topic Re: Am I crazy? (I want to reduce my CC count) in Credit Cards

Am I crazy? (I want to reduce my CC count)

NYC_Fella — Thu, 27 Jul 2023 12:59:32 GMT

I'm going aginst the grain here, but I feel like I have way too many cards and I want to thin the herd.

Below you can see the cards I currently have. Here are the ones I'd like to get rid of:

Bob's Furniture $5K (no need now for a store card)

Venmo $20K (Synchrony - applied for in a moment of weakness)

PayPal $12K (Same as above)

Apple $9.25K (been pretty useless)

Discover $12K (same as above)

PenFed $7.5K (never really have occasion to use it)

I don't really care about cash back and am mostly focused on travel rewards.

This would leave me with:

Amex Platinum NPSL POT $15K

Amex BCP $15K

Amex BBP $25K

Barclays Red Aviator $20K

WF Active Cash $25K

BofA Travel Rewards $9.5K

which are the only cards I actually use.

My utilization is usually around 1% so that may go up to 2%.

Thoughts? Any downside?

Re: Am I crazy? (I want to reduce my CC count)

wingennis — Thu, 27 Jul 2023 13:22:59 GMT

The only downsides I can think of relate to closing your oldest card and total utilization. In a few years that can have a big impact depending on how long you had it and how old your other accounts are. You've already thought about your total utilization. You may receive advice that there is no good reason to close a card with no-annual fee and I understant that perspective. In the event that you suddenly stop travelling or the travel cards you have no longer work for you having a back up cash back card might not be the worst thing. All of that being said, I'm like you. I want to manage fewer cards, stop maximizing every dollar, and just get on with life. For me the card frenzy is over.

Re: Am I crazy? (I want to reduce my CC count)

redpat — Thu, 27 Jul 2023 14:11:55 GMT

Not crazy.

Close them and you will do more with less cards. Many worry about closing cards but you may feel better once they are gone, use the ones you like and stick to an reward program you like.

I went from having 12 cards down to 4 personal cards.

Soooo, much easier.

Good luck!

Re: Am I crazy? (I want to reduce my CC count)

ACN323 — Thu, 27 Jul 2023 14:38:26 GMT

I'm also feeling the same as you all. I'd really like get rid of about 4, but we're in that limbo phase of hoping to buy a house in the near future and I don't want to mess with my scores now that they are semi decent.

I've closed two Amex charge cards in the past and had little adverse reaction with those as they were not revolving, but I removed myself from as an AU on my DH's card and it dropped my scores about 15-20 points. Granted that's when I still did have an old baddie on there as well, but I have such anxiety about messing with my scores. I feel like if I was all set with a mortgage etc, I'd do a major sweep of my current line up and keep my CSP, Disco because it's the oldest and Amex BCE. I hate having to manage so many cards to keep them active when I really only use one!

Re: Am I crazy? (I want to reduce my CC count)

odd_dog — Thu, 27 Jul 2023 14:39:43 GMT

There is nothing wrong with downsizing and getting rid of cards you do not need. I understand the argument about keeping cards with no annual fee, but that opens you up to identity theft and quite honestly if you want to forget about these cards it's tough not to keep looking at them to make sure no one has charged anything on your number. Only thing that really matters is your utilization and quite honestly if you're not apping or applying for a mortgage who cares about you utilization, "with in reason" you're not trying to keep your score pristine for apping. If at some point in the future you want to change to money rewards, apply for them when you want to switch.

Re: Am I crazy? (I want to reduce my CC count)

Anonymous — Thu, 27 Jul 2023 15:37:31 GMT

Unscientific, but I think there has been a slight shift since I first joined (under a different name). Then the mantra was "grow", increasing TCL by both CLI on existing cards and getting new cards. While that is still very common (including closing useful cards because they don't grow by those taking it too seriously) we are certainly seeing many more posts about the benefits of downsizing. I've always agreed with closing cards that are no longer useful, so go ahead with streamlining. Sometimes there may be later regret (usually when you discover that a card you closed could potentially now be PCd to a newly issued great card) but that's rare and it's minor!

Re: Am I crazy? (I want to reduce my CC count)

DJRobbieD — Thu, 27 Jul 2023 16:34:49 GMT

I just went through a similar downsizing exercise myself at the beginning of the month, closing 4 cards at a loss of $50.4K TCL (Elan MCP $10K, CIC $12K, CCC $13.4K, Alliant $15K). All were no AF cards and 3 of them opened less than 2 years ago. I'll probably downsize a bit further to 10 cards or less sometime in 2024, but this was a good first step. I've lost my appetite for rewards optimization, suppose it was just a phase of mine toward the end of 2021 / beginning of 2022.

Any further new account activity for me will be focused on growing TCL by getting additional cards at existing lenders that will later get merged while at the same time taking advantage of limited-time SUB offers (e.g. eventually merge my new $25K Amex MBB and existing $50K BCP for a single $75K CL card).

Re: Am I crazy? (I want to reduce my CC count)

Kforce — Thu, 27 Jul 2023 17:03:01 GMT

@redpat wrote:
Not crazy.

Close them and you will do more with less cards. Many worry about closing cards but you may feel better once they are gone, use the ones you like and stick to an reward program you like.

I went from having 12 cards down to 4 personal cards.

Soooo, much easier.

Good luck!

^^^^^ This

I went from twelve down to six.

Use two for all my spend less a few dollars to keep other 4 alive.

Two for backup in-case primary card's become nerfed or extinct (sock drawer).

Two because of age, 25+ years old, (sock drawer).

One of the cards that I closed, later could have been PC'd to a nice card.

As @Anonymous mentioned, that is the risk of closing vs sock drawer if Util is not a concern

However keeping each alive, minimum spend, and checking each for fraud every month has loss of you time attached to each card.

Have been thinking about closing the back-up set of cards.

Having a total of 4 sounds really nice.

Know as soon as I close them, my main set will get nerfed.

Will feel silly needing to get new cards just like the two I closed.

Re: Am I crazy? (I want to reduce my CC count)

SouthJamaica — Thu, 27 Jul 2023 21:30:40 GMT

@NYC_Fella wrote:
I'm going aginst the grain here, but I feel like I have way too many cards and I want to thin the herd.

Below you can see the cards I currently have. Here are the ones I'd like to get rid of:

Bob's Furniture $5K (no need now for a store card)
Venmo $20K (Synchrony - applied for in a moment of weakness)
PayPal $12K (Same as above)
Apple $9.25K (been pretty useless)
Discover $12K (same as above)
PenFed $7.5K (never really have occasion to use it)

I don't really care about cash back and am mostly focused on travel rewards.

This would leave me with:

Amex Platinum NPSL POT $15K
Amex BCP $15K
Amex BBP $25K
Barclays Red Aviator $20K
WF Active Cash $25K
BofA Travel Rewards $9.5K

which are the only cards I actually use.

My utilization is usually around 1% so that may go up to 2%.

Thoughts? Any downside?

Getting rid of the Synchrony card can never be wrong.

As to the rest it's a totally personal thing. From a scoring perspective, it's always good to have a bunch of zero balance cards in the mix, and the higher the total credit limit the lower the utilization. But if you don't like managing that many cards, then by all means downsize.

Re: Am I crazy? (I want to reduce my CC count)

Bockrocker — Thu, 27 Jul 2023 22:46:10 GMT

Me personally I would hold on to the Discover and maybe the PayPal. Discover because it's a separate lender/network and PayPal because 3% on PayPal purchases is pretty competitive. But if you really don't use them...

Re: Am I crazy? (I want to reduce my CC count)

NYC_Fella — Fri, 28 Jul 2023 03:08:59 GMT

Thanks all! I'm glad to know that I'm not the only one who thinks like this.

@SouthJamaica wrote:

Getting rid of the Synchrony card can never be wrong.

Yeah, I don't know what possessed me to apply for them!

Re: Am I crazy? (I want to reduce my CC count)

ficosuave — Fri, 28 Jul 2023 03:38:42 GMT

Certainly not alone. I shaved off a couple accounts and over 20K in credit last month, and am looking to get rid of more.

My signature's not up to date, I have more cards than that still. Would ideally like to get it down to around 5. I really only use 2-3 in a given month, and it's typically the same ones. Unless there's a bonus or spending offer involved.

Re: Am I crazy? (I want to reduce my CC count)

TheRedHat — Fri, 28 Jul 2023 04:10:36 GMT

Go for it. I am also focusing on travel rewards and am in the process of closing my non-travel cards one-by-one. I have yet to see an actual compelling argument about keeping old cards open "just in case."

Re: Am I crazy? (I want to reduce my CC count)

Anonymous — Fri, 28 Jul 2023 13:26:01 GMT

@TheRedHat wrote:
Go for it. I am also focusing on travel rewards and am in the process of closing my non-travel cards one-by-one. I have yet to see an actual compelling argument about keeping old cards open "just in case."

While I agree, "compelling" is subjective. I have commented that the arguments on both sides (close unwanted vs keep no-AF cards) is pretty weak. For example, while "closing loses the possibility to PC to a good card one day" seems non-complelling to those on one side , those on the other side feel the same about "open unused accounts need to be regularly monitored for fraud" (If I am checking my 20 good accounts, checking 10 more lightly used ones doesn't add much).

So it really is a personal choice of your perception of the "baggage" of keeping extra cards (basically monitoring for fraud and needing to do keep-alive purchases earning subpar rewards and general management of extra accounts) vs the benefits (increasing TCL, therefore decreasing util, opportunity to PC). In the past there have practically been flame wars about it, so your "Am I crazy" would attract lots of posts saying Yes, closing no-AF cards is crazy (and should probably be against the law) That seems to have stopped.

Re: Am I crazy? (I want to reduce my CC count)

ptatohed — Fri, 28 Jul 2023 07:31:23 GMT

@NYC_Fella wrote:
I'm going aginst the grain here, but I feel like I have way too many cards and I want to thin the herd.

Below you can see the cards I currently have. Here are the ones I'd like to get rid of:

Bob's Furniture $5K (no need now for a store card)
Venmo $20K (Synchrony - applied for in a moment of weakness)
PayPal $12K (Same as above)
Apple $9.25K (been pretty useless)
Discover $12K (same as above)
PenFed $7.5K (never really have occasion to use it)

I don't really care about cash back and am mostly focused on travel rewards.

This would leave me with:

Amex Platinum NPSL POT $15K
Amex BCP $15K
Amex BBP $25K
Barclays Red Aviator $20K
WF Active Cash $25K
BofA Travel Rewards $9.5K

which are the only cards I actually use.

My utilization is usually around 1% so that may go up to 2%.

Thoughts? Any downside?

I'm definitely in the camp of no need to close a no-AF card. Personally, I have never closed a no-AF card in my 30 years of having cards. I just stop using them. If you are worried about fraud or unauthorized use, you can typically freeze them. But argument for keeping a no-AF card aside, IMHO, you are listing some pretty good no-AF cards! I'm worried there could be some regret. As someone mentioned, what if your traveling slows down or stops? You aren't completely clear on which cards you have but if the PayPal is the PayPal CB MC, that's a darn good card! If your Discover card is the Discover it CB, that's a darn good card. PenFed.... Platinum Rewards?.... Power Cash Rewards? Don't know but it could be a nice card.

Feel free to close cards you don't think you'll ever need but do give it some careful consideration.

P.S. Curious why you listed the WF AC (2% CB) as a keeper?

Re: Am I crazy? (I want to reduce my CC count)

odd_dog — Fri, 28 Jul 2023 11:44:42 GMT

While I agree, "compelling" is subjective. I have commented that the arguments on both sides (close unwanted vs keep no-AF cards) is pretty weak. For example, while "closing loses the possibility to PC to a good card one day" non-compelling, so do those on the other side about "open unused accounts need to be regularly monitored for fraud" (If I am checking my 20 good accounts, checking 10 more lightly used ones doesn't add much).

So it really is a personal choice of your perception of the "baggage" of keeping extra cards (basically monitoring for fraud and needing to do keep-alive purchases earning subpar rewards and general management of extra accounts) vs the benefits (increasing TCL, therefore decreasing util, opportunity to PC). In the past there have practically been flame wars about it, so your "Am I crazy" would attract lots of posts saying Yes, closing no-AF cards is crazy (and should probably be against the law) That seems to have stopped.

I agree different strokes for different folks, but I do question the "simplicity" of the comment checking on 20 and adding 10 more sock drawered isn't much to monitor.....we are talking in this case I believe with people that want LESS than 20 to begin with, I am now one of them...hey I have been here a while also and although my signature is old and needs a refresh I had MANY cards also and have trimmed tremendously down....here was my issue - the cards for padding util and not using - fraud, even to check is a science to "remember the password" (I don't have just one password for all banks, cards etc) get the double authentication, the MARKETING emails and again the identity theft...I am lazy I guess but checking that WAS a pain in the ...... It was not a "no bother" at all for me. Now padding is kind of a lame excuse IF you are not applying every five minutes for a credit card account.....if you are just living and use your cards you really could give a rats butt about util (again, with in reason, do not scare your lenders!) .....your not going for a mortgage, your not trying for the best score...while I love and have used the strategies here they are just that strategies to get a high score to apply for something....living day to day is different. I even see posts today about keeping a zero balance ONLY when you want a score bump etc.....even most here agree that is SILLY to do every month if you have no plans to app. So yeah both sides of the "argument" are very valid but to say KEEP because X and get rid of because of X is a personal situation, none of it wrong just different circumstances.

Re: Am I crazy? (I want to reduce my CC count)

NYC_Fella — Fri, 28 Jul 2023 11:25:51 GMT

So now I'm wavering a bit; some good arguments on the other side too. I love this board!

@ptatohed wrote.S. Curious why you listed the WF AC (2% CB) as a keeper?

Just one reason; it's my highest-limit card at $25K. (The Amex BBC is also $25K but that's a business card and doesn't report.)

Re: Am I crazy? (I want to reduce my CC count)

reluctantgarden — Fri, 28 Jul 2023 13:43:54 GMT

@Bockrocker wrote:
Me personally I would hold on to the Discover and maybe the PayPal. Discover because it's a separate lender/network and PayPal because 3% on PayPal purchases is pretty competitive. But if you really don't use them...

This, especially if the Disco is a cash back/categories card. My two Discos and PayPal MC provide hundreds of dollars annually.

Re: Am I crazy? (I want to reduce my CC count)

Rogue46 — Fri, 28 Jul 2023 20:25:38 GMT

I really don't worry much about closing cards, The ones I don't use I just freeze them and put them in the safe eventually the lender will close them it makes little difference either way according to fico. Oddly enough I have a Sportsmans guide card I picked up very early on via the SCT and haven't used it once and it's still open 6 years later.. I find it amusing to see how long it can hold out before they shut it down.

Re: Am I crazy? (I want to reduce my CC count)

Anonymous — Fri, 28 Jul 2023 22:22:36 GMT

@Rogue46 wrote:
I really don't worry much about closing cards, The ones I don't use I just freeze them and put them in the safe eventually the lender will close them it makes little difference either way according to fico.

Now THIS is the compromise that I have never really understood! There are weak good reasons for closing unused cards, and weak good reasons for keeping all non-AF cards, but letting the lenders choose if and when to close, can't come up with even a very weak argument as to why that is the way to go (apart from avoiding making decisions!)