How many credit cards do you have and which ones?

[haulingthescoreup]

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englorien wrote:
I feel out of step here. I am ridding myself of all credit cards. Once one has a debit card and COLD HARD CASH, what's the need for plastic??? Having flubbed up my credit a few times in my not-so-short life, and being on the road to repair, I finally admit that I am not a person who should have credit cards. I know about utilization, scores, histories, and all that, and will probably leave Amex and Citi open, but I am not carrying the plastic. I have a mortgage, I have a car, so why do I need to charge things??? If I were slick, I am sure I could use interest-free cards to buy some things I might want, but it seems like simplification is the best route for me. Anyone else out there freeing themselves from cards?? Englorien

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There's another post called something like "why do you have so many cards?" --it's got some good explanations. I don't have many cards, and I really only use one, because I'm beating it to death for points. I don't carry balances--I wear it out on a daily basis and then pay it off every two weeks (payday!)

If you only have one or two cards, if that lender gets in a snit, or sells your account, or screws up your payment history--these things all happen--you're left holding the bag. So my plan is to one day have 3 or maybe 4 good solid cards from different lenders, all in my own name.

A lot of time when people are rebuilding their credit from bad times, the only cards they can get have $300 or $500 credit limits, half of which are eaten up by fees. They frequently go through a short stage where they have a bunch of cards just so that they have enough credit that they can use it and get their scores started upwards. With time, a few of those cards may be upgraded to good cards, and others will be dumped in favor of one or two accounts that don't rip them off monthly.

Anyone who feels uncomfortable with cards, whether because of fear of theft, or temptation to misuse, or whatever, should definitely just stick with one or two, locked away if necessary, as long as they are aware of the potential risks of not having their credit diversified.

[Anonymous]

Great post hauling. Agree Completely, and good food for thought.

[Dawn]

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haulingthescoreup wrote:

There's another post called something like "why do you have so many cards?" --it's got some good explanations. I don't have many cards, and I really only use one, because I'm beating it to death for points. I don't carry balances--I wear it out on a daily basis and then pay it off every two weeks (payday!)

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I'm in the same boat you are in.

We only had one major credit card (a credit union VISA) that we have used for years and PIF each month.  This is a joint card.  In the recent past, the reporting on this changed from Revolving Credit Card to Unsecured Installment.  I've been shopping for additional cards because of this (and because neither of us had a major credit card in our own names, individually.)

Since I was concerned that my old "individual" store cards were drying up and dropping off my report (and the AU exclusion in FICO scoring was in the works) we opened new cards (one for DH and one for myself.)  This one is a Chase Freedom MC World.  I'm not sure how it is going to be reported yet since it is a "no pre-set limit" card (that I didn't know when I applied.)  I hope that it will report as Revolving Credit since we don't have any other major cards reporting that way. 

[Anonymous]

I like the flexibility of a credit card, I can charge up all of my expenses and bills in a month, then pay it off on payday. I have 7 cards but I only use my airline miles card. A free plane ticket every year from racking up miles is a good thing!

Cap 1 MC - Just closed yesterday
Cap 1 Visa - Just closed yesterday
Orchard - Just closed yesterday
Amex Blue
Discover
US Bank NWA Worldperks Visa - Primary card
Chase Platinum MC
Chase Flexible Rewards Visa
Merrick Bank Visa
BOA - Used to be Clout Visa but BOA bought them up (it was a student card)

I no longer have any sub-prime cards!

Message Edited by tege0005 on 10-17-2007 07:28 AM

[Anonymous]

I just have three and I don't plan to get anymore anytime soon.  I've stopped working to work on my novels and I'm trying to stay off the credit to help budget/use my money better.

[haulingthescoreup]

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@denbar2003 wrote:

I'm in the same boat you are in.

We only had one major credit card (a credit union VISA) that we have used for years and PIF each month. This is a joint card. In the recent past, the reporting on this changed from Revolving Credit Card to Unsecured Installment. I've been shopping for additional cards because of this (and because neither of us had a major credit card in our own names, individually.)

I think I read you posting about this a while back, when I first started reading through the forums! What on earth was their justification for changing the classification?

That right there is a perfect example of a lender going wacko and screwing up your credit report! And if it were your only real card, it would be time to go into scramble mode.

[haulingthescoreup]

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@Anonymous wrote:

I just have three and I don't plan to get anymore anytime soon. I've stopped working to work on my novels and I'm trying to stay off the credit to help budget/use my money better.

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Very cool! So hunting_bears will become hunting_book_contract. Good luck! What kind of novels are you writing?

[Anonymous]

Cap 1 MC

Cap 1 Visa

WAMU

Chase

Ebay MC

BofA

Store Card

Radioshack/CBSD

To me all these cards are subprime, high interest rates and low CL's, but because I'm in college I'll continue to use them and play the game until I earn a higher income.

[smallfry]

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@Anonymous wrote:

Cap 1 MC

Cap 1 Visa

WAMU

Chase

Ebay MC

BofA

Store Card

Radioshack/CBSD

To me all these cards are subprime, high interest rates and low CL's, but because I'm in college I'll continue to use them and play the game until I earn a higher income.

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I don't think they are all subprime. Nice scores. Keep it up you might get to 830 or so down the road. Very good start.

[Dawn]

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@haulingthescoreup wrote:

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@denbar2003 wrote:

I'm in the same boat you are in.

We only had one major credit card (a credit union VISA) that we have used for years and PIF each month. This is a joint card. In the recent past, the reporting on this changed from Revolving Credit Card to Unsecured Installment. I've been shopping for additional cards because of this (and because neither of us had a major credit card in our own names, individually.)

I think I read you posting about this a while back, when I first started reading through the forums! What on earth was their justification for changing the classification?

That right there is a perfect example of a lender going wacko and screwing up your credit report! And if it were your only real card, it would be time to go into scramble mode.

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I'm haven't asked them yet ... I'm afraid to rock the boat.  It doesn't seem to have hurt my (our) score(s) as we recently qualified for 2.9% special financing on a new car purchase.  Prior to that, our last car loan was in 1989 and doesn't even show up on our credit reports anymore.

For the past four years, we have only had a mortgage and actively used this credit card and an infrequently used Kohl's card (that is reported as revolving.)  Three total active TLs... that's it ... and we don't seem to be hurting.