Do I have too many cards?

[Anonymous]

Hey folks, first post on this forum but I've been browsing for a while. I'm 21, my transunion credit score is 725. I'm not sure how accurate this is, though.  As it stands now, I have:

Capital One Card - $500 credit limit, no balance

Discover Card - $2,500 credit limit, no balance

Dell Computer - $3,000 credit limit, $700 balance(I will be paying this balance off in full by mid-October.)

Navy Federal Credit Union - $5,000 credit limit, $500 balance

Now the cards with no balances I use monthly on small purchases such as gas, groceries, etc and pay them off immediately.

I ask this because I'd like to get another credit card, preferably to an electronics store(whether it's Best Buy or Newegg I haven't decided yet) but am worried because my Navy Federal card and Discover card are relatively new(within the year). I have never missed a payment on any of my cards and I'm just trying to build a good enough credit history to buy a house by the time I'm 25(currently 21, as I already said).

Thanks, any tips you might be able to share on how to better improve my score or if I'm doing something wrong I'd greatly appreciate.

[Wolf3]

IMO, Not too many.   I don't see any problem getting another store card.

[Prettylady1]

Why do you need another card when you have several with high limits that you can make purchases on. The best thing to do is keep the balances low and let the cards age! You shouldn't have any problem with getting a house. Your scores will go up as everything ages! Good luck

[shiftomnimega]

I don't think you have too many cards.  I don't think anybody on this board would say that's too many.  Suze Orman might have an issue.Most financial advisors like her say no more than four.

I'm a little older than you, but have the same time frame for the same goal.  So I sort of went on an app spree on CCs over the past year.  By the time 4 or 5 years are over those accounts will be nice and mature.

With regards to BBY vs NewEgg... I, personally, wouldn't get any more store cards.

Do you have student loans or a car loan?  If not you may want to demonstrate to a lender you can handle a shorter term installment loan before you get the house.

[Anonymous]

I want to get another store card because I buy a lot of electronics and I like to keep my Discover Card tucked away in case of an emergency.  The only reason my Capital One card still exists right now is because it's my oldest card and if I got rid of it my credit history would shorten by 2 years.

As for the installment loan, I will probably be getting a car loan soon.  I have student loans but they are deferrened until I graduate which will be at least 2 more years, as of now I'm just paying off the interest as it accrues.

[haulingthescoreup]

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@Anonymous wrote:

I want to get another store card because I buy a lot of electronics and I like to keep my Discover Card tucked away in case of an emergency.  The only reason my Capital One card still exists right now is because it's my oldest card and if I got rid of it my credit history would shorten by 2 years.

As for the installment loan, I will probably be getting a car loan soon.  I have student loans but they are deferrened until I graduate which will be at least 2 more years, as of now I'm just paying off the interest as it accrues.

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Just be sure that the card that you get is one that will wind up being truly useful to you.

Have you examined either your EQ or TU FICO reports? Do you know what your AAoA is? One excellent rule of thumb (proved by personal experience, alas) is that you don't want to drop your AAoA a year or more. It's really painful climbing back up that path.

[score_building]

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@Anonymous wrote:

I want to get another store card because I buy a lot of electronics and I like to keep my Discover Card tucked away in case of an emergency.  The only reason my Capital One card still exists right now is because it's my oldest card and if I got rid of it my credit history would shorten by 2 years.

As for the installment loan, I will probably be getting a car loan soon.  I have student loans but they are deferrened until I graduate which will be at least 2 more years, as of now I'm just paying off the interest as it accrues.

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Not for another c. 10 yrs when a closed acct stops reporting; until then it will typically continue to count towards AAoA.

That said, I have kept my Cap1 card (from almost a decade ago) open for the AAoA benefiit, since I don't want it dropping off, even if it is 10 yrs from now.

[Anonymous]

I am now getting prime cards, I want to close out my old Household credit card, but it has the longest history. Macy's is next by 2 mos. Ive had both since 2005, what do you guys think?

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:
I am now getting prime cards, I want to close out my old Household credit card, but it has the longest history. Macy's is next by 2 mos. Ive had both since 2005, what do you guys think?

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As stated above, if you close those two cards, they will still continue to report for the next ten years, open or closed they still count towards your AAoA, the question is, do you want to keep them open and pay the AF's if any and just let them sit on your report until they are either closed by the lender (if that happens, assuming you stop using them) or close them and in 10 years from now when they fall off, you feel you will have a good enough credit history (AAoA) and won't need them reporting anymore?

And one other thing to consider is your total avail revolving credit, if you close the cards, you will lose whatever CL's you have on those two cards. Do you need that extra avail revolving credit those cards provide or do you have enough avail revolving credit without them?

The only way closing CC's will hurt you is by raising your util if you carry balances on your CC's, if you're like me and carry a very small balance on just one CC each month and PIF that balance after the statement posts, then loosing that extra avail credit from those two cards won't hurt you.

In the end the choice is yours, you just need to think about what is best for you.

[Anonymous]

AAoA?