Number of Credit Cards

[NRB525]

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@kdm31091 wrote:

It's a point discussed often and everyone has a different stance on it. Personally I find anything more than 6 to be too much and even 6 is a lot for me. I plan to pare down to 4 sooner or later.

The main reason many people have 10+ or whatever is obtaining new bonuses, or their spend is diversified and large enough to warrant it. As lurker touched on, you kind of can hit a diminishing returns point. For example, my Quicksilver offers me 1.5% cashback on everything. My Amazon offers 2% on dining. It's an 0.5% difference. Even if I spend $500 a month on dining (which is an exaggeration), it's an extra $2.50 for the month if I use the Amazon vs Quicksilver. That's not exactly setting the world on fire.

It depends how many you are comfortable with, but always analyze your spend, do the math and figure out if the reward difference is truly worth caring about. As in my example above, $2.50 a month is probably not worth caring about. This is why I don't plan to keep the Amazon forever. I should have done the math and realized that 2% is not a huge win over 1.5%, especially when the 2% is only for dining (and drugstores). The bottom line is everyone's comfort level varies and some who spend a lot can justify many cards for many categories; however, the difference can be something neglibile, so do your due diligence before applying and ending up with something you really don't need.

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Well said.

And to extend the Quicksilver information, when Samuel L Jackson looks directly into the camera and says "1.5% Everywhere", he means everywhere: New York, Tokyo, Singapore, Mumbai, Dubai, Sao Paulo, Paris and London. with no AF. Hard to beat that deal with any card.

[Blackbeauty212]

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@NRB525 wrote:

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@kdm31091 wrote:

It's a point discussed often and everyone has a different stance on it. Personally I find anything more than 6 to be too much and even 6 is a lot for me. I plan to pare down to 4 sooner or later.

The main reason many people have 10+ or whatever is obtaining new bonuses, or their spend is diversified and large enough to warrant it. As lurker touched on, you kind of can hit a diminishing returns point. For example, my Quicksilver offers me 1.5% cashback on everything. My Amazon offers 2% on dining. It's an 0.5% difference. Even if I spend $500 a month on dining (which is an exaggeration), it's an extra $2.50 for the month if I use the Amazon vs Quicksilver. That's not exactly setting the world on fire.

It depends how many you are comfortable with, but always analyze your spend, do the math and figure out if the reward difference is truly worth caring about. As in my example above, $2.50 a month is probably not worth caring about. This is why I don't plan to keep the Amazon forever. I should have done the math and realized that 2% is not a huge win over 1.5%, especially when the 2% is only for dining (and drugstores). The bottom line is everyone's comfort level varies and some who spend a lot can justify many cards for many categories; however, the difference can be something neglibile, so do your due diligence before applying and ending up with something you really don't need.

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Well said.

And to extend the Quicksilver information, when Samuel L Jackson looks directly into the camera and says "1.5% Everywhere", he means everywhere: New York, Tokyo, Singapore, Mumbai, Dubai, Sao Paulo, Paris and London. with no AF. Hard to beat that deal with any card.

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Yep, I love my Quicksilvers ... They fit me perfectly since I'm done playing the Rotating Categories game .... I want 1 Everyday Driver an to know that everytime I swipe, I earn Cashback... No Limits, No Gotchas, No Caveats. I perfer Easy Street ....

Believe it or not, I rack up more Cashback with 2 Quicksilvers than I ever did playing the Rotating Cats game. Last year alone I raked in over 800$ in Cashback on my QS...Now some will say "Well you weren't rotating your cards often enough" or "You weren't using the right cards to maximize" and maybe I didn't. I'll be the first to admit I do suck at rotating several cards at a time. Infact I've grown to outright hate keeping up with more than 2 Everyday Cards, so you can imgine my frustration with having 18 cards. 

To you guys who like playing the Game and Maximizing, and do it successfully.. My hats off to you, Go on witcha bad self.... But just I can't do it anymore. 

[kdm31091]

I've racked up quite a lot on Quicksilver too. I love the simplicity of the reward structure and the way it adds up immediately. There is really nothing bad I can say about that card and it's my all purpose card for sure. It has also negated the desire for other cards simply because as I said, unless the reward is several percent higher, the difference is often neglible anyway and I'd rather stack the majority of my rewards on one card. For me, that seems to be the best approach. For those that play the game, I applaud their dedication to it. It's just too much for me personally, but it's YMMV as always

[Anonymous]

Just wanted to jump in on the quicksilver love! Hate capital one with the passion but absolutely love my quicksilver. Best thing I did was convert both my cards to quicksilver. If it was only me, I would prob ditch my rotating category cards but since I spend for two people, rewards add up fast.

[Man-Of-Steel]

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@kdm31091 wrote:

It's a point discussed often and everyone has a different stance on it. Personally I find anything more than 6 to be too much and even 6 is a lot for me. I plan to pare down to 4 sooner or later.

The main reason many people have 10+ or whatever is obtaining new bonuses, or their spend is diversified and large enough to warrant it. As lurker touched on, you kind of can hit a diminishing returns point. For example, my Quicksilver offers me 1.5% cashback on everything. My Amazon offers 2% on dining. It's an 0.5% difference. Even if I spend $500 a month on dining (which is an exaggeration), it's an extra $2.50 for the month if I use the Amazon vs Quicksilver. That's not exactly setting the world on fire.

It depends how many you are comfortable with, but always analyze your spend, do the math and figure out if the reward difference is truly worth caring about. As in my example above, $2.50 a month is probably not worth caring about. This is why I don't plan to keep the Amazon forever. I should have done the math and realized that 2% is not a huge win over 1.5%, especially when the 2% is only for dining (and drugstores). The bottom line is everyone's comfort level varies and some who spend a lot can justify many cards for many categories; however, the difference can be something neglibile, so do your due diligence before applying and ending up with something you really don't need.

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I agree with this.  I also know that longtimelurker has made a similar point at least a few times in the past.  I'm definitely in the simplicity camp when it comes to credit cards.  I only have 4 and this is the perfect number for me right now.  The Quicksilver and Sallie Mae MC are my everyday cards and truth be told, I could get by just fine with just these two if needed.  Since my spend is relatively low, it is difficult for me to justify adding any more cards unless there is a sweet sign up bonus attached.  I'm kinda interested in the Double Cash, but as kdm stated above, it's not really a significant increase over the Quicksilver for low spend.

[creditconcept]

Because the words:

Congratulations! You've been Arrpoved.

Are the most addicting thing known to man.

[kdm31091]

Double Cash isn't a huge gain over QS reward wise and the rewards are overall a bit less straightforward, have a 25 redemption min, don't post instantly. There are complexities with it that don't exist with QS. I prefer the QS.

[onstar]

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@Anonymous wrote:

I think I am missing something. Why would anyone need 15+ credit cards and over 150,000 dollars as a credit line.? If you have a high income, why wouldn't you just have 2 or 3 credit cards with a high credit line?

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It's sort of like this:

http://www.aetv.com/hoarders

First step is admitting that you have a problem. Check.

I don't know what step 2 is ...

[Anonymous]

Re QS vs DC on small spend:   It's not so much that the difference in rewards is small, as it is 33%, which is only insignificant if the total rewards are very small anyway (in which case it's not worthwhile expending energy thinking about which card is best)      It's more that the QS structure is much friendler, in particular the no miniumum, which is important for low spend.  (The instant availability is nice, but again, if the reward is 25c, waiting until cycle end isn't going to make a huge difference).

[Anonymous]

I agree.  The higher your total CL is, the less you need to worry about going over the 9%.  I can go out & spend 10-15k easy.  No, I'm not rich, it's just if I see something I can use in my home or I want, I will get it.  I know I can safely manage the 15k over 3 months.  And it is much better to use your credit (especially if you can get a 12/18 months same as cash deal) than use your own savings.  I have some "great" cards I keep with me & use on a regular basis.  The others are buffers which my hubby uses for lunch, side change outs, etc.  I revolve those guys.  I'm gardening right now, but plan on asking for higher CL's & may be deleting a few & adding a few.  My goal is 150k - 175k in CL's.  Mico-managing right now is not fun!    It's really to each his own when it comes to credit.  Hope this helps.