2021 18:05:12 GMT

for the new ones, put some spend on them in the first month for sure

you can then dedicate 1 or 2 for all your spend for the next 2 months, then rinse and repeat with others

dont worry about 30% - that is usually mistaken as a limit for usage -> when it should be for how much reports on your statement close

if they have low limits use them to 100% if you want - make multiple payments throughout the month - the util only matters when the statement cuts

even then, it will be reset the following month when you pay it down

Re: Help decide what to keep/close!!!

MrDisco99 — Thu, 28 Oct 2021 23:36:34 GMT

Yeah... get rid of the annual fee cards. You don't need to pay for credit anymore.

It doesn't hurt to hold both Amazon cards even if you only use one of them. You can get rid of the other one when you're closer to your end goal card lineup.

Re: Help decide what to keep/close!!!

Anonymous — Fri, 29 Oct 2021 03:27:12 GMT

Surprised because I didn't know Chase overnighted my Amazon card lol. Lucky day I guess!