Should i close my toy limit cards, and if so when?

[wilmer007]

i currently have 4 open TL:

BoA Americard Platinum = $500 CL, $0 AF (partially secured, no deposit given) = opened May 2016 (toy limit card i would like to close if they don't CLI and PC it for a rewards card)

Meineke Credit Card = $700 CL, $0 AF never use it = Opened May 2016 (toy limit card that i would like to close eventually because i never use it)

Chase Freedom Unlimited = $700 CL, $0 AF = Opened May 2016 (i use this as my everything card minus groceries or gas)

AMEX BCP = $4,200 CL, $95 AF (got the 3x CLI yesterday, this is my gas and grocery card on top of my highest CL card)= Opened October 2016, Definately will not be closing this

here's the thing i know i just got my BCP CLI so the other lenders cannot see that CLI just yet. what i would like to know is when do they see it so that i can have an idea if they will match my BCP CL. this way i can call chase and say "hey if you don't match my BCP you'll be getting less business from me" and then when i call BoA and Meineke i can tell them "if you don't match my BCP i will close down the card and take my spending elsewhere".

i PIF my CCs multiple times a month so i can afford to close down the cards i don't use without effecting my Ultilization as i usually stay at <5% Ultilization every month so with the CLI from my BCP my Ultilization will now be even lower that i don't need to have 2 open TL just for Ultilization.

the main reason i would like to close down the toy limit cards that i do not use is because since i don't use them the fact that they are toy limits hurts my "credit profile" which should make it harder to get higher CL on cards i plan to get (like the CSR in the next 1-2 years). i also plan on getting another AMEX card in a few years if i don't continue to get CLI on my BCP. I also plan on getting a travel card such as the BankAmericard Travel Rewards CC since that card has $0 AF and no FTF.

[AverageJoesCredit]

Opening 3 cards 7 months , and 1 , 3 months ago, i dont think you are allowing yourself some leeway for those "toy" limits to grow.

I dont think you can necessarily go by what one cc company gives as limit to base what another should do because most cards have different underwriting and criteria and just because Amex 3x'd you doesnt mean Chase will. I wish that were the case . I have an 8500 limit card and use it responsibly but not like Penfed will match my 500 card for that limit because i have it. I wish

Overall as your profile grows so will your limits. Id keep em open a bit longer but as always here, ymmv and only you can decide . Best of luck

[grillandwinemaster]

Joe is right. 7 months?? Patience young one, patience...

Credit is a marathon, not a sprint. 🏃

[wilmer007]

When i started my credit history 12 years ago BoA gave me a CC with 3k to start my history. That was after having a state farm CC with $1k CL that was joint with my mom. That BoA CC was also given to me on a silver platter as the lady at BoA told me i was already approved when i said no thank i do not want to have a HP and get denied. And this was like less than 6 months of Credit History at 19. In short i have a long history now even with 2 collections and there is no reason to give me toy limits now when i didnt have them 12 years ago.

[Anonymous]

You just gave 2 reasons why:  2 collections.  Unless all of your FICO 08 scores are 750+ or so (considered by most to be "excellent") then there are "reasons" not to give someone the best terms.  Can someone with scores below that achieve the best terms?  Sure... but more often than not scores in the 600's or low 700's suggest the presense of something less than ideal.

I imagine when you were 19 you didn't have any negative information yet on your reports.  While your credit history at that time was limited, no doubt, certain creditors are willing to take a chance on someone with a short history but nothing negative in that history.  While this certainly isn't what you want to hear, it's certainly plausible that a creditor could view your short, clean credit history profile from 12 years ago as being less risky than your current longer credit history with the presence of some negative items.

[Anonymous]

I started rebuilding in 2015. It took about 1.5 years to get to where I'm getting good CLI's. I started with alot of cards at 300-500 CL, 

1.5 years later i let all those cards grown now at 296k in CL's. I still have to this day the majority of cards I opened and they have grown nicely with time. I don't plan on closing any of them anytime soon. 99.9% have no AF so they are costing me nothing, They are adding to my payment history, and adding to my AAoA. 

[wilmer007]

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@Anonymous wrote:

I started rebuilding in 2015. It took about 1.5 years to get to where I'm getting good CLI's. I started with alot of cards at 300-500 CL, 

1.5 years later i let all those cards grown now at 296k in CL's. I still have to this day the majority of cards I opened and they have grown nicely with time. I don't plan on closing any of them anytime soon. 99.9% have no AF so they are costing me nothing, They are adding to my payment history, and adding to my AAoA. 

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hmm does your income have anything to do with that 295k cuz that's pretty impresive and considering your FICO scores are about the same as mine i guess i'll listen to you and let them grow. i suppose i can close them when i see denial letters of "denied due to already having too much total credit limit in credit report".

[AverageJoesCredit]

Good point Harley14, though i cant even begin to fathom having 300k in credit, when i started my rebuild back in 2015, it began with a $500 jc penny welcoming me back to the credit world and that now sits at $7500. I went from having a bk to a collection so i understand having these things can have different consequences .

Best we can do is just keep paying the piper, and at least always pay on time. That risk factor will be there until our reports are clean but we can still show our worthiness by working the limits we got. Hard but doable

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

I started rebuilding in 2015. It took about 1.5 years to get to where I'm getting good CLI's. I started with alot of cards at 300-500 CL, 

1.5 years later i let all those cards grown now at 296k in CL's. I still have to this day the majority of cards I opened and they have grown nicely with time. I don't plan on closing any of them anytime soon. 99.9% have no AF so they are costing me nothing, They are adding to my payment history, and adding to my AAoA. 

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While they'll certainly help your AAoA in the long run, anything younger than your AAoA isn't "helping" it.  I know that's just semantics though and I get your point.  I will say though that they aren't adding to your payment history.  Payment history isn't measured on number of on time payments verses late payments like some monitoring software like CK would lead one to believe.  Whether someone has 100 on time payments or 1000 on their report, that first single late payment will have the same impact all other things being equal.  My point is simply that if you were to close 90% of your cards and kept making on time payments with the remaining ones, it wouldn't hurt your score at all nor is it helping your score by keeping them open and making on time payments on more accounts.  Not in terms of scoring anyway.  Upon a manual review it could look more favorable to have more positive open accounts, but that's about it.

[Anonymous]

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@wilmer007 wrote:

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@Anonymous wrote:

I started rebuilding in 2015. It took about 1.5 years to get to where I'm getting good CLI's. I started with alot of cards at 300-500 CL, 

1.5 years later i let all those cards grown now at 296k in CL's. I still have to this day the majority of cards I opened and they have grown nicely with time. I don't plan on closing any of them anytime soon. 99.9% have no AF so they are costing me nothing, They are adding to my payment history, and adding to my AAoA. 

hmm does your income have anything to do with that 295k cuz that's pretty impresive and considering your FICO scores are about the same as mine i guess i'll listen to you and let them grow. i suppose i can close them when i see denial letters of "denied due to already having too much total credit limit in credit report".

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I make 130k a year, not sure what yu make. I just read alot on here. I ask for my CLI's at the points I've read on. Some banks have been very cool. 

Ive studied all the data points i could especially with certain ones like Synchrony Bank, I found as my CLI started growing with them they started growing with others, I'm assuming competition to use a card. Just them alone I have

Lowes 30k

Amazon 8k

marvel 8k

Amazon store 8k

Stash 8k

Toys R US MC 10k

Sams Club MC 15k

They were about my first bank to tackle. I didnt find their requirements as crazy as other banks. I have 3 AMEX now too, A discover. 

I actually called discover and asked them for a CLI asked them if they can be more on pair with my other cards so I could move some spending over to them. They of coarse jumped right on it and raised my CL. 

I started US bank with a 5000 CL a little over a year ago, thats sitting at 13k now, they just gave me a CLI, sent me a letter saying heres more credit do to how well you've handled your account. 

my cap 1's are a little over a year also, those are sitting at 4k each card. 

I just found as I got some cards up there other banks were more inclinded to increase my CL with them. They are also competing for your buisness also and as time passes and they see you're using credit wisely they will eventually want you to spend money with them. 

I having updated my scores in my sig but they are still about the same. Until my BK falls off they will be stuck there. but 99% of what i have established after BK is all positive. 

You will see with time banks will be wantig your buisness. I started in 2015 with a total, surge and a secured card from my CU 

Now i have CITI, AMEX, Chase, Usbank, Discover, Penfed, SDFCU, Synchrony, Comendity. My total and surge card are close and my CU CC is now unsecured and they gave me a CLI too. 

Best advise I can give is read, read, read, ask questions alot of people here have really helped me out. I got CLI's I never knew i could even get! I'd get approved for something and they would say naw call in and asked for a CLI after the approval and BAM CLI granted!  As far as income my DW makes a fraction of what I make 40k a year and she had almost 200k in credit, even a 20k Delta AMEX and a 6K Amex BCE. we just make sure we pay it off or make very large payments if we carry a balance. She actually just got an APR reduction on her amex to 9.99. 

Its just takes time. I had a CS of 483 when i started all this and no credit cards or loans. I kept things strickly cash since my BK in 2007. I didn't realize how bad that hurt my CS