Hi everyone! Long time lurker but new member. Hope you are all well. Like many of you, I have been carefully sorting through my finances these past few weeks to see what needs attention. I have been debating on simplifying my credit card portfolio, or just SD'ing some cards and letting them age. My current income is less than $20k (student). Scores range between 721 and 728 according to Discover and Cap 1. I have 0 derogatory marks, 100% of payments have been made on time. AAOA is 2.7 years, oldest is 5 years. My current cards include...
5/3 Trio : Opened December of 2018, $2,000 limit with a $468 balance on it. Current APR is 19%. This was my first big boy card after dealing with the likes of Credit One and First Premier. They just lowered my available cash advance amount, hoping they don't lower my CL next.
Discover IT : Opened May of 2019, $1,100 starting limit with an auto CLI to $1,750. It has a balance of $348 on it, and the current APR is 17%. I always wanted a Discover card, and I am quite happy with it. No issues here.
Capital One Quicksilver : Opened October 2019. $1,000 starting limit with an auto CLI to $1,500. It has a balance of $342, current APR is 0% until August, then it jumps to 22.9%. Started as a Platinum, but PC'd it to a Quicksilver via the recent thread! Very happy with this card.
Amazon Prime Store Card : Opened October 2019, $1,100 starting limit with a sp CLI to $2750. Current balance is $348, current APR is 26.99%. I opened this because I am a frequent shopper at Amazon and a prime member. Also the 0% financing is a nice option. That APR though.
Citi Double Cash : Opened April 2020. $1,700 CL, $0 balance. 19% APR, will probably chat someone to see about lowering it after paying off other cards this month. I opened this one because I wanted a simple cashback card and also I wanted a foot in the door with Citi. I applied for this before I knew I could PC the Cap 1 Platinum to the Quicksilver. Unfortunate, but it is what it is.
My balances are there because of a rough few months, but things are good now and they will be paid off this month. Yay! I am unsure of the best way to use my cards though. Most of my spend is utilities and groceries, with gas being a close 3rd. I am a simple guy, and I would be content with 1 or 2 cards probably, but I feel better about diversifying and not putting all my eggs into one basket. My goal is to put most of my monthly spend on 1 or 2 cards and pay off my statements every month. I just cannot bring myself to close any accounts though because each card brings something to the table. I want to be able to know that if I use a card, it will work for me. I hate worrying about spooking lenders.
What do you guys think I should do; keep all of my cards open and just put my spend on 1 or 2, or close some and simplify? Am I overthinking it? Thanks in advance guys!
