Managing multiple CC accounts, usage, and balances.

[CYBERSAM]

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@iNathanDrake wrote:

The managing was more for like using them regularly and keeping them active so as not to close lol. As far as payments go and being on top of my stuff I'm super OCD and organized.

You're not worried about closing out older cards and hurting your scores? 

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Closed accounts are generally report for 10 years!

[Yasselife]

I buy one cafe con leche every morning for $1.34 to keep them active; subs, hygiene, clothes, ebay, and more coffee...

[CreditMarathoner]

You don't need 15-21 cards to get great scores.  Also, Credit Karma gives you Vantage 3.0 scores which nearly no one uses for actual credit decisions.  You can get exceptional FICO 8/9 scores with 3 or 4 cards + an installment loan (mortgage, car loan etc.)

I'd just apply for a new card if you want/need that card.  Or if you want to take advantage of a sign-up bonus or 0% APR offer.  You aren't helping your scores by applying for more accounts at this point.

Gardening to let your existing accounts age will do more for your scores than adding more accounts.  FICOs tend to shoot up when your youngest account reaches 1 year, at least it does for me.  I have 4 cards (oldest is >25 years, youngest 1 year) + a mortgage and my TU FICO8 just hit 848.  If you let your accounts age you should see your scores creep up.

As for managing them, as long as it doesn't overwhelm you keeping track of them all, do whatever works.  Some here have 50+ cards.  I find 4 to be as many as I'd ever want at once.  I'd put a charge on cards you don't want to be closed at least twice a year.  You don't have to wait for statement cut to pay it off.  Any activity will keep it open.

[iNathanDrake]

Thanks for this, hate having open balances and just wanted to pay everything off lol

[cashorcharge]

My "go to" method for putting activity on a card that hasn't been used in a while....add it to my Starbucks Account....reload Starbucks from the credit card, then delete the credit card from Starbucks, it'll take 24-48 hours to post and then pay off.  You don't even have to leave the house...

[CashOutReFi]

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@iNathanDrake wrote:

Hey everyone, 

I was looking to get some help with some credit questions. 

im currently at around 11 CC accounts all ranging from like 5k - 40k ish. I've gotten into the habit of opening a new card once a year give or take to take advantage of APR free periods and to slowly work my way up to the green score in credit karma of 15-21 accounts. 

How do you guys manage so many accounts? Is it worth it? Should I stop? I try to utilize all of my "sock drawer" cards at least once a year, trying to do once every 6 months now. 

Is it bad to have so many semi inactive accounts?

How often should you be charging on them?

Do I need to wait for statement posting before paying them for the activity to count or can I pay once it's no longer pending? Is there a difference? 

By this method my AAoA is trash and never going to build age since I'm constantly adding to it , is that an issue?

should I consider closing some of my smaller and less used accounts (I'm aware this is a negative hit temporarily)?

I've noticed that my score doesn't really go up anymore, and has actually started to fall a bit here and there slowly. My highest was an 837, and on my most recent hard pull it looks like it's a 779? Again my credit hasn't changed much for the drop, obviously some hard pulls for apps but that's been a constant factor since I started my credit journey in 2016? All my balances are always under 10% 

any tips and advice on how I should be using my credit cards and best practices is greatly appreciated!

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I may miss some of your points, I may miss them all. But here's my take:

- I am well over the 15-21 card sweet spot and am considering thinning the herd. Many of the older cards that built my history have toy limits despite CLI requests, and opening newer accounts with 5 figure opening limits, I am thoroughly convinced they're bucketed. Some of them are so low, a week's worth of groceries will get me dinged for utilization. 

- Dozens of cards with dozens of due dates are filling up my Google calendar. Even if dozens of cards had the same due date, it would still be a chore to remember all the ones that fell on the one date. More motivation to follow through with step 1. 

- I carry a card holder with the ability to hold 6 cards. I keep the rest in Apple Wallet, which can only hold 10. I am planning on thinning the herd to fit my physical + digital carrying capacity. They won't all be closed, some will be merged with other cards from the same lender to combine limits, others will be product changed down to no AF cards. 

- I make multiple payments per cycle just so less of a balance, if any, is reported. AZEO is the way to go. 

- No AF cards are more likely to be closed by lenders for inactivity, but cards with even small annual fees are much safer from lender closure for inactivity. 

[805orbust]

There is no penalty for closing cards. They continue to remain, and age for as much as 10 years after closing. You do lose the utilization % tho, so there may be a minor ding, especially if it's a lower limit card.

[SouthJamaica]

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@iNathanDrake wrote:

Hey everyone, 

I was looking to get some help with some credit questions. 

im currently at around 11 CC accounts all ranging from like 5k - 40k ish. I've gotten into the habit of opening a new card once a year give or take to take advantage of APR free periods and to slowly work my way up to the green score in credit karma of 15-21 accounts. 

How do you guys manage so many accounts? Is it worth it? Should I stop? I try to utilize all of my "sock drawer" cards at least once a year, trying to do once every 6 months now. 

Is it bad to have so many semi inactive accounts?

How often should you be charging on them?

Do I need to wait for statement posting before paying them for the activity to count or can I pay once it's no longer pending? Is there a difference? 

By this method my AAoA is trash and never going to build age since I'm constantly adding to it , is that an issue?

should I consider closing some of my smaller and less used accounts (I'm aware this is a negative hit temporarily)?

I've noticed that my score doesn't really go up anymore, and has actually started to fall a bit here and there slowly. My highest was an 837, and on my most recent hard pull it looks like it's a 779? Again my credit hasn't changed much for the drop, obviously some hard pulls for apps but that's been a constant factor since I started my credit journey in 2016? All my balances are always under 10% 

any tips and advice on how I should be using my credit cards and best practices is greatly appreciated!

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CK's "green score" is a fraud. It's just meant to get you to click on their affiliate advertiser's links and keep on adding credit cards from them.

3 cards is enough to get perfect FICO scores.

[GatorGuy]

Credit is there to be used as a tool to help financially. There is no value in having a high credit score if you never want to use it. That doesn't mean you use no interest offers to rack up additional debt.

Also there is no real difference between a score of 780 and 830 to credit lenders. All this to say, feel free to continue to open new cards they are beneficial to you and you feel you are able to manage them all. 

I have more cards than you do and don't find it overly burdensome managing them. I set my cards on autopay, set up alerts for new charges or late notifications. I theoretically don't even need to sign into my accounts once a month. I also have my accounts set up in Mint which is a back up for notifying me of late payments. I also could login to one app to check all balances. 

I use a spreadsheet to track when I opened accounts, when I last requested a CLI, etc. 

[BronzeTrader]

Credit cards are just tools.  They are financial instruments.  

I've seen some people have like 50+ cards of their own.  I manage 100+ cards of my own family.  It is not too hard if you get organized.  Financial software and Excel spreadsheets definitely help you out.

In contrary to what people believe, very high FICO score and very low credit usage is not very good thing.  Lenders still want to see active credit usage and good financial responsibility.  Bank will likely offer you a new card if you have about $5,000 balance with $250,000 total credit line.  Than another customer who has $500 balance and a $300,000 total credit line.  

To keep old card active, you can just load $1 on Amazon account.  If banks want to close down your underutilized cards, that won't hurt much.  But just keep your oldest cards renewed if you can.