For those with multiple cards...

[LionLaw]

Between credit cards, loans, and bills, there are always a lot of accounts to keep track of.  Like most people on this board, I am set up with online accounts for everything.  I get e-mail notifications of all my bills, and my e-mail client (Inbox by Gmail) automatically sorts all of them into one group.  When a new one comes in, I immediately set up the payment online, scheduling it for 1 or 2 days before the due date.  If you deal with everything right away, there's nothing to keep track of!

I also log into all of my accounts at least once a week to review my charges and to make sure nothing unexpected is going on.  For me, that means logging into 6 different banks (Citi, Chase, BofA, Wells Fargo, Discover, and Amex).  But most of the reviews are pretty quick, as I will only have activity on 2 or 3 cards at a time, tops.  If I had accounts with 20 different banks, I would want to do the same, even though it would be more of a pain.

[Dalmus]

I have 18, and I also have designed my own spreadsheet that contains all the relevant data for each account.

Attached is a little screenshot of part of the spreadsheet...  I also have a running balance of my primary checking account on the spreadsheet where I input payments into and out of that account.   I've never felt the need to move my payment dates around because at a glance I know how much money will be in my account on what day, usually about 45 days ahead.

Sample of Tracking Spreadsheet

[Gregory1776]

I check my accounts on a daily/weekly basis. I’m obsessed. Big hobby. I need a life. 😬😑

[Anonymous]

wrote:

I have 18, and I also have designed my own spreadsheet

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I like that spreadsheet... I might have to make up something similar.  I do have Quicken and my transactions download from my bank accounts as well as my credit cards, but that little spreadsheet is handy since it shows utilization, payment dates, etc. all together in one neat little package.

What's tricky is keeping track of balances so I don't overspend... so many bills that are variable (gas & electric), some large annual bills (taxes, insurance), card balances that can vary widely from one month to the next, and even paychecks that don't fall on the same dates each month... it's crazy.  Even though I'm salaried, my paychecks vary slightly due to the way deductions come out, so I can't even anticipate the next check and enter it ahead of time, except as a guesstimate.  The more cards/accounts there are, the crazier it gets... I guess that's why I always limited myself to 2 credit cards + a debit card, and kept my limits low enough to prevent any real mess-ups, though I just got a 3rd CC for Amazon which has too high a limit to permit keeping in my wallet.

[marypoppins70]

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@Gregory1776wrote:

I check my accounts on a daily/weekly basis. I’m obsessed. Big hobby. I need a life. 😬😑

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Omg I am obsessed too! I have so many cards (well, well over 20!) that I’m constantly logging in to my numerous AMEX accounts to make payments and checking when my CC statements drop so I can pay. 

[Gmood1]

Easy, I set autopay to pay the statement balances.The ones that aren't on autopay. I preschedule the payments after the charges post to be paid after the statement cuts and before due date. I also use Mint.

[Dalmus]

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@Anonymouswrote:

wrote:

I have 18, and I also have designed my own spreadsheet

---

I like that spreadsheet... I might have to make up something similar.  I do have Quicken and my transactions download from my bank accounts as well as my credit cards, but that little spreadsheet is handy since it shows utilization, payment dates, etc. all together in one neat little package.

What's tricky is keeping track of balances so I don't overspend... so many bills that are variable (gas & electric), some large annual bills (taxes, insurance), card balances that can vary widely from one month to the next, and even paychecks that don't fall on the same dates each month... it's crazy.  Even though I'm salaried, my paychecks vary slightly due to the way deductions come out, so I can't even anticipate the next check and enter it ahead of time, except as a guesstimate.  The more cards/accounts there are, the crazier it gets... I guess that's why I always limited myself to 2 credit cards + a debit card, and kept my limits low enough to prevent any real mess-ups, though I just got a 3rd CC for Amazon which has too high a limit to permit keeping in my wallet.

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I also have a section dedicated to recurring bills, such as Netflix, car payments, etc.  I break down the total monthly recurring payments and total monthly CC payments, as well as overall utilization.  Like you said, it's basically a quick and dirty Overall Picture that you can't quite get from Quicken.

I'd be happy to post a cleared copy of my spreadsheet for you (or anyone) to look at in full and use however they want.

[Anonymous]

Great questions and answers!

I see people with their 30+ cards in their sig and I don't even recognize half of the CCC. I guess I only go for name brands

[Anonymous]

I have a great deal of cards but only 5-6 usually have a balance. I pay them before statement cut only if they have a low limit and would generate some negative feedback due to a high percent of usage. I'm one of those people that check almost everyday so I'll pay them one at a time when the date comes around usually. If it's a specialty card that I only use for specific reasons (like my IHG card for instance in which I use once or twice a year), I'll pay it off immediately after the purchase posts.

Most of my cards are sockdrawered. Me and my wife don't really rotate cards. We use the same two cards everyday (Everyday Preferred Card and PRG). Due to the EDP swipe requirement, I have to put 30+ transactions on it so most of my bills go through that card. Combined with the fact that I get $0.99 coffee from speedway every morning, 5-days a week, I'm able to get a solid 50+ transactions on that card monthly.

As far as maximizing FICO... I'll let some of the other pros help you with that part. I paid my car note off in January and I don't have a morgage so I'm missing some pieces of the pie. 

[UpperNwGuy]

If you pay the current balance on each of your cards at the end of each month, you will be fine.