How many cards is too many?

[Anonymous]

---

@PowerMan572 wrote:

If you're actually using the cards, I think anything more than 4 is too much. I'm all about earning miles and points. A person can only have so many purchases in a month. If you're spreading them across this many cards, it's going to take a while to earn the rewards. 

I have 3 cards. 1 card I put all legitimate purchases on with very minimal manufactured spending (you can guess who issued the card.) Then my other 2 cards I put just a couple purchases on each month, but then manufacure spend quite heavily on them. 

---

This can be true for travel rewards.  But for cash back, it's certainly possible to have lots of different cash back rewards that reward different purchases.

[black_citi]

I have 3 cards and at first I thought that was to many lol. All I really want is 2 but I took everyone's advice and decided to keep the 3rd card alive. I have no annual fee on none of my cards so it doesn't hurt if I keep it open.

I do agree with one poster who said the only time you have too many cards is when you can't keep up with the minimums. Or if you forget which cards you have open that can also be a problem.

[takeshi74]

As always with this question: depends on the individual.

---

@Skye12329 wrote:

Right i know i will get different answers everytime, but i thought i really only need 2 more cards and they will be revolving ones and i think im set. bringing me a total of 7 including store so maybe like 4 revolving. I was just wondering everyones personal opinion. 

---

It's not really the number.  It's what one needs/wants, what one can handle, etc.  That's why it varies from person to person.  You can't just poll to determine what's "too many" for you.  You have to determine that for yourself based on you and your situation.  It doesn't mean anything if I tell you that I'm managing my 10 just fine if you can only reasonable handle 7, for example.

[Dw4250]

Agree with all that has been said...too many cards are when you cannot handle the payments (or are needlessly accruing late fees because you cannot remember what's due when).

I have a self-imposed hard cap of 10 for myself (I currently have nine).  I use them all...and it's not that hard to keep track, espesically with mobile apps and e-mail reminders.  The main thing is to choose cards that fit your lifestyle.  

There are some people with 20+ cards on here.  I used to think that was crazy, but they seem to manage (and thrive) with those numbers, primarily because their cards fit their income/lifestyle.  OTOH there are people with 2-3 cards, and that number works well for them and they would not dream of getting more.  Most (like me) are somewhere in the middle (7-10 cards range).

[Anonymous]

I've mentioned this before but what I think would be interesting, especially for those with "lots" of cards (for some definition).

Calculate, however you wish, your total rewards in the last year say.

Now suppose your goal was to earn 90% (or 95%) of that. How many of your current credit cards could you drop (putting the spend on a card you keep)

My guess is for a lot of users with many credit cards, quite a few can be dropped.  My intuition is that as you add more and more cards they either largely replace existing ones or apply to smaller and smaller niches.

Now if you are happy with managing your current cards, of course no reason why you can't keep the 100%, but if you find say that 5 of your cards are contributing only 3%, you may want to consider if it is worthwhile

[Josh2942]

I have 20 TLs and I think it's easy to handle. My Amex charge cards are getting love from me became my blue card still hasn't gotten an increase from 2k. My gold card has been able to charge 10k before so it's okay since I use them and pay in full every week. Not I have store cards but they have higher limits so they are worth keeping. My low end store cards like TJmaxx American eagle and macys will be getting dropped in one year of they don't increase them. But I rotate them around and I never miss a payment I also don't spend more than I can handle unless I have 0% interest which I stop using the card till it's paid in full. I only put large purchases thru amex and chase because they have the largest rewards for me.

[Stralem]

If you can't pay your bills on time, either through money problems or bad memory, you have too many.

That's probably the most general rule you can get as an asnwer to this question.

As for myself, I have no issue handling 7 tradelines. I have all of my due dates, APRs, balances, limits, and reporting dates memorized. I keep a spreadsheet to chart my debt payoff progress, though.

I want to get rid of at least two cards this year. Even though keeping track of all that info is easy, it's become just a tad bit annoying.

[imovinup]

For me it was 15 it became too much of a liability to think about payments and due dates all the time. I'm down to 10 but soon it will be town to 8 and that's a mix of store cards and credit cards. 

[Hightechredneck]

I used to have 30, but I could not keep track of all of them even with reminders and a spreadsheet. I have since paired down to 20 and 10 of them have 0 balance, hoping to close them next year to keep it at a round 10.