topic Re: Is it bad to have 12 Credit Cards?? in Credit Cards

Is it bad to have 12 Credit Cards??

Anonymous — Tue, 19 Nov 2013 00:58:27 GMT

I want nuts the past 2 years Do I need Help??

Dicoverit 3600

Paypal smart connect 3300

Amex Blue Cash Rewards 3500

Citi bank Bank Diamond Preferred 3500

Chase Slate 2500

Walmart 4100

QVC 3100

Old Navy Visa 3000

Capital One Platinum 2200

Amazon Chase 750.00

Orchard/ Capital one card 420 "Going to close soon"

Barclays Apple Card 1700

Re: Is it bad to have 12 Credit Cards??

L-TWT — Tue, 19 Nov 2013 01:07:16 GMT

If you can financially manage them, IMO.....I would say no!

Re: Is it bad to have 12 Credit Cards??

FinStar — Tue, 19 Nov 2013 01:10:08 GMT

@L-TWT wrote:
If you can financially manage them, IMO.....I would say no!

I have roughly close to 70 (another member, Ron1 has ~100+). Key thing is being able to manage them as said above.

Re: Is it bad to have 12 Credit Cards??

09Lexie — Tue, 19 Nov 2013 01:14:53 GMT

Haven't heard from Ron lately. Me thinks he is busy with that new cc wing.

Re: Is it bad to have 12 Credit Cards??

Anonymous — Tue, 19 Nov 2013 01:15:23 GMT

I can manage them---Seems when I get another card my credit score goes down then goes up

Re: Is it bad to have 12 Credit Cards??

FinStar — Tue, 19 Nov 2013 01:22:50 GMT

@09Lexie wrote:
Haven't heard from Ron lately. Me thinks he is busy with that new cc wing.

I imagine the same too Lexie since I haven't seen him around either. Wonder what new surprises he'll share when he pops back around!

Re: Is it bad to have 12 Credit Cards??

FinStar — Tue, 19 Nov 2013 01:24:55 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
I can manage them---Seems when I get another card my credit score goes down then goes up

Yes, this will be a fluctuating factor since there is the inquiry ding and then the AAoA impact. Eventually, the impacts tend to lessen over time unless you wake up the credit dragon again.

Re: Is it bad to have 12 Credit Cards??

Anonymous — Tue, 19 Nov 2013 01:36:04 GMT

I am done for atleast 1 year ---

Re: Is it bad to have 12 Credit Cards??

FinStar — Tue, 19 Nov 2013 01:41:44 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
I am done for atleast 1 year ---

Wonderful. Try to see if you can get the Capital One to grow - you'd hate to waste the inquiry or TL if you already took the hit. So, depending on its age, give it about 6-12 months to see if it's elegible for PC to the Quicksilver version and have the rewards structure updated. Depending on whether it's on the credit steps program or not, think about a CLI (they are usually SP).

Re: Is it bad to have 12 Credit Cards??

Anonymous — Tue, 19 Nov 2013 07:23:18 GMT

Just wondering,what does Ron do for a living?,is he a business man?

Re: Is it bad to have 12 Credit Cards??

SunriseEarth — Tue, 19 Nov 2013 07:51:31 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
I want nuts the past 2 years Do I need Help??

Dicoverit 3600
Paypal smart connect 3300
Amex Blue Cash Rewards 3500
Citi bank Bank Diamond Preferred 3500
Chase Slate 2500
Walmart 4100
QVC 3100
Old Navy Visa 3000
Capital One Platinum 2200
Amazon Chase 750.00
Orchard/ Capital one card 420 "Going to close soon"
Barclays Apple Card 1700

It all depends on how you use them. If you can manage them all and pay on time and keep UTIL reasonable across the board, they can definitely work for you.

Re: Is it bad to have 12 Credit Cards??

Smug — Tue, 19 Nov 2013 11:38:52 GMT

Unless you close some you will always have smaller limits, I did the same and learned.

Re: Is it bad to have 12 Credit Cards??

takeshi74 — Tue, 19 Nov 2013 14:34:12 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
Is it bad to have 12 Credit Cards??

X cards is never a "good" or "bad" thing. It's the individual's ability to manage and responsibly use them. There isn't a single X for every person out there. The number of cards one can manage varies from person to person. You have to determine what works for you.

@Anonymous wrote:
I can manage them---Seems when I get another card my credit score goes down then goes up

You might want to read up on credit scoring. Here's just one source to get you started but there is plenty of reference material out there including existing threads:

http://www.myfico.com/crediteducation/whatsinyourscore.aspx

AAoA and inquiries are negatively impacted when you open a new account. The effect of an inquiry falls off relatively quickly but it just takes time to build AAoA (exception being adding a backdated AmEx).

Re: Is it bad to have 12 Credit Cards??

odd_dog — Tue, 19 Nov 2013 14:41:05 GMT

Is it bad having 12 credit cards? Sweet Jesus I hope not!! LOL I think as long as you can manage them it is a plus....I use some for auto bill paying, others for specific rewards depending on the type of point, or cash back I need at the time. Also if I do it right I can get about a full month and a half before I even have to pay, with all different closing dates I am able to pick the card that will give me the most time before I have to pay (I religiously PIF). The worst part is just keeping up with the close dates on them so as not to ever pay late...

Re: Is it bad to have 12 Credit Cards??

TiggerDat — Tue, 19 Nov 2013 14:47:35 GMT

I don't think so. Learn to use Excel, it can help manage them!

Re: Is it bad to have 12 Credit Cards??

Anonymous — Tue, 19 Nov 2013 15:10:31 GMT

As takeshi74 said, there is no magic number. It depends on goals and comfort level. For example, it is perfectly reasonable for someone to decide to commit to a program, such as UR/MR/TYP/SPG/Arrival points etc, and use one card for everything. One card may not be quite optimal for FICO, but that isn't all that important. Two other extremes is a) where you try to build a collection where each transaction is maximized and b) try to get all the credit you can "for utilization"

Providing you can manage them (which anyone can really do with auto pay) not a problem

Re: Is it bad to have 12 Credit Cards??

Anonymous — Tue, 19 Nov 2013 17:11:13 GMT

Personally I doubt I'll ever have more than 5 or 6, don't want more than that, but there are a lot of people who use farrrr more than that, lol. Just like everyone said above, work with your personal abilities and what you can handle, focus more on what is best for your life and personal habits =)

Re: Is it bad to have 12 Credit Cards??

stevenngu92 — Tue, 19 Nov 2013 17:29:12 GMT

I find it easier to manage cards when the statement closing date of each card is near one another. Most of my statement cuts from the 16th to the 20th so i usually make an effort to login around the 14th and pif every card except for one. Shortly after my statement cuts i pif the remaining card so i don't forget. I only have 8, but i think i could manage around 20 because of that.

Re: Is it bad to have 12 Credit Cards??

Anonymous — Tue, 19 Nov 2013 17:28:48 GMT

And as your file grows thicker, it also depends on the "value" of your time. For example, there are several cards I can get with sign ups above say $150. Free money in some sense (well, I would need to meet spend which might take rewards from other cards) but I can't get too excited at spending even the small amount of app time to get it. Others would make other decisions, and get lots of extra cards. My decision would also be different if the bonus was a lot larger.

Re: Is it bad to have 12 Credit Cards??

killer_queen229 — Tue, 19 Nov 2013 20:25:35 GMT

No. Considering I want to have 9 cards in total within the next year (I have 5 currently).