topic Re: Any suggestion(s) on my portfolio? in Credit Cards

Any suggestion(s) on my portfolio?

DigitalArk — Tue, 14 Jan 2014 03:58:35 GMT

Currently I have no baddies and I'd like to PIF with all my cards.

I have the following cards in my collection:

USAA Reward MasterCard

USAA Reward American Express

NFCU CashRewards

NFCU GORewards

Costco American Express TrueEarnings

Chase Freedom

Chase Sapphire Preferred

Discover it

Barclaycard Arrival (AF)

I am keeping two USAA cards & Costco Amex for sure.

Credit Limit is not a problem on any of my cards. My uti ratio is 3% across the board.

I don't have any specific number of how many cards I will keep. Less than 10 will be ideal though.

I don't travel often, only once in a while and I am not a big spender (it has nothing to do with my income, in fact, it can be ignored).

I don't really mind paying AFs, but would rather not.

If you were me, what card(s) would you trim or acquire and why? Thanks in advance!

Re: Any suggestion(s) on my portfolio?

Luscher — Tue, 14 Jan 2014 04:05:23 GMT

i would trim 1 chase card and the barclaycard if I had to

Re: Any suggestion(s) on my portfolio?

Anonymous — Tue, 14 Jan 2014 04:07:39 GMT

You already have fewer than 10 cards, so I guess you don't really need to get rid if any to meet your goal

Re: Any suggestion(s) on my portfolio?

Themanwhocan — Tue, 14 Jan 2014 04:16:08 GMT

If you can qualify for business cards, swap the costco card for the business version, for better rewards.

Do you need 2 travel cards?

An American Express card would be a nice addition. BCE or BCP. If you do a lot of grocery shopping at Costco already, then probably the BCE.

Add a Sallie Mae for quarters that the Freedom doesn't cover Gas.

Re: Any suggestion(s) on my portfolio?

Anonymous — Tue, 14 Jan 2014 04:27:02 GMT

Freedom and Discover it are pretty much competing products as they both have the fun rotating 5% calendar. It really boils down to which company's benefits work best for you. Personally for me, I prefer Discover because I travel frequently and there are no FTFs on their cards.

Re: Any suggestion(s) on my portfolio?

DigitalArk — Mon, 03 Feb 2014 15:52:49 GMT

@Themanwhocan wrote:
If you can qualify for business cards, swap the costco card for the business version, for better rewards.

Do you need 2 travel cards?

An American Express card would be a nice addition. BCE or BCP. If you do a lot of grocery shopping at Costco already, then probably the BCE.

Add a Sallie Mae for quarters that the Freedom doesn't cover Gas.

~~No, I don't need 2 travel cards. I think Barclaycard arrival is better than CSP for me, since I am not a big spender.~~ (I am keeping both for now)

I am not qualify for Costco business card. Yes, I do a lot of grocery shopping at Costco.

I think Sallie Mae is a good idea.

Re: Any suggestion(s) on my portfolio?

FinStar — Tue, 14 Jan 2014 04:45:47 GMT

@DigitalArk wrote:
Currently I have no baddies and I'd like to PIF with all my cards.
I have the following cards in my collection:

USAA Reward MasterCard
USAA Reward American Express
NFCU CashRewards
NFCU GORewards
Costco American Express TrueEarnings
Chase Freedom
Chase Sapphire Preferred
Discover it
Barclaycard Arrival (AF)

I am keeping two USAA cards & Costco Amex for sure.
Credit Limit is not a problem on any of my cards. My uti ratio is 3% across the board.
I don't have any specific number of how many cards I will keep. Less than 10 will be ideal though.
I don't travel often, only once in a while and I am not a big spender (it has nothing to do with my income, in fact, it can be ignored).
I don't really mind paying AFs, but would rather not.
If you were me, what card(s) would you trim or acquire and why? Thanks in advance!

Do you still have a soft spot for your CSP? Seems like that's your avatar and present CC on your siggy

So, if you don't travel often and you already have Arrival, then fold the CSP and transfer CL to your Freedom. You'll lose the metal novelty and EMV chip but if this is not important to you, then it's a non issue. Keep your NFCU CCs, since you're a member think of the difficulty for gaining membership and their TLs can grow higher (albeit rewards are really just *ok*). I can only find one to trim/combine. Honestly, if you didn't have to, what you already have without trimming seems adequate.

Re: Any suggestion(s) on my portfolio?

DigitalArk — Mon, 03 Feb 2014 15:46:29 GMT

@FinStar wrote:

Do you still have a soft spot for your CSP? Seems like that's your avatar and present CC on your siggy

So, if you don't travel often and you already have Arrival, then fold the CSP and transfer CL to your Freedom. You'll lose the metal novelty and EMV chip but if this is not important to you, then it's a non issue. Keep your NFCU CCs, since you're a member think of the difficulty for gaining membership and their TLs can grow higher (albeit rewards are really just *ok*). I can only find one to trim/combine. Honestly, if you didn't have to, what you already have without trimming seems adequate.

~~No, I don't have a soft spot for my CSP.~~ I am in a foreign country now and my signature had been hacked (was replaced with a weird card picture). I could only use my avatar picture for my signature for now. I will change it when I am back to the States.

Metal novelty and EMV are not important to me. My only concern is whether or not a closed account with $500 limit would affect me in any ways in the future.

Re: Any suggestion(s) on my portfolio?

takeshi74 — Tue, 14 Jan 2014 13:44:29 GMT

@DigitalArk wrote:
If you were me, what card(s) would you trim or acquire and why?

Hard to give recommendations without additional details regarding your spend, goals, priorities etc. If it was up to me I'd have the card I have instead of the cards you have. My spend, goals, priorities, etc aren't relevant to yours so what I'd do is also irrelevant.

@DigitalArk wrote:
I am keeping two USAA cards & Costco Amex for sure.

The why behind this would also help.

@DigitalArk wrote:
My only concern is whether or not a closed account with $500 limit would affect me in any ways in the future.

AAoA will be impacted when it falls off.

Re: Any suggestion(s) on my portfolio?

DigitalArk — Mon, 03 Feb 2014 15:47:05 GMT

~~I have transferred the CL on CSP to Freedom then closed CSP.~~ I have also transferred the CL on goRewards to cashRewards then closed goRewards.

I am feeling much better about it. Now, I don't know whether or not I should PC my cashRewards to Flagship and close Arrival, or just keep the Arrival?

I am concerned that Arrival won't grow and I don't want to get a CLD in the future if I apply for more cards.

Re: Any suggestion(s) on my portfolio?

Anonymous — Fri, 31 Jan 2014 08:32:27 GMT

@DigitalArk wrote:
I have transferred the CL on CSP to Freedom then closed CSP. I have also transferred the CL on goRewards to cashRewards then closed goRewards.
I am feeling much better about it. Now, I don't know whether or not I should PC my cashRewards to Flagship and close Arrival, or just keep the Arrival?
I am concerned that Arrival won't grow and I don't want to get a CLD in the future if I apply for more cards.

well it will grow. worst case scenario you will need to take a hard inquiry for it to grow.

there's no need to worry about CLD until it happens.

Just avoid doing anything overboard, keep things within reasonable limits and you are pretty much safe from AA. AA doesn't happen that often...

Re: Any suggestion(s) on my portfolio?

DigitalArk — Fri, 31 Jan 2014 08:47:28 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
well it will grow. worst case scenario you will need to take a hard inquiry for it to grow.
there's no need to worry about CLD until it happens.
Just avoid doing anything overboard, keep things within reasonable limits and you are pretty much safe from AA. AA doesn't happen that often...

Thank you!