Reducing credit cards, a new adventure

[Anonymous]

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@AverageJoesCredit wrote:
I understand the sd vs closing debate all too well. I honestly just dont want to do it. If i ever need another credit card perhaps ill get better rates and limits if i decide to app but this feels right to me.

$154k down to 151K .......

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Chopped six cards and dropped $50K in credit. Still have more than I can use or responsibly pay. Thinking on what goes next. One thing ... it will be the card(s) that give me the most rewards for the least effort. Very small spender today and no travel so cash is king. Update, December 2017 where I closed my Barclay Commence MC and dropped another $10K in CL as the card was totally useless to me and it was new enough my AAoA from the CBs did not even flinch

[AverageJoesCredit]

Nice job Dinosaur

So far, with the extinction of Discover, 4k limit, i managed to kill of 7k in limits Not quite 50K but its a start.

154k down to 147k.....

[Legal_Girl]

Good for you Average Joe.  I'm proud of you.

[Anonymous]

$3k Cap1 was cut loose last night.  109k to 106k .  WF/Dillards Elite AMEX is probably next.

[Cherekas]

@AJC, I appreciate what you're doing for yourself, having credit goals are important. I saw your post about this over in the Navy federal thread for CLI and it surely sparked interest in me to evaluate my credit file. I've closed 3 cards so far (Cap one plat, Credit one, and Merrick) $3850, all rebuilders of course. As I move forward, I think I have 2 more cards that I will be closing as well by Feb or March. I almost stopped logging in here for awhile because I will be gardening for about a year letting inq's fall off and strengthening new accounts I opened recently (7), but I'm actually happy to see this type of thread as well. I wish you well in your journey! 

[AverageJoesCredit]

Thanks Legal_Girl

Kcribb, nice job on your trimming as well

Appreciate it Cherekas Im glad to see you balancing out your profile. I remember when i closed my 1st rebuild card, Fingerhut. It was weird letting go of a positive reporting tradeline but looking back im glad i did. I didnt need it anymore. Join us over in the garden , less temptation and some really good people help pass the time lol. I look forward to reading your progress as well

[Chickenpotpie]

Joe, I think this is a good move.  Sometimes you have to move the baseline a little, and trimming the fat that isnt doing anything for you is a good place to start.  For some it also helps you don't have all those cards over your head either.  I would be a mess.

Also a good thing to not trim too much at once.  I dont think its good to dump everything at once, that might also trash the scores too.

Excited for you and will be checking in on your new journey!

[AverageJoesCredit]

Thank you ChickenPotPie. Good point on not all at once. Im wondering if it just might be better to hold off on closing the Comenity cards for a couple more months seeing as ive closed 3 already and for sure have 2 to close in Feb 2018, AF cards. Any thoughts on this are welcome

[Anonymous]

Joe:

It is a journey most of us take eventually.

In the real world, where people live (those who are not interested in credit cards and only use them as a tool), most people have one or two credit cards.

In my twenties, I applied for and received every gasoline card I could get. Then, I received my green AMEX card. Hoo-wee !!! Then, BankAmericard and MasterCharge came out, and I had to have 'em !! This was when the world was young, and there were no rewards, until Discover came around, and I had to have it. Cash back !!!!

In my thirties and forties, I added and canceled cards carelessly.

In my fifties, I began to realize I had too many cards, but kept them. I also applied for a few more, anyhow.

Now, in my sixties, I am burned out and in the garden forevermore. I have five cards: AMEX BCP, Chase Freedom, Capital One Quicksilver MC, Target Red Card, and Discover. I will keep everything but Discover, which can die in the sockdrawer. Even so, I still have to check it daily, for possible fraud activity. That is a P.I.T.A.

I also will follow your journey. May The Force be with you !!!

[JustcallmeTM]

@AJC, when I started purging cards from my list I did it in groups of 2-3 and spread them quarterly. I closed cards as I was able to obtain higher increases on the card's I was going to keep, and to try and maintain my overall total CL. I didn't try to rock my report by having total CL decrease or increase rapidly. It was a methodical approach, eliminate cards while trying to keep the same overall total CL thats a bigger challenge than getting rid of cards thats easy. Overall I went from 23-25 cards and 230K total CL to 15 cards and the same total CL 230k. My CL avg with 25 cards was just about 10k, now my avg CL on all my cards is roughly around 15k. 

ex. I closed off at 1 point 4 SYNC cards 8k each @ 32k total, but that was only after I had recieved about 30K in cli on 2 of my main cards. I tried to keep a balance. My increases determines which cards get's closed next.

The adventure get boring after awhile, I got to where I wanted and Im still trying to figure out how to get under 10 cards, the harder part is which cards to keep and which to eliminate now. For me the next cards on my list is the BBVA converted NBA card at 20K and Blispay 7.5k only because Amex detest that card, my last attempted increase on Amex was turned down and when I escalated one of the reason was the Blispay. It showed that the balance itself hadn't moved in a month or 2 they took it as like I wasnt paying my card even though the card has a 0% no payment for 6 months. Was going to chop up the PenFed card 10k until I got a 25k pre-appoved loan check in the mail from them.