Setting Your >2023< Card Strategy

[blossom_rebuilding]

---

@blossom_rebuilding wrote:

I've been looking forward to this thread and have been thinking about my 2023 strategy since I posted my 2022 update a couple days ago. my goals for next year are:

1. Pay off all my credit cards. In 2022 I did successfully pay down a good bit of cc debt. Now, it's time for it to be gone! I will probably never be completely debt free, but being completely credit card debt free is finally looking achievable within the first six months of the year.
2. Increase total CLs to $150k: I've never had a specific number in mind, but now having $150k in available credit seems like a reasonably achievable goal. How to do this?
3. Get CLIs on existing lower limit cards: Hopefully another 100% CLI is possible for the Altitude Go in January. I've been using the Cap One Quicksilver as my daily driver since June, but despite best efforts, no dice on a CLI ("Recent use of existing credit line is too low"). Well, if spending 50% of the $3500 credit limit for several months straight isn't enough, I'm not putting more on it. Which leads to goal #4...
4. Sockdrawer the bucketed Quicksilver and replace with a higher limit card: Currently considering PNC Cash rewards, US Bank Cash+, US Bank Shoppers Rewards, or maybe even just applying for a new Quicksilver. PNC because they are likely to give me a better than decent limit and they are my primary banking instutition, so redemption would be easy. US Bank because I really like their rewards structure, but I don't feel good about the likelihood of getting a higher SL. However, a new Quicksilver would probably not be bucketed, so that's also an option. Regardless, I'm not going to make a move on this until Goal #1 is achieved, so I have more time to think about it and consider other options.

No score goals at the moment since I'm not sure where my score will be at the beginning of the year just yet. I'm anticipating a drop to 750 when new loans start reporting soon and when student loan deferrment ends, but who knows, really. If nothing else, 2023 is the year that this round of rebuilding from massive (for me) cc debt ends, and really that's all I want.

---

Update on how 2023 shook out for me...

1. Pay off all my credit cards. Done! Utilization is now below 1% with no balances carried month to month. Looking forward to keeping it that way.
2. Increase total CLs to $150k: Done! Current overall CL over $168k.
3. Get CLIs on existing lower limit cards: Done pretty well on this. Got hefty CLIs to Altitude Go, Chase United Explorer, and American Express, but other than the Altitude Go, they weren't my lower limit cards. So this goal was achieved, but not the way I had thought.
4. Sockdrawer the bucketed Quicksilver and replace with a higher limit card: Well, this didn't go as originally intended. I didn't wind up sockdrawering the Quicksilver altogether, because quite frankly it's not a bad 1.5% no-frills card. I have a few standard recurring expenses on it, and it's helpful to be a little mindless about it. Also FINALLY got a tiny CLI on it. So, no sockdrawer and no replacement for now. Will I reconsider for 2024...wouldn't surprise me if I did. Will wait for the 2024 thread to decide!

[Aeon]

---

@Aeon wrote:

After 8 years in the garden unknowingly, I added my second credit card in September and PC'd my first CC to a better cashback card. I'm looking to add at least one more credit card in 2023, hopefully a travel rewards card with a good SUB.

For 2023, I have three goals:

1. Maintain 770+ credit scores. Stretch: break 800.

2. Increase the CL on one of my current cards to $10K.

3. Add 1-2 cards that have no FTF sometime after I fall below 0/6 in March 2023.
Option 1: Capital One Venture X + Savor One. Option 2: Chase Sapphire Preferred. I'm leaning more towards the Capital One cards, but if denied for the VX, I'd app for the CSP. Alternatively, if I decide that travel rewards cards aren't for me, I'd only app for the Savor One.

---

Q3 Update:

1. All three FICO 8 scores above 800 as of Sep 2023. 

2. Done. Both of my Amex cards have CLs $10k or higher. 

3. I pc'd my WF Active Cash to an Autograph that has no FTF. My spend right now doesn't justify getting any new card. Ideally, I"d like a 2-4 card cashback setup. I'm thinking USB AR as the primary card, my Autograph as a backup travel card, the Savor One and a 2% no FTF catchall CU or Fidelity card.  But that is a decision for mid/late 2024 or 2025, and who knows what my strategy would be by then. 

Looking ahead to 2024:

1. Thicken my file. I only have 2 revolvers. I'm weighing the pro/cons of getting a SSL from PenFed. I don't need it to boost my scores, but it would be nice for credit diversification. 

2.  Maybe, maybe add another cc if I know I can spend enough $$$ to earn the SUB. 

Both of these aren't high priorities right now. My scores are in a good and I'm not an optimizer, so adding more cards or loans just adds unneeded complexity I'm not very interested in right now. 

[PayAndProsper]

I just have come off of a spree where I acquired 6 new cards. I have 2 more possibles that are currently in the recon stage. I, my friends, consider myself done for 2023. I am likely done for the majority, if not all, of 2024, as well.

I may pop my head out of the garden to pursue the Discover It Cash Back card, just so I can have free access yo my Fico 08 TransUnion. I saw there were other options for this access, but the most appealing of the alternatives is BoA, and none of their cards are currently attractive enough to sway me, at this time.

Aside for the possible acquisition of a Discover It Cash Back, and barring the appearance of another unicorn (like the AOD 3% CB flat rate CC), I see myself sticking to the garden for the foreseeable future. I would like to age what I have. The whole point of the spree, for me, was to be able to create a stable foundation of cards that I could actually use that would all age together to help create a sturdy AAoA, as opposed to just slow-apping card-by-card, every 6 months to a year.

[JasonMath]

I just got approved for the Venture X card, with a $20,000 CL and a 90k SUB!  I just need to apply for the Chase Sapphire Preferred and the Chase Freedom Flex (to complete the CSP+CFF+CFU trifecta + Venture X), and I will be all set!

[Jayy]

After years of growing my pool of cards, I now have enough things going on outside of the credit card game to keep track of that I felt it was time to significantly simplify. I was hesitant at first, but now I'm very glad to have done so. I didn't get down to a 1-card or 2-card setup like @Aim_High has brought up before, but I'm feeling pretty close:

1. BoA Premium Rewards Elite (dining, travel, and catch-all with BoA's preferred rewards program)

2. Amex Blue Cash Everyday (downgraded from BCP, just in mobile wallet for groceries/gas/online, and one of my 2 remaining old cards)

3. Chase Freedom Unlimited (my other remaining old card: on a monthly recurring charge in the sock drawer, but would get upgraded to the CSR if they ever nerf the PRE and I have to downgrade that)

4. Amex Platinum (just for perks and the coupon book...I have the corporate $150/yr discount and come way out ahead with my natural spending patterns even if I miss an Uber or Saks credit sometimes)

5. Capital One Venture X (I'm almost certainly closing this too if they keep chipping away at the perks unless they happen to open a C1 lounge in my home airport. I prefer the BoA's redemption simplicity since I'm mostly doing domestic economy travel and C1 really isn't my favorite lender based on past experiences.)

That's after closing a bunch of accounts at different institutions--over 10 cards plus the checking/savings/credit union membership accounts that tended to accompany them--along with consolidating my credit lines at BoA/Chase/Amex into 1 card with each. All of my remaining revolvers are each in the $50k-$99.9k CL range which is way more than enough utilization padding for me, even with a significantly reduced TCL.

I generally had no issues with the cards I closed (and some were old with no annual fees), but not having to pay attention to rotating or restrictive categories, monthly credits, multiple hotel/airline currencies, or even just when to put charges on rarely used cards to keep them open feels excellent, even if it means I might be losing out on 1-2% or some travel perks sometimes. While I know the tendency on this forum is to keep cards open by default which is good advice for most, I don't think I've ever actually regretting closing a card after the fact even though I was always worried I'd regret it beforehand. I still feel like I have enough redundancy for both credit and banking (the accounts above plus Schwab/Fidelity since Chase & Merrill Edge have their limitations for the brokerage side) without going overboard.

If anyone else is thinking about doing something similar I'd certainly recommend it, even if you don't end up going quite as far as I did.

[Blender]

Since this was bumped up, I'll chime in with a little update.

- Planning a garage conversion so I'll need a personal loan.

- Thinking about applying for CIC for those expenses and bc im 4/24 currently.

Making another large purchase soon(4k-5k) and was seeking a long 0% promo, but I've narrowed it down with a little more thought: 

- Slate Edge Longest promo period, but there havent been great SL and it will be a useless card after the promo

- WF Reflect Longest promo period, existing relationship, higher F9 than F8, but SL have been here and there recently

-Fidelity Visa Signature Multiple accounts with them, but baddies and Elan and infamous $500 SL

- CFU I'm kinda leaning more towards simplicity, and thats staying in one ecosystem. I can allocate limits from CFU if I need more, decent 0% APR period, easy SUB. Im not a math guy, but I think for me the difference between a 1.5% card and a 2% isnt enough to make me try for that Fidelity card or CDC.

As for baddies/ EE, I'm done for the year so I'm only expecting slight score increases to improve my chances with the CFU. 

[Aim_High]

---

@Jayy wrote:

After years of growing my pool of cards, I now have enough things going on outside of the credit card game to keep track of that I felt it was time to significantly simplify. I was hesitant at first, but now I'm very glad to have done so. I didn't get down to a 1-card or 2-card setup like @Aim_High has brought up before, but I'm feeling pretty close:

1. BoA Premium Rewards Elite (dining, travel, and catch-all with BoA's preferred rewards program)

2. Amex Blue Cash Everyday (downgraded from BCP, just in mobile wallet for groceries/gas/online, and one of my 2 remaining old cards)

3. Chase Freedom Unlimited (my other remaining old card: on a monthly recurring charge in the sock drawer, but would get upgraded to the CSR if they ever nerf the PRE and I have to downgrade that)

4. Amex Platinum (just for perks and the coupon book...I have the corporate $150/yr discount and come way out ahead with my natural spending patterns even if I miss an Uber or Saks credit sometimes)

5. Capital One Venture X (I'm almost certainly closing this too if they keep chipping away at the perks unless they happen to open a C1 lounge in my home airport. I prefer the BoA's redemption simplicity since I'm mostly doing domestic economy travel and C1 really isn't my favorite lender based on past experiences.)

That's after closing a bunch of accounts at different institutions--over 10 cards plus the checking/savings/credit union membership accounts that tended to accompany them--along with consolidating my credit lines at BoA/Chase/Amex into 1 card with each. All of my remaining revolvers are each in the $50k-$99.9k CL range which is way more than enough utilization padding for me, even with a significantly reduced TCL.

I generally had no issues with the cards I closed (and some were old with no annual fees), but not having to pay attention to rotating or restrictive categories, monthly credits, multiple hotel/airline currencies, or even just when to put charges on rarely used cards to keep them open feels excellent, even if it means I might be losing out on 1-2% or some travel perks sometimes. While I know the tendency on this forum is to keep cards open by default which is good advice for most, I don't think I've ever actually regretting closing a card after the fact even though I was always worried I'd regret it beforehand. I still feel like I have enough redundancy for both credit and banking (the accounts above plus Schwab/Fidelity since Chase & Merrill Edge have their limitations for the brokerage side) without going overboard.

If anyone else is thinking about doing something similar I'd certainly recommend it, even if you don't end up going quite as far as I did.

---

Congratulations on your streamlining @Jayy.  Thanks for the tag and for telling us about it.  The one or two card combo was more hypothetical but downsizing remains attractive to me also.  I wrestle with letting go of some of my cards, and for the moment at least, I'm considering a slight further expansion to get to the $1M TCL just for the sport of it.   

That's a nice lineup you kept.    My Discover card is a keeper since it's my oldest card that is still active for over 30 years.  Also my BofA CCR and Chase Freedom Unlimited follow a few years behind, and they play nicely with my BofA PR-E and CSR.  I don't have the AMEX Platinum since it doesn't work for me, but I love the value I get from my Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant.  So for me, I would keep a minimal lineup of Chase Sapphire Reserve, BofA Premium Rewards Elite, AMEX MBB, and Discover, all with credit limits of $52K to $100K.  And then perhaps supplement that with keeping the CFU and CCR for age and rewards.  Realistically, though, I like the high credit line on my NFCU Flagship Rewards (currently $75K and planning for the $80K maximum soon) and growing my limits with CITI on the AAdvantage Executive.  By the time it's over, if I downsized anytime soon I think I might still end up with 8-10 cards but it would be a high quality lineup.  So in theory, three to five cards sounds like a wonderfully simply plan.  In practice, I still don't want to let go of so many, at least yet.  

[Jayy]

@Aim_High I think the $1m goal sounds fun to shoot for! And I think that trimmed setup later on would be a good one. I had a Discover More card that was around the same age as my CFU/BCE, but between them getting rid of product changes (I may have kept their 1.5% version but didn't want to keep any rotating ones), a low CL that wouldn't budge even with spend, and a dispute issue, I was willing to let that old one go. I had been tempted at one point to open a 2nd discover card to eventually merge into the old line to increase the limit, but decided it wasn't worth the effort. Citi was an easier cut for me, but if NFCU and some of the other CUs had let me set up autopay with external accounts for statement balances instead of requiring their banking for that, I might've felt differently about the hassle factor and kept one or two (I certainly preferred NFCU over Capital One in a vacuum).

[Anonymous]

---

@Aim_High wrote:

---

 I wrestle with letting go of some of my cards, and for the moment at least, I'm considering a slight further expansion to get to the $1M TCL just for the sport of it.   

---

Oh oh, the rational vs the, well, emotional I guess!   Trouble is, once you reach $1M TCL.   Well, there are others with that, and as time goes on, there will be more and more, and at the point you can (correctly) think "Well, $1M not what it used to be, let's go for $2M!" (or $1.5M for those into baby steps).      At least with downsizing, the process stops at a David Ramsey 0 cards.......

[notmyrealname23]

Final results:

- went under 5/24 more or less on schedule

- I ended up in a position where I can dabble in business cards (effectively a small business with 40k of revenue)
- Chase Ink Preferred and Hilton Business AMEX had crazy good SUBs (and I nabbed a IHG Premier Business from Chase as well)
- thus I decided my card to put me back at 5/24 as a Chase consumer card is a Southwest Priority Card (75k SUB is close to ATH, can't use CP but can use those points)

That last SUB will close me out for 2023. It was a good year with a couple trips to London in business class (including 5 star hotel stays) + more to come (Bangkok and Singapore with more five star hotel stays and business class flights). Still have healthy balances in multiple programs.

2024 will be judiciously using Chase INK SUBs + going on a path to get a Ritz Carlton card through the Bonvoy Boundless, and "trimming down" some AMEX cards (I think I am keeping the Citi Premier in preference to some AMEX cards, depending on some retention offers). I actually want to change the AMEX lineup some since my head is bumping against the 5 card limit (going over to more business cards, that Delta Gold is on the chopping block as a swap to a Delta Gold Business) and I think I want to steer my AMEX Gold restaurant and grocery spend over to a Premier/SavorOne/Bilt trio (when it's not being used for SUBs).

Some of this is dependent on/subject to change by retention offers. Happy to break into the Chase ecosytem without feeling like I had to sit on the sidelines forever (got my Premier and a Citi AA card at ATH SUBs so that's a win).