Finally Closing Credit Cards 2020

[Anonymous]

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@AverageJoesCredit wrote:

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@Anonymous wrote:

I can't say that I blame you. I would have done the same. 

I do think that 5 is too few though. #LenderDiversityFTW

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Yeah, why i said it would be difficult. Just maintaining an Amex and Disco eats 2 card slots. Then add in Navy, low apr cards like Langley and PSECU, it would be hard. If i had to choose just 5 i probsbly could do it but would like sufficient limits on each card and definetly at least 4 lenders minimum.

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I won't close CU cards so it would be very hard for me to thoroughly downsize. I could probably get to 10 without being too upset, 4 of those being CU cards. 

[AverageJoesCredit]

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@Anonymous wrote:

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@AverageJoesCredit wrote:

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@Anonymous wrote:

I can't say that I blame you. I would have done the same. 

I do think that 5 is too few though. #LenderDiversityFTW

---

Yeah, why i said it would be difficult. Just maintaining an Amex and Disco eats 2 card slots. Then add in Navy, low apr cards like Langley and PSECU, it would be hard. If i had to choose just 5 i probsbly could do it but would like sufficient limits on each card and definetly at least 4 lenders minimum.

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I won't close CU cards so it would be very hard for me to thoroughly downsize. I could probably get to 10 without being too upset, 4 of those being CU cards. 

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Yeah, 10 sounds about right for those of us who love cc's have lots of credit but dont want to go all @pinkandgrey  and the brain😄

[Anonymous]

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@AverageJoesCredit wrote:

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Lol, would be more if i never closed Zales, $9250, and Gordons $6250 lol. I did my damage though. I think i have like 45 or 46 accounts on my reports with 30 active before tonight. 1 pl . We put in the hard work now its time to tweak ( but not Craig) I dont think we would have been able to do what we did in 2016-2017 in this years credit environment.   #LIErLife

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I agree, i really don't think with the way it is now, we'd have half of what we have.    most of the INQ's tho i'm sure

EQ is the worst..   CU's.   but then i get a fair amount of EX (Amex, PNC, Wells, FNBO) and EX is my highest score too. 

[Anonymous]

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@AverageJoesCredit wrote:

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Yeah, 10 sounds about right for those of us who love cc's have lots of credit but dont want to go all @pinkandgrey  and the brain😄

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Are you thinking what i'm thinking pinkie... 

Yeah brain, but where are we going to find rubber pants our size

[Anonymous]

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@AverageJoesCredit wrote:

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@Anonymous wrote:

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@AverageJoesCredit wrote:

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@Anonymous wrote:

I can't say that I blame you. I would have done the same. 

I do think that 5 is too few though. #LenderDiversityFTW

---

Yeah, why i said it would be difficult. Just maintaining an Amex and Disco eats 2 card slots. Then add in Navy, low apr cards like Langley and PSECU, it would be hard. If i had to choose just 5 i probsbly could do it but would like sufficient limits on each card and definetly at least 4 lenders minimum.

---

I won't close CU cards so it would be very hard for me to thoroughly downsize. I could probably get to 10 without being too upset, 4 of those being CU cards. 

---

Yeah, 10 sounds about right for those of us who love cc's have lots of credit but dont want to go all @pinkandgrey  and the brain😄

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For me it's just a matter of reward optimization. If I can get 3% or 5%, I'm going to take it. I could easily run a 3 card setup but I would be sacrificing more than half my rewards to do it. 

I don't know how P&G does it. My brain won't let me give up that much cash back. 

[kdm31091]

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@Anonymous wrote:

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@AverageJoesCredit wrote:

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@Anonymous wrote:

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@AverageJoesCredit wrote:

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@Anonymous wrote:

I can't say that I blame you. I would have done the same. 

I do think that 5 is too few though. #LenderDiversityFTW

---

Yeah, why i said it would be difficult. Just maintaining an Amex and Disco eats 2 card slots. Then add in Navy, low apr cards like Langley and PSECU, it would be hard. If i had to choose just 5 i probsbly could do it but would like sufficient limits on each card and definetly at least 4 lenders minimum.

---

I won't close CU cards so it would be very hard for me to thoroughly downsize. I could probably get to 10 without being too upset, 4 of those being CU cards. 

---

Yeah, 10 sounds about right for those of us who love cc's have lots of credit but dont want to go all @pinkandgrey  and the brain😄

---

For me it's just a matter of reward optimization. If I can get 3% or 5%, I'm going to take it. I could easily run a 3 card setup but I would be sacrificing more than half my rewards to do it. 

I don't know how P&G does it. My brain won't let me give up that much cash back. 

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RIght, but others don't want to spend the mental energy optimizing every purchase. Especially at lower spend levels, the difference is just not that significant much of the time. Some people would rather deal with fewer accounts vs maximizing a few bucks a month. Optimizing rewards is fun for some and that's fine, but for others the gain (which is typically small, and certainly never life changing) isn't worth the effort and keeping tabs on more accounts. It's similar to how some people choose to clip coupons every week and others consider that too much hassle vs the money saved. There's also the argument that it can make more sense to pile up rewards on a few accounts vs having a dollar or two on 15-20 cards (which you cannot even redeem in some cases until you hit a threshold, which could take a long time with so many cards!).

As far as lender diversity, I understand to a point, and I don't think anyone should go all in with just one lender. At the same time I think the average person is probably fine with 3 different cards/lenders. 5 may seem like too few to someone around here, but most consumers are not holding 5-10 credit cards (I believe the average is somewhere around 3-4).

[Revelate]

I keep waffling between closing a slew of accounts, letting them just idle out, or keeping them active.

At some level my scores are so pretty even with the 60D late on TU that I don't want to fiddle with it at all even if I know rationally I don't need the now 19 open revolvers (down 1 cause need status on Hilton not Marriot right now will be back to 20 shortly) and really I haven't done the process of really thinking what I need since the bulk of my spending is on 4 accounts.

1. CSR
2. CFU
3. Chase Amazon
4. Chase Ink Cash

Common theme there.  Accounts which I'd like to keep for other reasons:

• 4 Tradeline Anchors: Amex BCE/Zync, DCU secured, BOFA all back from 2011/2012 opening
• Chase Freedom for now just for very occasional UR acceleration.  Very occcasional since I went EV =/.
• Capital 1 QS: may be the best backup card on the planet if things happen to my primary accounts
• Amex Hilton for status
• Hrm, I'll reopen a HELOC at some point with DCU again since I think it will get closed as a condition of my refinance

That's a total of 12 and a far cry from 19: Sounds like 7 are ready to be flushed once I get through these mortgages.

[Anonymous]

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@kdm31091 wrote:

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RIght, but others don't want to spend the mental energy optimizing every purchase. Especially at lower spend levels, the difference is just not that significant much of the time. Some people would rather deal with fewer accounts vs maximizing a few bucks a month. Optimizing rewards is fun for some and that's fine, but for others the gain (which is typically small, and certainly never life changing) isn't worth the effort and keeping tabs on more accounts. It's similar to how some people choose to clip coupons every week and others consider that too much hassle vs the money saved. There's also the argument that it can make more sense to pile up rewards on a few accounts vs having a dollar or two on 15-20 cards (which you cannot even redeem in some cases until you hit a threshold, which could take a long time with so many cards!).As far as lender diversity, I understand to a point, and I don't think anyone should go all in with just one lender. At the same time I think the average person is probably fine with 3 different cards/lenders. 5 may seem like too few to someone around here, but most consumers are not holding 5-10 credit cards (I believe the average is somewhere around 3-4).

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Yeah, we here in MyFico land are certainly the minority as far as credit and credit seeking goes.  I do wonder if that 3-4 card average is just bank cards, because it seems like a lot of ppl have tons of store cards since they don't think about the insane APR's those cards have. 

[Anonymous]

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@Revelate wrote:

I keep waffling between closing a slew of accounts, letting them just idle out, or keeping them active.

At some level my scores are so pretty even with the 60D late on TU that I don't want to fiddle with it at all even if I know rationally I don't need the now 19 open revolvers (down 1 cause need status on Hilton not Marriot right now will be back to 20 shortly) and really I haven't done the process of really thinking what I need since the bulk of my spending is on 4 accounts.

1. CSR
2. CFU
3. Chase Amazon
4. Chase Ink Cash

Common theme there.  Accounts which I'd like to keep for other reasons:

• 4 Tradeline Anchors: Amex BCE/Zync, DCU secured, BOFA all back from 2011/2012 opening
• Chase Freedom for now just for very occasional UR acceleration.  Very occcasional since I went EV =/.
• Capital 1 QS: may be the best backup card on the planet if things happen to my primary accounts
• Amex Hilton for status
• Hrm, I'll reopen a HELOC at some point with DCU again since I think it will get closed as a condition of my refinance

That's a total of 12 and a far cry from 19: Sounds like 7 are ready to be flushed once I get through these mortgages.

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@Revelate  Chase...   brownie points lost    LOL

I do want to get it down to a more managable level, but as a rebuilder it is hard to let go for all the work i had to put in.  I'm not spending much on them as an LIE'er so i'm sure some will get closed for non-use/reward changes..   (looking at you Barclay Uber and Marvel card) 

[Anonymous]

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@kdm31091 wrote:

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@Anonymous wrote:

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@AverageJoesCredit wrote:

---

@Anonymous wrote:

---

@AverageJoesCredit wrote:

---

@Anonymous wrote:

I can't say that I blame you. I would have done the same. 

I do think that 5 is too few though. #LenderDiversityFTW

---

Yeah, why i said it would be difficult. Just maintaining an Amex and Disco eats 2 card slots. Then add in Navy, low apr cards like Langley and PSECU, it would be hard. If i had to choose just 5 i probsbly could do it but would like sufficient limits on each card and definetly at least 4 lenders minimum.

---

I won't close CU cards so it would be very hard for me to thoroughly downsize. I could probably get to 10 without being too upset, 4 of those being CU cards. 

---

Yeah, 10 sounds about right for those of us who love cc's have lots of credit but dont want to go all @pinkandgrey  and the brain😄

---

For me it's just a matter of reward optimization. If I can get 3% or 5%, I'm going to take it. I could easily run a 3 card setup but I would be sacrificing more than half my rewards to do it. 

I don't know how P&G does it. My brain won't let me give up that much cash back. 

---

RIght, but others don't want to spend the mental energy optimizing every purchase. Especially at lower spend levels, the difference is just not that significant much of the time. Some people would rather deal with fewer accounts vs maximizing a few bucks a month. Optimizing rewards is fun for some and that's fine, but for others the gain (which is typically small, and certainly never life changing) isn't worth the effort and keeping tabs on more accounts. It's similar to how some people choose to clip coupons every week and others consider that too much hassle vs the money saved. There's also the argument that it can make more sense to pile up rewards on a few accounts vs having a dollar or two on 15-20 cards (which you cannot even redeem in some cases until you hit a threshold, which could take a long time with so many cards!).

As far as lender diversity, I understand to a point, and I don't think anyone should go all in with just one lender. At the same time I think the average person is probably fine with 3 different cards/lenders. 5 may seem like too few to someone around here, but most consumers are not holding 5-10 credit cards (I believe the average is somewhere around 3-4).

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For me, rewards optimization is over twice the cash back vs just using a 1.5% card for everything and the only cards that have minimum redemptions are used heavily like my BCP and ClearPoints. But I did the research and grabbed the right cards for my spending habits and I don't expect everyone to do the same. 

I don't care about the average person. Those same people would go back to using a debit card if their 3 credit cards got closed. Yeah that's not me.