Closed 4 accounts today left with 1.

[Chris679]

Citi and BoA are much more liberal about lowering APR than Cap One though. I can't speak for Barclays.

[Chris679]

Just my personal experience BoA dropped from 19 to 14% with one call and Citi from 19% to 13.24%. Also Citi will do 0% promos for existing accounts. Plenty of other reports of Cap One being much more difficult to lower and my experience backs that up as well.

[Anonymous]

---

@Chris679 wrote:
Just my personal experience BoA dropped from 19 to 14% with one call and Citi from 19% to 13.24%. Also Citi will do 0% promos for existing accounts. Plenty of other reports of Cap One being much more difficult to lower and my experience backs that up as well.

---

Thanks for that info. I might reopen Citi then if they let me. BOA gave me worst CL.

[kdm31091]

I definitely wouldn't bother with BOA, IMO they are terrible. Citi is supposed to be pretty ok about reopening accounts if it is recent.

[Anonymous]

---

@kdm31091 wrote:

I definitely wouldn't bother with BOA, IMO they are terrible. Citi is supposed to be pretty ok about reopening accounts if it is recent.

---

Thanks. Gonna try to call them in couple mins.

[Anonymous]

---

@Anonymous wrote:

---

@Anonymous wrote:

---

@kdm31091 wrote:

Of course you would opt to pay off whatever emergency comes up using a savings fund whenever possible. I would never intentionally carry a large balance unless it was unavoidable - yes I have an emergency fund. And I am looking into, at some point adding a low APR card to my lineup for emergency purposes. Those of us who do not make six figure incomes can't always afford to pay off everything to may come up right away. It's a fact of life. I know it's so taboo around here to say anything other than "PIF", but stuff happens!

I'm not suggesting people don't PIF, I'm just saying, sooner or later you may end up carrying a small balance for whatever reason and you'd be happier with a lower APR. I mean, there's no downside to seeking the lowest APR, so you may as well consider it when looking into cards. There's no downside to having a card with a lower APR!

As for OP, I can't really tell him how to live his life. I applaud the decision of simplicity and I hope that it was made on his own behalf, but considering he previously had 5 cards (I think), dropping down to 1 is a bit drastic all at once unless it was instructed by someone i.e. wife. But again, that's none of my business

---

Don't understand why you keep referring to PIF when I don't mention it once in my response to you.

Second, there might be a danger in getting low APR.  A lot of people, including some on this very board, have gotten into heavy debt because they had a low APR and were "confident" they could handle the extra charges.  Some of those same people if they had 20% APRs might have contained their urges...  humans are like that.

Third you completely ignored my point that even if the OP had the emergency excuse there are much better choices for that than Quicksilver.

---

I do not agree to this part. It depends on the individual. After my BK I am very responsible. I have 0% APR on new purchases on Citi,BOA, and balance transfers Barclay. I use my cards still as I am going to pay them off each month. On the other hand it is good to have low APR incase for couple months some unexpected expense arise and I might need little bit time to pay it off.

---

I didn't say that everybody with a low APR would abuse spending.  If you learned from your past experience, more power to you!

And currently you don't have a low APR card, if that is your objective, 14%* ain't low.  Try under 10%.  So, if that is your objective, neither your present card or your canceled cards are good for that.  A CU is the way to go for THAT.

[smc733]

I have a few thoughts about all of this.  First, I want to clear up the Barclay ring is not a fixed rate card, it is 8.0% variable, one APR for all applicants, but it's still variable (based on the prime rate), so I believe that's currently prime + 5.26%.

1.  I disagree with the crowd talking about never closing a non-AF card.  If it is a good backup, yes, keep it, but if it is not worth it to you for anything (toy cards, etc), I say get rid of it.  One less account that may fall to fraud, one less account to worry about being tied to your name.

2.  I believe 4 cards is an ideal number, so you can keep 50% utilized (or 25%), and 50% unutilized.

3.  I disagree that its all about what a card can do for your rewards. If a company can't give me a decent interest rate, and I am very credit worthy, I just don't want to do business with them.  A good mutual relationship goes both ways, they have a right to give me 22.9%, fine, but I have a right to decline their card.

4.  Chasing rewards is seldom worth it, unless you spend a lot.  By chasing, I mean, juggling 4-5 cards to get maximum cash back, when you spend $1,600 a month.  An extra .5% on groceries isn't worth me juggling all these cards.  It may also lead to overspending.  I made the decision a while back to pick primarilly my BofA Cash Rewards for all daily spending, and use my BCE for large/discretionary purchases (for the purchase protection benefits).  So far, I routinely cash in on rewards, because my spending is staying in just two cards.  I also find I spend less this way.  Simplicity is key.  (I also keep my Citi card in the wallet should I run into issues with these cards).

If you can chase the rewards and be sure you're managing it, and you're getting enough of a bump from 2% vs 1.5% on a category for it to matter to you, great!  But percentages are proportional, meaning if you spend a lot where .5% of your spend is a big amount of money, chances are you have enough CC rewards aren't going to make all that much of a difference.

Long story short, I find simplicity wins for me, and it may be what is best for many others.  More power to those who can juggle multiple cards effectively, though!

(I do like having 4, a backup at home is good if you lose your wallet, as is the fact that any creditor can cancel one of your cards out of the blue).

[Anonymous]

---

@Anonymous wrote:

---

@Anonymous wrote:

---

@Anonymous wrote:

---

@kdm31091 wrote:

Of course you would opt to pay off whatever emergency comes up using a savings fund whenever possible. I would never intentionally carry a large balance unless it was unavoidable - yes I have an emergency fund. And I am looking into, at some point adding a low APR card to my lineup for emergency purposes. Those of us who do not make six figure incomes can't always afford to pay off everything to may come up right away. It's a fact of life. I know it's so taboo around here to say anything other than "PIF", but stuff happens!

I'm not suggesting people don't PIF, I'm just saying, sooner or later you may end up carrying a small balance for whatever reason and you'd be happier with a lower APR. I mean, there's no downside to seeking the lowest APR, so you may as well consider it when looking into cards. There's no downside to having a card with a lower APR!

As for OP, I can't really tell him how to live his life. I applaud the decision of simplicity and I hope that it was made on his own behalf, but considering he previously had 5 cards (I think), dropping down to 1 is a bit drastic all at once unless it was instructed by someone i.e. wife. But again, that's none of my business

---

Don't understand why you keep referring to PIF when I don't mention it once in my response to you.

Second, there might be a danger in getting low APR.  A lot of people, including some on this very board, have gotten into heavy debt because they had a low APR and were "confident" they could handle the extra charges.  Some of those same people if they had 20% APRs might have contained their urges...  humans are like that.

Third you completely ignored my point that even if the OP had the emergency excuse there are much better choices for that than Quicksilver.

---

I do not agree to this part. It depends on the individual. After my BK I am very responsible. I have 0% APR on new purchases on Citi,BOA, and balance transfers Barclay. I use my cards still as I am going to pay them off each month. On the other hand it is good to have low APR incase for couple months some unexpected expense arise and I might need little bit time to pay it off.

---

I didn't say that everybody with a low APR would abuse spending.  If you learned from your past experience, more power to you!

And currently you don't have a low APR card, if that is your objective, 14%* ain't low.  Try under 10%.  So, if that is your objective, neither your present card or your canceled cards are good for that.  A CU is the way to go for THAT.

Spend what you got vs spend what you think you can get was the key point I didnt understand prior to BK. Now I understand it real good lol. I know 14.49% is not a low APR but it is better then 22.99%. For some reason I don't like dealing with credit unions.

[Anonymous]

"BOA said they would have to do a hard pull to reopen."

Edited for use of a word that isn't allowed.

[Anonymous]

---

@smc733 wrote:

I have a few thoughts about all of this.  First, I want to clear up the Barclay ring is not a fixed rate card, it is 8.0% variable, one APR for all applicants, but it's still variable (based on the prime rate), so I believe that's currently prime + 5.26%.

1.  I disagree with the crowd talking about never closing a non-AF card.  If it is a good backup, yes, keep it, but if it is not worth it to you for anything (toy cards, etc), I say get rid of it.  One less account that may fall to fraud, one less account to worry about being tied to your name.

2.  I believe 4 cards is an ideal number, so you can keep 50% utilized (or 25%), and 50% unutilized.

3.  I disagree that its all about what a card can do for your rewards. If a company can't give me a decent interest rate, and I am very credit worthy, I just don't want to do business with them.  A good mutual relationship goes both ways, they have a right to give me 22.9%, fine, but I have a right to decline their card.

4.  Chasing rewards is seldom worth it, unless you spend a lot.  By chasing, I mean, juggling 4-5 cards to get maximum cash back, when you spend $1,600 a month.  An extra .5% on groceries isn't worth me juggling all these cards.  It may also lead to overspending.  I made the decision a while back to pick primarilly my BofA Cash Rewards for all daily spending, and use my BCE for large/discretionary purchases (for the purchase protection benefits).  So far, I routinely cash in on rewards, because my spending is staying in just two cards.  I also find I spend less this way.  Simplicity is key.  (I also keep my Citi card in the wallet should I run into issues with these cards).

If you can chase the rewards and be sure you're managing it, and you're getting enough of a bump from 2% vs 1.5% on a category for it to matter to you, great!  But percentages are proportional, meaning if you spend a lot where .5% of your spend is a big amount of money, chances are you have enough CC rewards aren't going to make all that much of a difference.

Long story short, I find simplicity wins for me, and it may be what is best for many others.  More power to those who can juggle multiple cards effectively, though!

(I do like having 4, a backup at home is good if you lose your wallet, as is the fact that any creditor can cancel one of your cards out of the blue).

---

Well said.