Credit card trim down

[Anonymous]

After my divorce several years ago my credit was a disaster around 405. A lot of work, good advice from the knowledgeable people here, and some good luck I'm currently around 768 fico (3 score average). I just got married last November and the wife while she sports a near perfect credit score is wary of the number of cards I've amassed during my rebuild. I dont carry a lot of balances. I have 3 with a balance, all on 0% used to pay for the portion of our wedding and honeymoon we didnt have saved or gifted to us, not a lot a little less than 10k. So I told her I would go through them and try to trim them down. So I was curious if closing them was a good idea or just sock drawer them. I have 24 card and I laid them all out I actually only regularly use 6-7 of them, 7 i never use, and 10 are special occasion, emergency, or just in case cards. I'm going to list them in their categories and would love any suggestions on any I could close our or any other to please the wife but not damage my credit score I've worked so hard on. 

Regularly used 

Usaa amex 5% gas $0/2500

Red card 5% target $0/1000

Penfed PCR 2% cb $1950/6000 (used to auto pay rent) PIF monthly

Amazon store card 5% CB or 0% $266/6000

Amex gold for MR points $0/NPSL

Capital one Venture 2x miles $2400/10500 (0% BT used toward wedding) but also used to book hotels. 

BBVA compass 3% utilities $152/7500 (auto pay utilities) always PIF 

Used only for certain things or special occasions or emergencies 

Penfed Promise $0/2500 (have for emergencies no fee cash advance never used)

Care credit $0/6000 have for dental work will need some this year 

Amex blue cash 3% groceries $0/3600 rarely use anymore

Discover it 5% categories only groceries restaurants and uber really $396/9500 PIF monthly 

BoA cash rewards 3% categories $4000/7000 (on 0% from honeymoon)

Citi rewards $5065/8100 (got this for the 18 month 0% offer 3200 on it from wedding and about 2000 from when our washer/dryer went out 

BB&T bright $550/6500 (got it for 0% offer for wedding didnt need it but used it to pay an emergency bill to keep other balances in check. 

Delta skymiles Platinum $0/10000 (use this for flights which we take 6-10 a year as wifes family is scattered around the country. But they're raising the AF and I dont know if a companion pass is worth it with having the gold card. 

Cards never used 

Barclaycard apple rewards $0/2000 

Herzberg store card $0/2501 (got for special 0$ when I bought an engagement ring never used since

Capital one Platinum $0/500 was my first secured card 

Discover it chrome $0/1550 was my second secured card 

Amex cash magnet $0/2000

Amex hilton $0/1300 (have a lot of hilton point if I didnt close this would I lose those?)

Walmart store card $0/2500 (got this for 3% online but the BoA has 3% online shopping but I mostly get online shopping from Amazon) 

Oh I also have a blispay card but eh why mention that

Ok I think that's it any advice or suggestions would be greatly appreciated. 

[Anonymous]

Personally, I would never do more than SD unless it's an never used card with an AF. Outside of that specific scenario I would just SD (or even shred) them and let the lender close them due to lack of use whenever (if ever) they feel like it. It will help maintain your AAoA and utilization for the longest amount of time for free. 

Because you're doing this for your new wife (congrats) you'll want to discuss this in-depth with her to see what makes her the most comfortable that you're willing to do or compromise with. Is there a set number she wants you to have? Does she have specific goals she wants, i.e.-utilization %, etc.? Is she fine with you keeping all of them as long as they're locked away in a safe or something? The answer realistically lies in that discussion somewhere. 

[Gmood1]

I agree with dyno85.

I normally SD the ones not used often, unless it's an AF card that doesn't get used enough to warrant the AF.

Since no one can tell the future. Some of them might be useful when you least expect it.

[JNA1]

If it were me, I’d educate her on your card lineup and explain that her nervousness is unfounded. You got to the point you did be working hard on your credit and (presumably) listening to people here. I wouldn’t close any cards just to appease a false notion. If you want to thin the herd to make them easier to manage, that’s a different story, but there’s likely nothing to gain by closing cards “just because”. You already took the hit for HPs and drop of AAoA for those cards, so at this point, they stand to help more than hurt.

[Anonymous]

I would never close cards just to appease someone else. If she is worried about the potential for debt, you can get in just as much trouble with 10 cards as you can 24. 

The most I would offer is to SD the cards. 

[pinkandgrey]

I would get rid of any and all that I didn't use. Just my philosophy, though--and a philosophy with which many disagree. 

[Anonymous]

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@pinkandgrey wrote:

I would get rid of any and all that I didn't use. Just my philosophy, though--and a philosophy with which many disagree. 

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Yes!  This. 

Why keep around a bunch of cards that serve no purpose to you. 

And this crap of not letting anyone tell you what to do with your cards, blah, blah. It's his wife. Once financial matters get mixed, it's not a sole decision anymore. This can ring even more true in community property states. If I was you, I'd close those that have no purpose to me and make the wife happy. 

[Anonymous]

Personally, I would let go of those cards you don't use and have no use for especially if it has AF's since its unnecessarily burning a hole through the SD.

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

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@pinkandgrey wrote:

I would get rid of any and all that I didn't use. Just my philosophy, though--and a philosophy with which many disagree. 

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Yes!  This. 

Why keep around a bunch of cards that serve no purpose to you. 

And this crap of not letting anyone tell you what to do with your cards, blah, blah. It's his wife. Once financial matters get mixed, it's not a sole decision anymore. This can ring even more true in community property states. If I was you, I'd close those that have no purpose to me and make the wife happy. 

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I don't care who you are, nobody is going to dictate what I do with my finances. 

I would compromise by agreeing to the SD or possibly even cutting up some of the cards if it would help but I'm not going to burn relationships with a bunch of creditors to appease someone else's needs. I would get a divorce before I would give someone that much control. 

[Gunnerboy]

Yeah, 24 cards is too many to me.  I would close those "Cards never used".

Even the five to six cards I SD at any given time, I fully intend to use 3-4 times throughout the year.  SD'ing cards that I don't foresee using comes off as cluttered to me, redundant even.  If I have so many cards that I have to write a list out everytime, then I know I have too many.