@SouthJamaica wrote:
My personal approach is
1. get some decent rewards cards (which you have already done) (I have 6 or 7 that I like to use for purchases)
2. spread the spend over all of them, using each card at least once each month
3. list them in order of account closing date with balance and statement balance
4. monitor accounts daily on the web (some people may find daily to be too much, I don't)
5. pay accounts as fast as possible, making sure at least one reports a small balance
I don't have sock drawered accounts. If you have cards you have no interest in using, you may want to free up some brain cells (and reduce possibility of identity fraud) by closing them.
Thanks. I've already closed a dozen crappy accounts with CLs ranging from $300 to $1400. I may end up closing Venmo and Bob's Furniture since I don't see myself using them much. Overall I'm pretty happy with my current portfolio. I would like to get in with one or two of Chase, Citi, and BOA; but they are not particularly BK-friendly and Citi was IIB. So I'll have to wait a long time on those.
So here's what I do...
I maximize rewards return by category. Some of these change quarterly, so I adjust accordingly. Of course this means some cards don't get any use. I have a several cards that just live in the sock drawer.
Twice a year I do Amazon gift card reloads on those cards, $1 each, just so there's a recent enough transaction there and they don't get closed for inactivity. I buy from Amazon often so my gift card balance doesn't sit around very long.
For cards that I'm actively using, I keep track of their balances literally every day. so I know how deep I am with them and can plan which cards I'm going to pay back when and how much. I have a file that I keep up to date with all my card balances. I update this file daily. Every pay day I play whack-a-mole with the balances.
I also check ALL my issuer websites at least every month around statement time, even if I know I haven't used the card(s), to make sure I know where they stand and there's no surprises.
I also download and archive every statement so I can refer back if I need to remember what day I made a particular purchase or which card I used.
Spreadsheets are your friend. I have one that I use to track account age, limits, current balance, rewards categories, etc. I consult this daily so I always have the info in front of me and know which card to use when and for what.
It sounds like a lot but it's really not. I'd say I spend about 10-15 minutes per day on this. It's time well spent.
@MrDisco99 Have you tried using Mint app? Makes it so much easier, I also have a list of each acct on Appe notes on which I check for rewards and monthly payments as a double check.
@Yasselife wrote:@MrDisco99 Have you tried using Mint app? Makes it so much easier, I also have a list of each acct on Appe notes on which I check for rewards and monthly payments as a double check.
Yeah I tried Mint. It didn't do well at keeping everything synced up, and I wasn't crazy about handing over my login credentials to everything anyway, so I got rid of it.
With $5000-6000 average monthly spend, it is quite likely that you will be able to achieve significant CLIs if your income is deemed to be sufficient. It should also be quite easy for you to avoid closures due to inactivity.
I would suggest that you prioritize your cards by choosing the 2 that you would most like to receive a CLI. Put almost all of your spend on one of the cards. For the second card, put about $1000 on it. Then, reverse the spending pattern for the two cards next month. Make multiple payments per month, if needed, to prevent a statement from cutting with a large balance. Keep this up for 6-12 months, and then see if you are eligible for CLIs.
In the meantime, keep your other cards alive by putting a small recurring charge on them every month. I use things like streaming subscriptions, newspaper subscriptions, and charitable contributions on my cards which would otherwise sit unused in the sock drawer. Amazon gift card reloads are also easy to do. If possible, try to time it so that the charge posts shortly after the statement cut date so that you have a lot of time to pay it off before the balance posts to your credit report.
I've had great success using cards for specific categories and keep as many being used as possible. For instance, now that I Citi Custom Cash to use for 5% dining spend, I'll still use our Discover cards in the restaurants quarter and put some other category of spend on the Custom Cash that quarter.
I have as many of them as possible set up to autopay bills, or have the card set up as the preferred payment method. This keeps me from having to carry every card in the rotation.
