I have too few cards (only 45); help me grow my portfolio

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

Thanks for the response regarding the 45 cards.  Do you ever feel like that's a lot to manage?  I went from 1 card earlier this year to 3 commonly used cards (5 total) and I must say even with enough accounts that I can count on one hand I often feel like it's a lot of "work" to manage them.  I couldn't imagine 9X+ the cards!

Also, did you mention your total credit limits across all revolving accounts?

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Actually, I neglected to mention my total credit limits.  Total C/L across all cards is $593,400.  It could probably be higher, but I've never been one to chase CLI's except when necessary.  When I got my Discover it Miles card, I was using the heck out of it for the 3% CB and 0% APR for 12 months.  I don't remember my SL, but I pretty early on sucked the CL off of my Discover it card and moved it over to the it Miles, leaving the C/L on my it card at only $2k.  Then every 90 days I requested a CLI on the it Miles because I was constantly bumping into the credit limit.  Now that the first year is over and the it Miles is at 1.5% CB and basically sock-drawered, I've little use for the card.  I've decided to start asking for CLI's on the it card to get its credit limit back up, since I sometimes do use it liberally for the 5% quarterly categories.  But those are all SP's, of course.  I'd have to be pretty desperate to allow a HP for a CLI.

 I don't feel it's a lot of work to manage 45 cards, but I'm thinking that if I add any more cards to the portfolio, I'm likely to in turn relegate a few more cards to the permanent sock drawer category, ala my Lowe's Visa.

Chris.

[Anonymous]

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@longtimelurker wrote:

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@Anonymous wrote:

Thanks for the response regarding the 45 cards.  Do you ever feel like that's a lot to manage?  I went from 1 card earlier this year to 3 commonly used cards (5 total) and I must say even with enough accounts that I can count on one hand I often feel like it's a lot of "work" to manage them.  I couldn't imagine 9X+ the cards!

Also, did you mention your total credit limits across all revolving accounts?

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I don't have as many as the OP (about 25) but at least for me, "managing" might mean different things.    I use only about 6 regularly,  and many I don't use at all.    (As the IT miles promo ends, and Sallie Mae nerfs, looks like I will be only using 4)   As the file becomes thick, it doesn't matter if the unused cards are closed (and for whatever reason, that doesn't seem to happen).   If you are within budget, put all cards on autopay PIF on due date, and managing becomes more "Which card should I use for this" and for many that becomes pretty easy

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Exactly.  All of my cards are PIF on due date, automatically.  So I can use any card any time and not be worried about it; it'll just get paid.  The only cards I jump the gun and pay down before statement date are those that give a credit for small balances (Barclay, CapOne, USBank/Elan, Discover).  Those I pay down to $.99 (or $1.99 in the case of Discover), using billpay from my Discover checking account, so I'm making another $.10 per payment.  Of course if I mess up, then the auto-PIF on due date will take up the slack.

Chris.

[Anonymous]

Chris,

At nearly $600k in credit lines, you may be one of the highest on the forum.  Did you mention what your income was at any point yet?  I may have missed it.

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

Chris,

At nearly $600k in credit lines, you may be one of the highest on the forum.  Did you mention what your income was at any point yet?  I may have missed it.

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For application purposes, I report income of $150k, which is roughly correct. 

Chris.

[Anonymous]

Interesting thread. Someone alredy voiced my openion but It is worth repeating. CSR is worth waiting until closer to the end of hte year. I got mine at the end of November and immediatly booked travel. I already have the new travel bonus available in my account. I would worry about chase nerfing or lowering the travel bonus before the end of next year. They've already said they were losing a lot of money on this card.

[driftless]

I would think that not only is the travel bonus at risk but the sign-up bonus as well.

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

Interesting thread. Someone alredy voiced my openion but It is worth repeating. CSR is worth waiting until closer to the end of hte year. I got mine at the end of November and immediatly booked travel. I already have the new travel bonus available in my account. I would worry about chase nerfing or lowering the travel bonus before the end of next year. They've already said they were losing a lot of money on this card.

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Thanks for your input.

Yeah, that's the rub.  Better to wait until later in the year, but I don't want to miss the gravy train.  What's more, we go on a cruise at the end of January, and it will be nice to have this card then for a number of reasons.  While the cruise itself is paid for, there may be other travel expenses that could be reimbursable, like hotels on the way there and back.  We also sometimes book a cruise while we're on the ship, so there's some more travel spending.  And car rentals are also a possibility, which is a double bonus on the CSR; no only does it count as travel, the CSR offers primary car rental coverage, which is key.

So the plan is going to be to wait until the second week or so of January and have DW apply for the CSR.  Then we should have the card in hand by the time we leave at the end of January.

Chris.

[Revelate]

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@Anonymous wrote:

Interesting thread. Someone alredy voiced my openion but It is worth repeating. CSR is worth waiting until closer to the end of hte year. I got mine at the end of November and immediatly booked travel. I already have the new travel bonus available in my account. I would worry about chase nerfing or lowering the travel bonus before the end of next year. They've already said they were losing a lot of money on this card.

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I wouldn't wait at all on the CSR; really the doubling up on the travel credit is if you're not planning to keep the card anyway.

I will keep that card for as long as they let me, even beyond the obvious international travel for work I'm going to be doing next year, recently hopped on Plenty of Fish and damned if something like 98% of the profiles of women all state something regarding enjoying travel.  I can't possibly see how it can be this consistent but maybe there's where people's money is going and why everyone claims "no dinero!", but apparently if I'm dating seriously I'm guessing there will be legit travel expenses more than once a year, and that's even without all the other use cases for the travel credit.  Hell my restaurant spend which already justifies the CSR > CSP will probably go up even if just paying halfsies.  This is looking like an expensive proposition haha.

As is apparently I need a replacement card for my CSP anyway, poor baby is falling apart on me.