@kdm31091 wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:
@kdm31091 wrote:As I have mentioned many times on these forums, for most people, there is little to no point (rewards wise) in spreading spend across more than a few cards. You only have so much to spend every month, and every card you dilute it across is just going to water down your rewards, making them add up slowly and potentially making it so you either can never cash out or to where it just takes forever and isn't worthwhile.
I am definitely in favor of concentrating spend. Where you may give up 1% or 2% on some purchases, you are gaining in simplicity and adding to the same pile of rewards more quickly. For some products and reward systems, it doesn't matter as much (i.e. cash back cards with no redemption threshold), but I still prefer a centralized approach. Keeping track of a dozen+ cards in a spreadsheet to maximize a dollar or two a month just isn't something that I find to be worthwhile although others enjoy it.
Agreed. Also add in the time you have to track all these spends and rotating the cards just to earn rewards. Surely, it gets old and boring after a while.
I agree. I used to be in the mindset of opening a card for this, a card for 1% more on that, etc but honestly, it just gets old at some point and not worth the time/effort for the minimal gain. Unless the given category on a card is something you spend a ton of money on, I think most people are better off with a couple solid cards and concentrating the spend there.
There's also the time factor like you said. For the amount of time spent keeping track of a dozen or two dozen cards to maximize $2 or $4 a month, one could easily be clipping coupons to save the same or more in less amounts of time.
To piggyback off of this response I also think its makes much more sense to spread your spend over a few cards if maximizing rewards is your objective. I think having a specific credit card for every little expense can get old after awhile. When rebuilding or when first coming to myFico its easy to get caught up in the whirlwind of apps and new accounts but to me, over time, that thrill will wear off and doing what's practical and useful becomes the long-term goal moreso than acquiring new accounts for every little thing.
As with any hobbyist or collector, interest become more refined over time and quality takes precedence over quantity. That's why I believe getting the right cards to match your spending needs and habits from the beginning makes more sense than getting tons of useless cards that you end up closing and adding inquiries and risking AA for nothing.
I have a total of 4, AF-free 2% cashback cards, which I find to be very useful b/c I can earn points on each of them by using each one every month moderately, but then I PIF at the end of the month for all of them (except for DC which I am also currently revolving a 0% promo on). That way I don't have to worry about having to spend so much on any one single 2% card that I have to revolve on it and not be able to PIF.
