I opened too many 
So this year since I started rebuilding I've opened
Cap One Feb
Cap One June
Overstock June
HSN June (Closed)
JCrew June
Express June (Closed)
Giant Eagle Aug
Merrick Aug
Macy's Aug
Local CU Visa (Sep)
Care Credit Dec (Wife has some dental surgery coming up)
Amex BCE Dec
Amex ED Dec
Macy's Amex Dec
I'm going to combine the two capital ones in a few days (Waiting for one more CLI). That will be my oldest account.
Closing Giant Eagle as it is useless. Sadly took a HP for it.
Closing Merrick
Keeping the local CU just for the relationship, want to get a mortgage from them next year.
Now that I have real limits on the Amex's and the capital one, I may close the JCrew as well even though it's hitting 2K. I don't want to have to use it to get it to report.
I really like my overstock card as well, but it's limit even though it grows monthly will be dwarfed by my other cards by the end of 16.
At the end of this year I will see which amex has been more useful and combine the limits and close one.
Thoughts?
I'd ax ALL store cards but that's just me 
Good plan to get at least one more cli before combining cap1.
On the Amex cards you have a year to figure out which one benefits you most, if not both. Would putting the surgery on Amex be more financially beneficial to you for 0% intro period? That's if you're brave enough to carry a balance with Amex. I was and they said no cli for you
Good plan to get at least one more cli before combining cap1.
On the Amex cards you have a year to figure out which one benefits you most, if not both. Would putting the surgery on Amex be more financially beneficial to you for 0% intro period? That's if you're brave enough to carry a balance with Amex. I was and they said no cli for you
@TrialByFire wrote:
I'd ax ALL store cards but that's just me
Good plan to get at least one more cli before combining cap1.
On the Amex cards you have a year to figure out which one benefits you most, if not both. Would putting the surgery on Amex be more financially beneficial to you for 0% intro period? That's if you're brave enough to carry a balance with Amex. I was and they said no cli for you
You know Overstock has really good rewards for shopping there, and constant 0% deals, and I get a free CLI every month. When their stuff is cheaper it's usually worth it, so It will probably stick around. J crew though :/. The merrick just sits there unused. I suppose I can keep it for AAOA since I don't have to manage/use it and it's a no fee card.
I, also am not brave enough to carry a balance with Amex, at least while my profile is so thin, in a couple of years I'm sure I'll be like eff it Since the care credit will be about 50% uti with 0% after the surgery, it seemed the best option, plus I figured it wouldn't spook other creditors since it's so specific to health care.
I'm trying to tread carefully, after this year and my mortgage I won't be worried about any of this.
@TrialByFire wrote:
I'd ax ALL store cards but that's just me
Good plan to get at least one more cli before combining cap1.
On the Amex cards you have a year to figure out which one benefits you most, if not both. Would putting the surgery on Amex be more financially beneficial to you for 0% intro period? That's if you're brave enough to carry a balance with Amex. I was and they said no cli for you
I carried balance on BCE (now BCP), and got a cli.
@Imperfectfuture wrote:
@TrialByFire wrote:
I'd ax ALL store cards but that's just me
Good plan to get at least one more cli before combining cap1.
On the Amex cards you have a year to figure out which one benefits you most, if not both. Would putting the surgery on Amex be more financially beneficial to you for 0% intro period? That's if you're brave enough to carry a balance with Amex. I was and they said no cli for youI carried balance on BCE (now BCP), and got a cli.
Yeah but I think my AAoA at this point is measured in hours
I should add on that subject, heavy emphasis on "carried a balance" 
@Anonymous wrote:Thoughts?
You have to do what works for you. If you opened too many then keep that in mind when applying in future. Put more thought into the decision before applying.
@Anonymous wrote:
Amex BCE Dec
Amex ED Dec
These two, for example, have a lot of overlap. Do you really have enough spend to split up between the BCE's cash back and the ED's MR points? Did you caerfully consider the MR redemption methods that you can use and how they impact reward value? Did you consider how long it will take you to accrue enough MR's to redeem with your spend?
If you do have a lot of spend covered by these cards then neither of these is probably a good fit and their Preferred versions. Did you run the numbers for your spend and consider total cost/benefit or were you just looking to avoid AF's?
Start with your needs/wants and use those to filter down the options. Make sure you're running the numbers for your spend to help you in your decision making.
@TrialByFire wrote:
That's if you're brave enough to carry a balance with Amex. I was and they said no cli for you
Please don't propagate the "AmEx hates balances" meme. It is not simply a matter of balance/no balance. Like any other creditor, one's entire credit profile and income matter. I received CLI's on my AmEx cards while carrying balances.