Greetings all.
I'm looking to close some of my credit card accounts soon. I'm all for sock drawering cards but I'm thinking this is a lot of available credit and it just seems easier if I close them instead of having to keep track of charging something on them every so often to keep them open. I've been doing that so far but I want to simplify things. I'd love to have your input. I'll list all of my cards and note the ones I'm thinking of closing. Here goes:
1999 Amex BCP 18K
2007 Capital 1 Quicksilver 12.6K**
2012 Citi Dividend 9.2K*
2013 CSP 20K***
2013 Freedom 10K
2013 J Crew 4.1K *
2013 Nordstrom 22.5K
2014 Discover IT 7.5K*
2014 Barclay Rewards 24K*
2016 PRG
2015 Amex Blue Cash 16.2K****
2015 Banana Republic Luxe Visa 9.3K
2016 Bloomies Amex 8K
2017 CSR 34K (just applied for this card on 2/14 in branch)
*On the chopping block
**Considering keeping this one open due to the 2007 date even though I know closed cards can stay on my report for 10 years & count towards AAoA?
***Does it make sense to keep the CSP when I have the CSR now? I would reallocate the CSP CL to my Freedom (which I'm considering PCing to the FU) & CSR.*
****I would reallocate the majority/all of this limit to the BCP.
I have a reporting balance on my Freedom of $3900 which is a balance transfer that ends later this year and a balance of $1200 reporting on the Discover from an AU's charges (to be paid off next week). Everything else is at a zero balance.
I've been using the Barclay card to pay for my utlities and cell bill. The 2x points have been useful in applying towards the statement for a credit and occasionally gift cards. None of my other cards offer an incentive for the payment of utlities or cell but I don't mind losing this "perk".
Also, we spend a lot on groceries and I use the BCP from January - August/September when I reach the 6K spend cap. Then I switch to the BC for Aug/Sept - Dec for the 3% cashback. I'm willing to close the BC because I want to reign in our grocery spend. I'd like to bring it down to $500/month. Actually, I think that just might be impossible for my family. I may need to keep this card open for a few more months. Grocery shopping is my least favorite chore and I tend to go to the closest store out of convenience rather than drive further and shop around. I've heard that Aldi's has gone organic and has low prices so I will give this store a try at the end of the month to see if I notice a big savings and will reevaluate closing this card at a later date.
I hope I've given enough info. Please share your thoughts and thanks so much!
@Anonymous wrote:
@shanac wrote:Greetings all.
I'm looking to close some of my credit card accounts soon. I'm all for sock drawering cards but I'm thinking this is a lot of available credit and it just seems easier if I close them instead of having to keep track of charging something on them every so often to keep them open. I've been doing that so far but I want to simplify things. I'd love to have your input. I'll list all of my cards and note the ones I'm thinking of closing. Here goes:
1999 Amex BCP 18K
2007 Capital 1 Quicksilver 12.6K**
2012 Citi Dividend 9.2K*
2013 CSP 20K***
2013 Freedom 10K
2013 J Crew 4.1K *
2013 Nordstrom 22.5K
2014 Discover IT 7.5K*
2014 Barclay Rewards 24K*
2016 PRG
2015 Amex Blue Cash 16.2K****
2015 Banana Republic Luxe Visa 9.3K
2016 Bloomies Amex 8K
2017 CSR 34K (just applied for this card on 2/14 in branch)
*On the chopping block
**Considering keeping this one open due to the 2007 date even though I know closed cards can stay on my report for 10 years & count towards AAoA?
***Does it make sense to keep the CSP when I have the CSR now? I would reallocate the CSP CL to my Freedom (which I'm considering PCing to the FU) & CSR.*
****I would reallocate the majority/all of this limit to the BCP.
I have a reporting balance on my Freedom of $3900 which is a balance transfer that ends later this year and a balance of $1200 reporting on the Discover from an AU's charges (to be paid off next week). Everything else is at a zero balance.
I've been using the Barclay card to pay for my utlities and cell bill. The 2x points have been useful in applying towards the statement for a credit and occasionally gift cards. None of my other cards offer an incentive for the payment of utlities or cell but I don't mind losing this "perk".
Also, we spend a lot on groceries and I use the BCP from January - August/September when I reach the 6K spend cap. Then I switch to the BC for Aug/Sept - Dec for the 3% cashback. I'm willing to close the BC because I want to reign in our grocery spend. I'd like to bring it down to $500/month. Actually, I think that just might be impossible for my family. I may need to keep this card open for a few more months. Grocery shopping is my least favorite chore and I tend to go to the closest store out of convenience rather than drive further and shop around. I've heard that Aldi's has gone organic and has low prices so I will give this store a try at the end of the month to see if I notice a big savings and will reevaluate closing this card at a later date.
I hope I've given enough info. Please share your thoughts and thanks so much!Definitely axe the CSP in some form. Completely useless now that you have the CSR. I would not though transfer the limit to the Freedom. $10K is more than enough limit for the Freedom given that the bonus categories are limited each quarter. If I were me, I'd PC it to the Freedom Unlimited so that you have the trifecta of UR earning cards on the personal side and then move all but $5K to the CSR. The CSR is the type of a card that you might incur large charges as it is a travel card so that extra limit will allow you flexibility and a buffer on the card.
If if you don't care about keeping open the Barclays then I would go ahead and close all those listed in green.
Definitely close the Blue Cash and move the limit to the BCP
If you are not using the QS in any form, I would close that as well and not worry about the AAoA. In ten years your other cards will have aged and closing the QS will not hurt your AAoA in any significant way.
Irish80, thanks for taking time to read all of that! If I understand correctly, you said I could PC the CSP at 20K to the Freedom Unlimited and then move 15K to the CSR leaving 5K on the FU?
Only thing I would add is that check what your default spend items are as the Chase trifecta allows you to arbitrage some large payments (income / property tax) in your life, and for me 5K wouldn't be close to what I need personally.
I suspect the vast majority of people can use 20K on the FU and 33K or whatever it was on the CSR moreso than 48Kish on the CSR and 5K on the FU.
In my case it's 22K FU, 43K CSR, 4K Freedom. Actually I'd look at moving some of that 10K out of the Freedom too but that's me 
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@Revelate wrote:Only thing I would add is that check what your default spend items are as the Chase trifecta allows you to arbitrage some large payments (income / property tax) in your life, and for me 5K wouldn't be close to what I need personally.
I suspect the vast majority of people can use 20K on the FU and 33K or whatever it was on the CSR moreso than 48Kish on the CSR and 5K on the FU.
In my case it's 22K FU, 43K CSR, 4K Freedom. Actually I'd look at moving some of that 10K out of the Freedom too but that's me
Good points. If you do intend to use the FU for some large non travel purchases then a higher limit could be advantageous. I agree that $5K on the Freedom is about the max you'll ever need on that card.
@Revelate wrote:Only thing I would add is that check what your default spend items are as the Chase trifecta allows you to arbitrage some large payments (income / property tax) in your life, and for me 5K wouldn't be close to what I need personally.
I suspect the vast majority of people can use 20K on the FU and 33K or whatever it was on the CSR moreso than 48Kish on the CSR and 5K on the FU.
In my case it's 22K FU, 43K CSR, 4K Freedom. Actually I'd look at moving some of that 10K out of the Freedom too but that's me
I was thinking 5K may be small for the FU so I definitely plan to allocate more to that card. Good point on the the Freedom's 10K limit. For now, I will leave that one be--for utilization purposes--until my BT is paid off.
Thank you!