topic Re: Tracking Credit Card Activity in Credit Cards

Tracking Credit Card Activity

Aim_High — Fri, 18 Oct 2024 01:25:44 GMT

>My recent experience< with my Synchrony Verizon Visa made me reconsider how I manage all my credit cards. I know some of our members have discussed how they have spreadsheets, notebooks, or other methods for tracking their credit cards, whether that be by card attributes (age, credit limit, APR, due dates, etc.) rewards earned by category, monthly charges and activity, or other factors. I've never done that consistently, although I've sometimes made temporary lists. However, since joining My FICO several years ago, I have tended to keep many more open accounts that I used to keep. I currently have 27 open revolving personal or business cards. Often, I shift spending towards certain cards for meeting SUBs or to help in earning CLIs, which means I neglect some of my other accounts.

Questions for the community:

Do you track your credit cards?
What do you track and how do you track it?

I just did a tally on my accounts. Of my 27 accounts, I see I used 11 (40%) in the past 30 days, which is higher than I anticipated. However, a few of those were purposeful and focused spending, for examples - PenFed Power Cash Rewards and Synchrony Verizon, both for targeted rewards SUB and for keep-alive. I have a few travel cards with an annual fee. The AF keeps the card active at least once every 12 months and often includes some perks. For one example, my Marriott Business card has a free night credit to offset the AF cost, opens a new rate when booking rooms that is sometimes advantageous, and gives me additional night stay credit towards higher elite status. But I don't need to actually swipe the card to get any of that or keep it alive. Right now, I'm working on a large $15K spending requirement on my AMEX Business Platinum card SUB.

Here are my other stats.

Within 30 days: 11

30-60 days: 1

60-90 days: 0

180-90 days: 6

Within one year: 4

Within two years: 3

More than two years: 1*

*My AACU card was last swiped on 11/30/17 - almost 7 years. Not only is it still alive, but they gave me a $3K CLI on it this year!

I also have ONE card which I have NEVER used. My >Synchrony Lowe's card< was accidentally approved on a whim with a $13K SL on 02/27/2024 and >CLI'd to $35K< on 04/30/2024. After my Verizon experience, I will probably make a point to swipe it soon. (I already get a great 10% military/veteran discount every day at Lowe's so it beats the 5% rewards on the card.)

And looking at the above, I recognize a few cards that need to see some "LUV" soon.

I also tend to let my rewards accrue, whether travel points or cash. Sometimes it's worthwhile to "bank" them, such as with Chase Ultimate Rewards or AMEX Member Rewards being worth more when used for travel or transfer to partners. Sill, it's definitely time to cash some in.

Re: Tracking Credit Card Activity

NoHardLimits — Fri, 18 Oct 2024 03:41:57 GMT

@Aim_High wrote:
Questions for the community:
Do you track your credit cards?
What do you track and how do you track it?

I micromanage my credit cards via an overly complicated spreadsheet containing 20 sheets. Am I crazy? Maybe, but I don't view it as a chore. It's a hobby.

My current situation:

- 13 personal credit cards plus 1 AU (my aggravation threshold seems to be when I go over 16 cards to manage)

- all cards are paid in full every month

- all cards earn rewards (some earn cash back, some earn points based currency)

- almost every card is used each statement period through organic spend

- no card goes more than 3 months without any usage (assign a small recurring charge where needed)

What do I track? Too much to list here. I'd be typing for hours. I'll just spell out the main purpose of each sheet:

1. current statement activity (bank, card product, statement date, due date, paid date, date last used, date non-zero balance reported, next close date, recurring monthly and annual charges)

2. spending history (how much did I spend on each card per month, per year to date, per rolling 12 months, per calendar year)

3. credit scores history (by bureau, source, and scoring algorithm)

4. inquiry history (by bureau, by requestor)

5. rewards categories (itemized per card with highlights on maximum reward choice; quarterly rotators are a source of aggravation)

6. my subjective rankings of importance for each card (FICOs versus finances, old accounts are highly valued)

7. if I had to start over from a blank slate, which group of cards would I get today?

8. history of every portfolio change (card added, closed, product changed, rewards refreshed)

9. terms and conditions (annual fees, FTF, credit limit, opening/anniversary date,)

10. credit limit history

11. young accounts (track milestones for 6 months, 12 months, 24 months)

12. new accounts (per year for consumer, business, and AU)

13. SUBs (history and watchlist for future possibilities)

14. Amex Platinum credits

15. Amex Old Blue Cash vs contemporary alternatives (OBC still wins every year for me)

16. mobile payment acceptance (keep track of unexpected places that take or refuse mobile payments for my USBAR)

17. recurring large ticket expenses (keep track of upcoming insurance premiums, home maintenance contracts, and entertainment season ticket renewals; these are good times to work on a SUB)

18. streaming (which cards have credits or higher rewards for which streaming services)

19. iDine (which cards are registered to which dining programs)

20. Loyalty status (points tally for airlines/hotels/car rental/lounge access and any applicable elite status levels)

Done typing now.

Re: Tracking Credit Card Activity

Kforce — Fri, 18 Oct 2024 15:55:41 GMT

Only have 7 cards, 3 with monthly use and 4 in the sock drawer.

Sock drawer cards have small every few month charges attached.

No playing with calendar, spreadsheet, database, or app for me.

Re: Tracking Credit Card Activity

Curious_George2 — Fri, 18 Oct 2024 16:56:56 GMT

@Aim_High: Speaking narrowly, when I found myself in a similar situation, I added a column to my credit card spreadsheet (the sheet has one row per card) for "Date of last use." For my frequently used cards, I just said "frequent" but for the stragglers, I recorded the month and year. I would just keep an eye on that column and when something got close to a year, I would put a small charge on it.

But at some point I got tired of that. The question "are my cards working for me, or am I working for them?" moved from the back of my mind to the front of my mind. I closed the three cards on which I was most often putting non-organic spend. That made the whole issue go away and it was the right move for me.

Re: Tracking Credit Card Activity

Aim_High — Fri, 18 Oct 2024 17:43:45 GMT

@Curious_George2 wrote:
... for the stragglers, I recorded the month and year. I would just keep an eye on that column and when something got close to a year, I would put a small charge on it.

But at some point I got tired of that. The question "are my cards working for me, or am I working for them?" moved from the back of my mind to the front of my mind. I closed the three cards on which I was most often putting non-organic spend. That made the whole issue go away and it was the right move for me.

Good points @Curious_George2. I've been adding accounts consistently for the past few years and also occassionally closing some. I've envisioned closing more accounts one day and consolidating for simplicity. It's true that there is a reason some of my cards are stragglers and don't get organic spend, so perhaps asking that question is the right tactic. A quick glance at my list of least-used cards finds that they are either co-branded cards where I haven't found a reason to use them lately, or they are lower-earning rewards cards, or they are with lenders where I feel I don't get the best customer experience. Even some of those cards in the 18 that I've used in the past six months have been purposeful "keep-alive" spending. But I do like having cards with such a large variety of lenders, and that's part of why I do it, at least for now. These are good discussions to ponder when planning a long term strategy. I appreciate the inputs.

Re: Tracking Credit Card Activity

Aim_High — Fri, 18 Oct 2024 17:44:33 GMT

@Kforce wrote:
Only have 7 cards, 3 with monthly use and 4 in the sock drawer.
Sock drawer cards have small every few month charges attached.
Log in to each issuer a couple of times a month, check for fraud, pay, etc.

No playing with calendar, spreadsheet, database, or app for me.

There's a lot to be said for simplicity, @Kforce.

Re: Tracking Credit Card Activity

Aim_High — Fri, 18 Oct 2024 17:47:49 GMT

@NoHardLimits wrote:

I micromanage my credit cards via an overly complicated spreadsheet containing 20 sheets. Am I crazy? Maybe, but I don't view it as a chore. It's a hobby ...

... What do I track? Too much to list here. I'd be typing for hours. I'll just spell out the main purpose of each sheet:

Wow, that's a lot to track @NoHardLimits! But I can see it being a hobby. I know we've had members who tracked many dozens of cards and swiping them regularly. I appreciate your sharing your list and rationale!

Re: Tracking Credit Card Activity

Anonymous — Sat, 19 Oct 2024 02:46:34 GMT

@Kforce wrote:
Only have 7 cards, 3 with monthly use and 4 in the sock drawer.
Sock drawer cards have small every few month charges attached.
Log in to each issuer a couple of times a month, check for fraud, pay, etc.

No playing with calendar, spreadsheet, database, or app for me.

I have quite a few more but don't track either. If an issuer sends me a "use or lose" message, I decide what to do then (e.g. recently closed Barclays, but earlier did you another card in response to a message, just don't remember which!). And, if they close without warning, not a big deal.

My major reward card is Altitude Reserve, and Real-time-rewards takes care of redemptions and the second is Fidelity, which auto-redeems to a cash management account.

Re: Tracking Credit Card Activity

cws-21 — Sun, 17 Nov 2024 16:11:53 GMT

I am late to this discussion, but I thought I would provide my two cents nonetheless. I have two strategies that have worked well for me.

First, I have always closed cards that no longer provide what I consider to be a significant use or benefit. Currently, I have 10 cards with plans of applying for another card at the beginning of next month and closing two cards. Of the cards that I will end up with at the end of the year, I will have nine cards with eight different lenders (somewhat intentionally). I will also have $250k+ in total credit limit, which is a far cry from what you have, @Aim_High, but plenty for me.

Second, I do track various information for my ~10 cards. I keep it reasonable because, unlike @NoHardLimits, the management side of credit cards is more of a necessary evil for me rather than a fun side of the credit card hobby. The information that I do keep track of for each card include due dates, amount owed each billing cycle, open date, close date, credit limit, credit limit increases, promotional APRs, monthly points or cash back earned, yearly points or cash back earned, SUBs and retention offers, yearly spending, and percentage of overall spending. I likely do not need to track as much information as I do, but all or most of it seems useful and it takes relatively low energy/effort for me to do so.

Re: Tracking Credit Card Activity

swankytiger — Sun, 17 Nov 2024 17:56:34 GMT

I have 10 cards currently.

5 of which are on let wither and die mode, so they get 0 use.

I carry 3 most of the time. BoA PR is my main everyday card atm, Hawaiian i use for gas mostly, and my Hilton Aspire is carried as backup.

The Hilton Aspire is my travel card and gets the $50/quarter for United travelbank so its kept alive when not traveling.

The United Club card is just cause i was using it for travel but will likely downgrade it back down to the Gateway when its AF posts since the Aspire is just a better all around card, it gets my spotify and twitch subscriptions on it which keeps it alive. My NC SECU card gets a charge every 6 months as its my oldest account.

I track everything with Personal Capital(now owned by Empower) so all my bank accounts/credit cards/loans/brokerage accounts are in 1 place so i can see everything that is going on.

Re: Tracking Credit Card Activity

heyryan — Thu, 21 Nov 2024 08:33:58 GMT

I have 20+ and I use a combo of Quicken and Sheets to track them. Quicken is for the daily transactions, bill reminders, reports, etc. Sheets is for bonus tracking, special offeres (e.g. promo interest rates), categories for bonus spend, due date etc. Wish there was a better way to combine, but this works for now!