How do you sock drawer your cards?

[Anonymous]

I was wondering how do you rotate your sock drawer cards to keep them alive?

I went on a spree and some of my cards are just not worth to use because they either don't have good benefits or my other cards have a better point system for travel, cash back, etc.

Do you let them sit for 6-122 months doing nothing - or do you buy gum/sodas at 7-11 to keep them on the radar?

Also, anyone have an opinion or experience with the following creditors CLOSING an account out of the blue for not using their cards - did you get notified or were you embarrased at the store finding out the card was dead???

1. Barclays?

2. Citi?

3. Amex?

4. Comenity?

5. Chase

Thanks.

[Anonymous]

You can always try to pc to a better product . For instance I sock drawered my citi diamond for a couple months on and off then I realized I could product change to the double cash and so I did . I use it a lot mores often now . Of course your not going to carry 15 cc's in your wallet for the sake of  using it . But if the card is boring and. Have no other option close it yourself ! In the case of chase you can always transfer the credit limit to another chase cards assuming you have more than 1 chase card . 

[kdm31091]

I am not a huge fan of SD, with a few exceptions.

I think if a card is useless to you and there's nothing you want to PC to with the creditor, there's little point in keeping it open just for the sake of keeping it open. But yes, SD involves making a small charge each billing statement to keep the card "alive". It can be a pack of gum, soda, whatever. A tiny purchase will do.

But if a card is useless and you see no PC options I'd just close it. The only time I advise otherwise is if your utilization would skyrocket by closing the SD card. Otherwise, why keep it just to keep it? Many on here advocate keeping anything with no AF and I just don't get it (except for the utilization part like I said).

Move on if a card has outlived its useful life for you.

[Anonymous]

I'm in the opposite camp as kdm. Why take the affirmative step of calling to close the account if you can just SD it and let it wither? If it gets closed by the lender so be it. Practically, in most cases sooner or later the issuer will give me some incentive to dig it out and use it. I do have one old card from 2000 that I make sure to use every six months or so to preserve age.

To the op's point, I have had cards closed by Chase and Usbank for non-use. The Chase was a painful stupid mistake, as it was a line from 1994. I'd love to have that in my history right now. The Usbank was funny, because they sent me a "please use your card, we'll give you $25" and the very next day I tried to use the card and it was declined because the account was closed, lol! Did get them to reopen. Then pc'd to a Cash+.

Chris.

[Involver]

For my truly sock-drawered cards, I usually just buy low dollar amount amazon gift cards once every 6 months to keep them active.

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:
I'm in the opposite camp as kdr. Why take the affirmative step of calling to close the account if you can just SD it and let it wither? If it gets closed by the lender so be it. Practically, in most cases sooner or later the issuer will give me some incentive to dig it out and use it. I do have one old card from 2000 that I make sure to use every six months or so to preserve age.

To the op's point, I have had cards closed by Chase and Usbank for nonuse. The Chase was a painful stupid mistake, as it was a line from 1994. I'd love to have that in my history right now. The Usbank was funny, because they sent me a "please use your card, we'll give you $25" and the very next day I tried to use the card and it was declined because the account was closed, lol! Did get them to reopen. Then pc'd to a Cash+.

Chris.

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Chris - thanks for your comments.

Re the Chase card - did you collect dust on it? lol Also, did Chase give you fair warning like a letter or call? How did you find out it was dead?

[sccredit]

I have a number of cards that are in a safe that I haven't touched in more than a year.  Way I figure it is that I use the ones that are worth using and am not going to stress about using cards just to use them.  

I have not had anything cancel, even on cards I have not used in 2 years (Logix, DCU)

[Anonymous]

My two SD cards are the QS and BBR cards.  The BBR is SD by design.  Once a month, I'll dust it off and make a small purchase.

The QS card is there for international travel (not that I travel much).  I believe BoA's exchange rate is poor compared to Cap1, so when I do travel internationally, I'll be dusting off the QS card.  Anyone know Cap 1s policy on inactive accounts?

[sillykitty1]

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@kdm31091 wrote:

I am not a huge fan of SD, with a few exceptions.

I think if a card is useless to you and there's nothing you want to PC to with the creditor, there's little point in keeping it open just for the sake of keeping it open. But yes, SD involves making a small charge each billing statement to keep the card "alive". It can be a pack of gum, soda, whatever. A tiny purchase will do.

But if a card is useless and you see no PC options I'd just close it. The only time I advise otherwise is if your utilization would skyrocket by closing the SD card. Otherwise, why keep it just to keep it? Many on here advocate keeping anything with no AF and I just don't get it (except for the utilization part like I said).

Move on if a card has outlived its useful life for you.

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Sock Drawer-ing a card does not require activity every billing statement.  One charge every 6 months is sufficient to keep a card alive, some even less.  

You don't believe in keeping a card SD'd for your lifestyle, but not everyone is the same.

I keep SD'd cards for 2 reasons:

- Emergencies -  I have low APR CU cc's in the SD.  With low APR credit available along with a rainy day fund, I am comfortable I can handle most financial emergencies comfortably.  It's important to get the high CL's when you don't need them, so they're available in case you do.

- Utilization - My utilization won't "skyrocket" without my SD'd CL's.  But I can keep my reported balance under 10% without micromanaging and paying before the statement cut date.  I take full advantage of the grace period

[Imhotrodcrazy]

I SD'd both of my US Bank Cash+ and LOC cards about a year ago,  to let them die off.  So far,  the bank has not cancelled them.  It will be interesting to see how long it takes the bank  to get the hint that I will never use them again.