topic Re: Serious question . . . in Credit Cards

Serious question . . .

Pigeyex — Wed, 12 Feb 2014 15:10:53 GMT

SERIOUSLY not trying to be snarky, but I've been wondering and so I'll just ask:

Why would one need to have, say, more than a DOZEN credit cards, some with tens of thousands of dollars in CL available? When this is a site that's supposed to help us get OUT of debt, and increase our credit scores?

Is it that it helps your credit utilization? Or that it's good to have very large amounts of CL available to you in case of family emergency? Or is it just FUN to challenge yourself, to see what sort of portfolio of cards you can collect?

Just wondering (and a tad bit jealous, too)

Pigeye

Re: Serious question . . .

Pupeitmeister — Wed, 12 Feb 2014 15:19:52 GMT

@ pigeye: with responsible credit history as well as income to back it up, large credit lines are obtainable. Having a dozen cards adds versatility to your portfolio. Some use their cards for tax purposes, ie. each card has a specific spend pattern.
Having a diverse portfolio also protects you from AA by one or two lenders.

And to the debt thing. Just because you have a 55 gallon drum of water, are you going to drink it all at one time? Or will you just get what you need at that moment to quench your thirst? Just because its available doesnt mean to use it all

Re: Serious question . . .

Pigeyex — Wed, 12 Feb 2014 15:24:00 GMT

Your first paragraph is along the lines of what I'm trying to learn -- I figured there MUST be some method to the madness. I'm thinking some are for FF miles, some are for cash-back reward points, some (say, Target) get you a discount at that particular retailer, etc?

Re: Serious question . . .

Anonymous — Wed, 12 Feb 2014 15:27:20 GMT

Credit ≠ debt

Credit ≠ cash

Re: Serious question . . .

Pigeyex — Wed, 12 Feb 2014 15:28:19 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
Credit ≠ debt

Credit ≠ cash

No, but Credit DOES = temptation

Re: Serious question . . .

Pupeitmeister — Wed, 12 Feb 2014 15:48:38 GMT

I agree with temptation. Hence discipline needed. Each person has choice.

I personally use:

WM. for i am broke and need groceries

Carecredit. Dental and vets

Chase medical

Sams. Sams only

Lowes. Great promos or 5% back everyday

NFCU. Balance transfers

Wells fargo. Saily use for gas, grocery, drugstore promo

Cap one. SD

Stuff like that

Re: Serious question . . .

Pigeyex — Wed, 12 Feb 2014 15:52:02 GMT

Makes sense. What is "SD" though?

Re: Serious question . . .

Pupeitmeister — Wed, 12 Feb 2014 16:07:22 GMT

SD : Sock Drawer

I dont use it right now.

Re: Serious question . . .

Pigeyex — Wed, 12 Feb 2014 16:09:28 GMT

Ahhh, gotcha! Thanks.

Re: Serious question . . .

yudeology101 — Wed, 12 Feb 2014 16:47:40 GMT

@Pigeyex wrote:
SERIOUSLY not trying to be snarky, but I've been wondering and so I'll just ask:

Why would one need to have, say, more than a DOZEN credit cards, some with tens of thousands of dollars in CL available? When this is a site that's supposed to help us get OUT of debt, and increase our credit scores?

Is it that it helps your credit utilization? Or that it's good to have very large amounts of CL available to you in case of family emergency? Or is it just FUN to challenge yourself, to see what sort of portfolio of cards you can collect?

Just wondering (and a tad bit jealous, too)

Pigeye

Correct. As it seems in today's world that we are being identified as who we are based on our credit profile, it lets the lenders know how trustworthy we are with financial management, whereas back in the days many people used credit in case of emergencies, etc. Personally, having larger CLs w/ different lenders makes me feel comfortable- for utilization purposes, sudden emergencies, and does want to make me work harder to manage my finances responsively. That's where the CCs marketing kicks in- tempting sign up bonuses, rewards, cashback, etc., and keeps making me wanting to apply again and again.

If you can manage to use credit cards wisely and pay what you spend in full, why would you be in debt? You're being smart by using a system to collect rewards. When i was back in college, i've failed in my finances and burned a number of great lenders. After joining this forum, i found the courage to rebuild myself and made habits to be more responsible financially...and yes the hard work always pays off, i'm rewarding myself w/ great sign up perks/ benefits with several great lenders & see my scores ascend.

::edited for typo::

Re: Serious question . . .

Pigeyex — Wed, 12 Feb 2014 16:50:33 GMT

@yudeology101 wrote:
@Pigeyex wrote:
SERIOUSLY not trying to be snarky, but I've been wondering and so I'll just ask:

Why would one need to have, say, more than a DOZEN credit cards, some with tens of thousands of dollars in CL available? When this is a site that's supposed to help us get OUT of debt, and increase our credit scores?

Is it that it helps your credit utilization? Or that it's good to have very large amounts of CL available to you in case of family emergency? Or is it just FUN to challenge yourself, to see what sort of portfolio of cards you can collect?

Just wondering (and a tad bit jealous, too)

Pigeye
Correct. As it seems in today's world that we are being identified as who we are based on our credit profile, it lets the lenders know how trustworthy we are with financial management, whereas back in the days many people used credit in case of emergencies, etc. Personally, having larger CLs w/ different lenders makes me feel comfortable- for utilization purposes, sudden emergencies, and does want to make me work harder to manage my finances responsively. That's where the CCs marketing kicks in- tempting sign up bonuses, rewards, cashback, etc., and keeps making me wanting to apply again and again.

If you can manage to use credit cards wisely and pay what you spend in full, why would you be in debt? You're being smart by using a system to collect rewards. When i was back in college, i've failed in my finances and burned a number of great lenders. After joining this forum, i found the courage to rebuild myself and made habits to be more responsible financially...and yes the hard work always pays off, i'm rewarding myself w/ great sign up perks/ benefits with several great lenders & see my scores ascend.

::edited for typo::

Well, you must be doing SOMETHING right, yude, as my scores are higher and yet all I've got in MY wallet is a $2500 CapitalOne MasterCard, an $800 Target Red Card Visa and a $500 (AU) Citicard. I need some bigger CLs in order to improve my scores, as it's really the only tool I have left (other than letting my remaining 60s-90s-120s age further and further into my rear-view mirror), as I've settled everything else and paid my cc's down to $0.

Pigeye

Re: Serious question . . .

yudeology101 — Wed, 12 Feb 2014 17:20:13 GMT

@Pigeyex wrote:
@yudeology101 wrote:
@Pigeyex wrote:
SERIOUSLY not trying to be snarky, but I've been wondering and so I'll just ask:

Why would one need to have, say, more than a DOZEN credit cards, some with tens of thousands of dollars in CL available? When this is a site that's supposed to help us get OUT of debt, and increase our credit scores?

Is it that it helps your credit utilization? Or that it's good to have very large amounts of CL available to you in case of family emergency? Or is it just FUN to challenge yourself, to see what sort of portfolio of cards you can collect?

Just wondering (and a tad bit jealous, too)

Pigeye
Correct. As it seems in today's world that we are being identified as who we are based on our credit profile, it lets the lenders know how trustworthy we are with financial management, whereas back in the days many people used credit in case of emergencies, etc. Personally, having larger CLs w/ different lenders makes me feel comfortable- for utilization purposes, sudden emergencies, and does want to make me work harder to manage my finances responsively. That's where the CCs marketing kicks in- tempting sign up bonuses, rewards, cashback, etc., and keeps making me wanting to apply again and again.

If you can manage to use credit cards wisely and pay what you spend in full, why would you be in debt? You're being smart by using a system to collect rewards. When i was back in college, i've failed in my finances and burned a number of great lenders. After joining this forum, i found the courage to rebuild myself and made habits to be more responsible financially...and yes the hard work always pays off, i'm rewarding myself w/ great sign up perks/ benefits with several great lenders & see my scores ascend.

::edited for typo::

Well, you must be doing SOMETHING right, yude, as my scores are higher and yet all I've got in MY wallet is a $2500 CapitalOne MasterCard, an $800 Target Red Card Visa and a $500 (AU) Citicard. I need some bigger CLs in order to improve my scores, as it's really the only tool I have left (other than letting my remaining 60s-90s-120s age further and further into my rear-view mirror), as I've settled everything else and paid my cc's down to $0.

Pigeye

I still have like 24 derogatory listings on my CRs from student loan that went into default back in 2009. It wasn't actually until like last year when I paid all my CCs down (FP, Cap1 Secured, Credit One, Matrix) from 90% util to 1~3%. I made a habit of using all my cards heavy and pay everything except reporting a small balance on one of the cards, made a habit and let it report like that for 3-4months and one approval after next with great lenders and still going strong. If you have paid all your CCs down to $0, build your spending/ paying history and let it reflect on your CReport for 3-6months and let the lenders see your pattern. Lenders do like to see a good spending/payment history, I think you should be fine down the road. Others can chime in if I missed out on anything.

Re: Serious question . . .

Pigeyex — Wed, 12 Feb 2014 17:26:34 GMT

@yudeology101 wrote:
@Pigeyex wrote:
@yudeology101 wrote:
@Pigeyex wrote:
SERIOUSLY not trying to be snarky, but I've been wondering and so I'll just ask:

Why would one need to have, say, more than a DOZEN credit cards, some with tens of thousands of dollars in CL available? When this is a site that's supposed to help us get OUT of debt, and increase our credit scores?

Is it that it helps your credit utilization? Or that it's good to have very large amounts of CL available to you in case of family emergency? Or is it just FUN to challenge yourself, to see what sort of portfolio of cards you can collect?

Just wondering (and a tad bit jealous, too)

Pigeye
Correct. As it seems in today's world that we are being identified as who we are based on our credit profile, it lets the lenders know how trustworthy we are with financial management, whereas back in the days many people used credit in case of emergencies, etc. Personally, having larger CLs w/ different lenders makes me feel comfortable- for utilization purposes, sudden emergencies, and does want to make me work harder to manage my finances responsively. That's where the CCs marketing kicks in- tempting sign up bonuses, rewards, cashback, etc., and keeps making me wanting to apply again and again.

If you can manage to use credit cards wisely and pay what you spend in full, why would you be in debt? You're being smart by using a system to collect rewards. When i was back in college, i've failed in my finances and burned a number of great lenders. After joining this forum, i found the courage to rebuild myself and made habits to be more responsible financially...and yes the hard work always pays off, i'm rewarding myself w/ great sign up perks/ benefits with several great lenders & see my scores ascend.

::edited for typo::

Well, you must be doing SOMETHING right, yude, as my scores are higher and yet all I've got in MY wallet is a $2500 CapitalOne MasterCard, an $800 Target Red Card Visa and a $500 (AU) Citicard. I need some bigger CLs in order to improve my scores, as it's really the only tool I have left (other than letting my remaining 60s-90s-120s age further and further into my rear-view mirror), as I've settled everything else and paid my cc's down to $0.

Pigeye
I still have like 24 derogatory listings on my CRs from student loan that went into default back in 2009. It wasn't actually until like last year when I paid all my CCs down (FP, Cap1 Secured, Credit One, Matrix) from 90% util to 1~3%. I made a habit of using all my cards heavy and pay everything except reporting a small balance on one of the cards, made a habit and let it report like that for 3-4months and one approval after next with great lenders and still going strong. If you have paid all your CCs down to $0, build your spending/ paying history and let it reflect on your CReport for 3-6months and let the lenders see your pattern. Lenders do like to see a good spending/payment history, I think you should be fine down the road. Others can chime in if I missed out on anything.

EXCELLENT advice!! I did just start doing the "pay-down-to-$ until the statement cuts/then use a few hundred/then-pay-down-in-full-to-$0 before the statement cuts" thing a couple of months ago, so it may not have been enough time yet. I have been suprised that between that usage pattern, and my rapidly-rising credit scores, that I hadn't gotten more new cc offers or at LEAST an auto CLI from my existing cards. Maybe just not enough time yet.

Is it best to use all three cards in this manner, or just put more $$$ on ONE of them each month (then paying down to $0 before the statement cuts) ???

thanks,

Pigeye

Re: Serious question . . .

Pigeyex — Wed, 12 Feb 2014 17:28:29 GMT

@yudeology101 wrote:
@Pigeyex wrote:
@yudeology101 wrote:
@Pigeyex wrote:
SERIOUSLY not trying to be snarky, but I've been wondering and so I'll just ask:

Why would one need to have, say, more than a DOZEN credit cards, some with tens of thousands of dollars in CL available? When this is a site that's supposed to help us get OUT of debt, and increase our credit scores?

Is it that it helps your credit utilization? Or that it's good to have very large amounts of CL available to you in case of family emergency? Or is it just FUN to challenge yourself, to see what sort of portfolio of cards you can collect?

Just wondering (and a tad bit jealous, too)

Pigeye
Correct. As it seems in today's world that we are being identified as who we are based on our credit profile, it lets the lenders know how trustworthy we are with financial management, whereas back in the days many people used credit in case of emergencies, etc. Personally, having larger CLs w/ different lenders makes me feel comfortable- for utilization purposes, sudden emergencies, and does want to make me work harder to manage my finances responsively. That's where the CCs marketing kicks in- tempting sign up bonuses, rewards, cashback, etc., and keeps making me wanting to apply again and again.

If you can manage to use credit cards wisely and pay what you spend in full, why would you be in debt? You're being smart by using a system to collect rewards. When i was back in college, i've failed in my finances and burned a number of great lenders. After joining this forum, i found the courage to rebuild myself and made habits to be more responsible financially...and yes the hard work always pays off, i'm rewarding myself w/ great sign up perks/ benefits with several great lenders & see my scores ascend.

::edited for typo::

Well, you must be doing SOMETHING right, yude, as my scores are higher and yet all I've got in MY wallet is a $2500 CapitalOne MasterCard, an $800 Target Red Card Visa and a $500 (AU) Citicard. I need some bigger CLs in order to improve my scores, as it's really the only tool I have left (other than letting my remaining 60s-90s-120s age further and further into my rear-view mirror), as I've settled everything else and paid my cc's down to $0.

Pigeye
I still have like 24 derogatory listings on my CRs from student loan that went into default back in 2009. It wasn't actually until like last year when I paid all my CCs down (FP, Cap1 Secured, Credit One, Matrix) from 90% util to 1~3%. I made a habit of using all my cards heavy and pay everything except reporting a small balance on one of the cards, made a habit and let it report like that for 3-4months and one approval after next with great lenders and still going strong. If you have paid all your CCs down to $0, build your spending/ paying history and let it reflect on your CReport for 3-6months and let the lenders see your pattern. Lenders do like to see a good spending/payment history, I think you should be fine down the road. Others can chime in if I missed out on anything.

Were these pre-approved offers in the mail, or what?

Re: Serious question . . .

yudeology101 — Wed, 12 Feb 2014 17:30:49 GMT

@Pigeyex wrote:
@yudeology101 wrote:
@Pigeyex wrote:
@yudeology101 wrote:
@Pigeyex wrote:
SERIOUSLY not trying to be snarky, but I've been wondering and so I'll just ask:

Why would one need to have, say, more than a DOZEN credit cards, some with tens of thousands of dollars in CL available? When this is a site that's supposed to help us get OUT of debt, and increase our credit scores?

Is it that it helps your credit utilization? Or that it's good to have very large amounts of CL available to you in case of family emergency? Or is it just FUN to challenge yourself, to see what sort of portfolio of cards you can collect?

Just wondering (and a tad bit jealous, too)

Pigeye
Correct. As it seems in today's world that we are being identified as who we are based on our credit profile, it lets the lenders know how trustworthy we are with financial management, whereas back in the days many people used credit in case of emergencies, etc. Personally, having larger CLs w/ different lenders makes me feel comfortable- for utilization purposes, sudden emergencies, and does want to make me work harder to manage my finances responsively. That's where the CCs marketing kicks in- tempting sign up bonuses, rewards, cashback, etc., and keeps making me wanting to apply again and again.

If you can manage to use credit cards wisely and pay what you spend in full, why would you be in debt? You're being smart by using a system to collect rewards. When i was back in college, i've failed in my finances and burned a number of great lenders. After joining this forum, i found the courage to rebuild myself and made habits to be more responsible financially...and yes the hard work always pays off, i'm rewarding myself w/ great sign up perks/ benefits with several great lenders & see my scores ascend.

::edited for typo::

Well, you must be doing SOMETHING right, yude, as my scores are higher and yet all I've got in MY wallet is a $2500 CapitalOne MasterCard, an $800 Target Red Card Visa and a $500 (AU) Citicard. I need some bigger CLs in order to improve my scores, as it's really the only tool I have left (other than letting my remaining 60s-90s-120s age further and further into my rear-view mirror), as I've settled everything else and paid my cc's down to $0.

Pigeye
I still have like 24 derogatory listings on my CRs from student loan that went into default back in 2009. It wasn't actually until like last year when I paid all my CCs down (FP, Cap1 Secured, Credit One, Matrix) from 90% util to 1~3%. I made a habit of using all my cards heavy and pay everything except reporting a small balance on one of the cards, made a habit and let it report like that for 3-4months and one approval after next with great lenders and still going strong. If you have paid all your CCs down to $0, build your spending/ paying history and let it reflect on your CReport for 3-6months and let the lenders see your pattern. Lenders do like to see a good spending/payment history, I think you should be fine down the road. Others can chime in if I missed out on anything.
EXCELLENT advice!! I did just start doing the "pay-down-to-$ until the statement cuts/then use a few hundred/then-pay-down-in-full-to-$0 before the statement cuts" thing a couple of months ago, so it may not have been enough time yet. I have been suprised that between that usage pattern, and my rapidly-rising credit scores, that I hadn't gotten more new cc offers or at LEAST an auto CLI from my existing cards. Maybe just not enough time yet.

Is it best to use all three cards in this manner, or just put more $$$ on ONE of them each month (then paying down to $0 before the statement cuts) ???

thanks,

Pigeye

In my opinion, using all three cards you have would be best because you're showing signs of usage on all your available credit from all lenders thus showing signs of managing multiple accounts.

Re: Serious question . . .

yudeology101 — Wed, 12 Feb 2014 17:34:29 GMT

@Pigeyex wrote:

Were these pre-approved offers in the mail, or what?

Only pre-selected offers in the mail I received were the Citi AA & AMEX Green. Other cards I just applied online.

Re: Serious question . . .

Pigeyex — Wed, 12 Feb 2014 17:35:59 GMT

@yudeology101 wrote:

Only pre-selected offers in the mail I received were the Citi AA & AMEX Green. Other cards I just applied online.

OK, thanks. When I do pull the trigger and do my mini-spree (after my mortgage re-fi is approved, closed and funded) I want to make sure I'm picking high-value targets, with a high likelihood of success, since I'll be generating some inquiries on my reports.

Re: Serious question . . .

Anonymous — Wed, 12 Feb 2014 17:49:00 GMT

Another reason could be people need instant gratification or the rush of approval.

Re: Serious question . . .

efranklin23 — Wed, 12 Feb 2014 23:20:27 GMT

@Pigeyex wrote:
SERIOUSLY not trying to be snarky, but I've been wondering and so I'll just ask:

Why would one need to have, say, more than a DOZEN credit cards, some with tens of thousands of dollars in CL available? When this is a site that's supposed to help us get OUT of debt, and increase our credit scores?

Is it that it helps your credit utilization? Or that it's good to have very large amounts of CL available to you in case of family emergency? Or is it just FUN to challenge yourself, to see what sort of portfolio of cards you can collect?

Just wondering (and a tad bit jealous, too)

Pigeye

Some people do it for the status symbol and th addiction as well. I actually had people tell me growing up "You're nothing unless you had an AMEX and Diner's Card". Sometimes this type of mentality breeds the credit card addiction that some of us credit card addicts have. If you feel you can only handle a couple of cards, by all means, keep a couple of cards. I always say get cards that are useful and fit towards my lifestyle. For some people, a dozen of cards may be needed for example if they travel alot and have a family. But most of the times, it's pretty much for the collection.

Re: Serious question . . .

wacdenney — Thu, 13 Feb 2014 04:21:47 GMT

I only had 3 cards up until fairly recently and once I started it was difficult to stop. I actually acquired the MyPoints Visa (mistake) and the Amex in the past week. I honestly didn't sit down with any intention of acquiring new cards, it just sortof happened...