Setting Your >2023< Card Strategy

[Anonymous]

2023 goals-more 5% cashback cards

just garden-let cards age, inquiries drop off

[redpat]

None.  Feb 2023 will be my 4th year anniversary in the garden.  

[JasonK94Z]

Can you guys help me with a strategy?  

I have finally repaired my credit and have been getting back into the game with credit starting last year after having almost no cards for several years. My credit age is around 4 years, all three of my FICO 8 scores are in the 790's finally. Income is $130k. 

So far, I have:

CapOne card $2000 (my oldest)

Ollo $3500

Apple $4500

Comenity $3500

Lowes $15000

BofA $2200 (newest in September 2022)

January 2022 we started shipping for a new house and have 3 inquiries from that. Transunion has 7 inquiries, other two have 4 each. 
Utilization is 3%. 
I will have to finance a new car this early summer btw. 

Which card should I apply for next?  Or do I sit on what I have now and allow the inquiries to fall off?  I pre-qualify for Discover and Citi. Chase hates my number of inquiries. I do have checking and savings with NFCU. 
3 Mortgage inquiries don't fall off until December 2023, credit card inquiries fall off throughout 2024. 

Thank you. 

[RSX]

i would wait on any new cards or accounts until After you get the car loan taken care of

once that is done, you could apply a couple of days after

with rates being higher now, you want your absolute best chance at the lower rate

[JasonK94Z]

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@RSX wrote:

i would wait on any new cards or accounts until After you get the car loan taken care of

once that is done, you could apply a couple of days after

with rates being higher now, you want your absolute best chance at the lower rate

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My gut feeling was telling me that. It's definitely hard to resist a new prime card. 

Will sit on my credit, keep utilization very low, and wait out this timeline of buying a new car. 

thank you for the reply! 

[sjt]

My 2023 strategy is to stay the course and not apply for any more personal cards unless there is some exceptional card that came out and is worth taking a hit on my score. Also, I hope that Amex will change its policy on product-changing Optima Cards (I've heard rumors that keep my hopes alive.) If not, I'll close my account and move on. 

[galahad15]

More and higher rewards are my list for 2023, such as the Redstone FCU VS card with 5% cashback on gas and restaurants that I was recently approved for    Also the AAA Daily Advantage card with 5% cashback on groceries that I was approved for in late 2022.

ETA:  not planning to close out any cards at this immediate time -- any issuer could nerf any 5% or 3% rewards cards at any time, and with my current setup, I have multiple redundancies on 5% and 3% cashback cards as an intentional failsafe in case such an event (or multiple events) occur(s).  

[UncleB]

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@FinStar wrote:

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@UncleB wrote:

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OK, if someone twisted my arm I guess Truist could be on the chopping block, but I like having options for BT promos.  I used to view my PNC Points card the same way (useless yet harmless), and here I am now using it for a promo, LOL.

As for the rest, yeah... they all have some limited utility (age, grandfathered no AF, etc.).  Not being willing to 'cull the herd' definitely cramps my style when it comes to new acquisitions for bonuses, though.  I'm probably at or near max exposure with Citi and Chase (three cards with each), and who knows about Amex.  Hell, I'm nearing max exposure with Synchrony, LOL.

I guess Comenity is always an option - I have nothing with them.

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That AAA Visa (two flavors) might be something to consider @UncleB.

If you have any of the former BB&T Bright CCs (pre-Truist conversion), I believe they tend to send out BT promos from time to time from what I've seen.

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Yeah, if I go for anything the next few months it'll probably be the AAA Visa (the one with 5% grocery) but there's no urgency.  I kinda want to see if I garden a bit longer if maybe some Chase "You're already approved" offers might come my way.

I do have the former BB&T Bright card, and they have sent a couple of BT offers, but they were nothing to write home about.  I like having them as an option, though.

[UncleB]

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@galahad15 wrote:

More and higher rewards are my list for 2023, such as the Redstone FCU VS card with 5% cashback on gas and restaurants that I was recently approved for    Also the AAA Daily Advantage card with 5% cashback on groceries that I was approved for in late 2022.

ETA:  not planning to close out any cards at this immediate time -- any issuer could nerf any 5% or 3% rewards cards at any time, and with my current setup, I have multiple redundancies on 5% and 3% cashback cards as an intentional failsafe in case such an event (or multiple events) occur(s).  

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While some folks probably take it too far, I agree that anything can be nerfed at any time, and some redundancies are nice to have.

[SpaceCityCCuser]

My goal for credit cards this year is to only apply for one or two cards in all of 2023. The timing for these is some time between Feb-Apr and the second one, which I may not even apply for, is in the Oct-Nov range. The cards I am considering, if you look at my current card line-up, are the Citi CC, WF Autograph, US Bank Cash+ (would require gardening until Nov), or an Amex card (looking at several of them), The wild card would be the Abound CU Platinum. I may still just garden until 2024.