Cards to Cut

[Anonymous]

I started rebuilding in 2016 and have come such a long way with the help of this forum. Thanks for all those who contribute and share!

I started with credit scores in the mid 500s and am now offically in the 700s. I have racked up alot of cards along the way and am really looking to trim some down, it is just too many to manage at this point. Here are the cards I currently have and there credit limits:

Victoria Secret $450.00  

Kohls $700

TJX Rewards $500

Walmart $1500

Discover $600 *was a secured card and finally got my 1st increase after 2 years

Wayfair $4,000

Target $600

Ulta $920

5th/3rd Bank $500

Ebates Visa $3600

Zulily $2200

Paypay MC $3000

American Express $2000

Bank of America $5000

Lowes $10,000

Google Store $3600

JC Penney $4000

Ollo $1400

Card Credit $12,000

BB&T Spectrum $2000

Amazon $3500

Cap One Quicksilver $850 *Oldest Card-Son in college uses

Cap Venture One $3500  *Next Oldest Card

Citi AAdvantage $5600

I rotate the cards and use the AZEO method which I feel has really help me along the way.

I am thinking of getting rid of Victoria Secret, Walmart, Kohls, Target, Ulta and Ollo in the 1st round.

Not sure about the 5th/3rd bank card and have thought about getting rid of Discover but not sure if I should be more patient with it.

Any thoughts on any cards I should keep or defintely get rid of?

[GApeachy]

Is your Walmart a Mastercard by any chance?  If so, you may want to hold on to it to see what happens with our cl's in Aug 2019 when it flips to CapOne.  Also, according to several Synchrony csr's we will be getting a mailer with options soon too.  Not going to comment on the other cards cuz I only know enough to be dangerous.

[pinkandgrey]

My philosophy for this would be: if you find yourself TRYING to put charges on a card just to keep it active, close it. If I don’t use or want a card anymore, I close it. I recently closed half my cards. I did actually have uses for the cards I closed, but I just picked my favorite daily drivers and closed the rest. 

[Anonymous]

Unfortunatley, it is not  

Thanks for your reply!

[calyx]

If you're paying any AFs on cards that don't give equal or greater benefit - definitely cut them.
I would get rid of any store cards you don't actually use.
Though honestly, if there is no AF, why not just throw them in the sock drawer and let them get closed due to inactivity?   Unless you're trying to optimize something (like insurance scores that hate store cards), just let them sit until they're closed due to inactivity so you can maximize the aging?

[Anonymous]

@pinkandgrey That is what I was thinking. It gets daunting sometimes trying to charge something just to keep a card active LOL 

Thanks for your input!

[Anonymous]

@calyx Thanks! Not trying to optimize for any reason right now. We are looking to purchase a home in about a year. Not sure if having these many accounts will hold us back, though from what I have read it shouldn't.

Main goal was really to get rid of store cards. They seemed the easiest to get when rebuilding and I really don't use many of them anymore. Mainly only use JCPenney, Amazon, and Wayfair so that definetly seems the way to go and may just sock drawer the others.

[Anonymous]

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@GApeachy wrote:

Is your Walmart a Mastercard by any chance?  If so, you may want to hold on to it to see what happens with our cl's in Aug 2019 when it flips to CapOne.  Also, according to several Synchrony csr's we will be getting a mailer with options soon too.  Not going to comment on the other cards cuz I only know enough to be dangerous.

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Wait so there’s a chance that Sync could convert the MasterCards to their 2% like they did when Toys R Us went under? Because if that’s a possibility, it may be worth an app...

@Anonymous I agree with the others. I would probably SD before I would close but then I just like to hoard credit. 😂 

[Anonymous]

Great thread with many good recommendations. Over the last couple of years I have been doing the same thing. Closed the store cards first because I had to make up purchases to keep them active and it get's to be too much. Men's Warehouse closed my card after three years of no use and that's when it dawned on me card companies want you to use their cards! Read on here and then went slowly closing cards. You have a good portfolio of cards and posturing for your mortgage early puts time into your credit activities. Remember my mortgage application where they wanted bank statements and written explanations on my cards due to how many I had opened before the mortgage (a no no) which I did not know at the time. Good luck on card closing and ultimately your mortgage application down the road.

[Anonymous]

Mostly agree with the recommendations

However I consider Target red card as a good card if you use it with 5% rebate