Hi guys!
It's been a long time since I've been here. You all helped me get my credit straight so I could buy a house in 2010 and you also gave some sound advice regarding an insurance debacle I was facing which worked itself out (thankfully) but at a cost.
Now I have a question about credit cards. These are my current accounts. Due to medical bills I have about 34% utilization on these accounts but I've been steadily paying them down. I have a plan to pay all the accounts down to zero over the next ten years. Having said that, should I be concerned about having too many accounts open? If so, which ones should I close?
| AMERICAN EXPRESS (Blue Cash Everyday) | $ 12,600.00 |
| AMERICAN EXPRESS (Delta Skymiles Gold) | $ 2,000.00 |
| BANK OF AMERICA (BankAmericard Cash Rewards Signature Visa) | $ 8,000.00 |
| CHASE BANK USA, NA (Freedom) | $ 5,000.00 |
| CHASE BANK USA, NA (Slate) | $ 3,000.00 |
| CITICARDS CBNA (Diamond Preferred) | $ 10,900.00 |
| CITICARDS CBNA (Platinum Select) | $ 1,800.00 |
| CITICARDS CBNA (Thank You) | $ 5,000.00 |
| CITICARDS CBNA (Hilton Hhonors Visa Signature) | $ 6,400.00 |
| DISCOVER BANK (More) | $ 15,400.00 |
| NATIONWIDE BANK | $ 7,500.00 |
| SYNCB/ROOMS TO GO | $ 5,500.00 |
| $ 83,100 |
@soliloquy wrote:Hi guys!
It's been a long time since I've been here. You all helped me get my credit straight so I could buy a house in 2010 and you also gave some sound advice regarding an insurance debacle I was facing which worked itself out (thankfully) but at a cost.
Now I have a question about credit cards. These are my current accounts. Due to medical bills I have about 34% utilization on these accounts but I've been steadily paying them down. I have a plan to pay all the accounts down to zero over the next ten years. Having said that, should I be concerned about having too many accounts open? If so, which ones should I close?
AMERICAN EXPRESS (Blue Cash Everyday) $ 12,600.00 AMERICAN EXPRESS (Delta Skymiles Gold) $ 2,000.00 BANK OF AMERICA (BankAmericard Cash Rewards Signature Visa) $ 8,000.00 CHASE BANK USA, NA (Freedom) $ 5,000.00 CHASE BANK USA, NA (Slate) $ 3,000.00 CITICARDS CBNA (Diamond Preferred) $ 10,900.00 CITICARDS CBNA (Platinum Select) $ 1,800.00 CITICARDS CBNA (Thank You) $ 5,000.00 CITICARDS CBNA (Hilton Hhonors Visa Signature) $ 6,400.00 DISCOVER BANK (More) $ 15,400.00 NATIONWIDE BANK $ 7,500.00 SYNCB/ROOMS TO GO $ 5,500.00 $ 83,100
Well, no. Don't close any cards thinking that having that many is bad for your credit. They are generating a nice thick credit file, assuming you don't fail to make a minimum payment, then thats all for the good.
Now, you can and should consider whether those cards are earning you the best rewards. For example, you should be able to change the Discover More card into a Discover It card, pretty much just by calling and asking. And instead of earning only 1/4% on the first $3000 of non-category spending each year, you will earn 1% on all non category spending.
The Citi Double Cash is available now, for (1% + 1%) cash back on everything. In other words, its 2% cash back. Might be worth talking to Citi about a product change once you get one of the Citi cards paid off, and thus don't need to consider the APR on your outstanding balance.
I meant TWO years - NOT ten years LOL
Ah...AF is annual fee. Gotcha. The Delta Skymiles Gold card has an annual fee of $95.00 BUT my bags fly free and I fly frequently so on a family of four it usually saves me $200.00 per trip and we all fly several times a year. I would want to keep that one for that reason. Thanks for the advice!
I am so confused about credit card benefits. I really need to sit down and figure it all out. I don't want to "neglect" a card and risk a creditor closing an account for non-use (really don't know how that works though) but I've heard I should concentrate all purchases on one card to make the most of the benefits.
No interest. That card has a $0.00 balance.
The only cards with a running balance are my Citi Diamond, the Discover More card, and my Chase Slate card (which I'll be paying off this month). The other cards are all $0.00 utilization and right now the three cards I mentioned have promotional offers of 0% interest until May (for one) through August (for the others) next year. I'm not paying interest on anything at the moment. That's why I'm going to bust my butt to pay the other things off. I do not use the cards with the promotional offer but I use my other cards and I pay the balance in full on all of the other ones each month so they only report a small amount (if they report it to the credit bureaus) before the monthly payment posts.
Basically each card is attached to one or more bills so that they are all used each month. That's why I posted the other thread. I don't know if it's better to do this to keep creditors happy OR if I should concentrate on just one card.
