Strategy. Got approved for WF cash, should I apply for more cards?

[Superduper2014]

I always see here that people have a ton of cards and was wondering if I am being too conservative and not taking advantage of a better strategy to keep my scored high. 

Right now I have really good scores and all my baddies fell off. Fico 8 and 9 in the 750+-

Since there are rules to follow for how much you should spend on a card to keep scores high maybe I should apply to a couple of cards so I can used them at below 30%?

I am currently looking to get 0% Apr for purchases and I just got approved for WF cash card for 9k. So 30% of that is just $2700. 

Will I be hurting my scores worse by applying for more cards to be able to spend more and keep under 30% on each new card vs hurting my score by spending 50% on a single card for example? 

Also, if later in the year I will be applying for an Amex everyday for the zero fee bal transfer, would applying for a couple of cards today be bad for getting approved for it vs just the wells fargo I just got approved for.?

Hope I made the post clear and I am not rambling and making sense. Any insight on strategy is much appreciated. 

[Remedios]

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@Superduper2014 wrote:

I always see here that people have a ton of cards and was wondering if I am being too conservative and not taking advantage of a better strategy to keep my scored high. 

Right now I have really good scores and all my baddies fell off. Fico 8 and 9 in the 750+-

Since there are rules to follow for how much you should spend on a card to keep scores high maybe I should apply to a couple of cards so I can used them at below 30%?

I am currently looking to get 0% Apr for purchases and I just got approved for WF cash card for 9k. So 30% of that is just $2700. 

Will I be hurting my scores worse by applying for more cards to be able to spend more and keep under 30% on each new card vs hurting my score by spending 50% on a single card for example? 

Also, if later in the year I will be applying for an Amex everyday for the zero fee bal transfer, would applying for a couple of cards today be bad for getting approved for it vs just the wells fargo I just got approved for.?

Hope I made the post clear and I am not rambling and making sense. Any insight on strategy is much appreciated. 

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Yes, continous applying will hurt your scores and they wont recover till apps stop for considerable period of time 

This is really simple. Dont apply for the cards you dont need, only to pad utilization. If you do, you may take yourself out of the running for the cards you actually need. 

That 30% (technically 28.9%) only refers to reported utilization. You can spend as much of your CL as you need, just pay it down before statement cuts if you're uncomfortable letting it report as is.  

If you add bunch of useless cards now, that BT card may not happen, or it happens with low SL because you're perceived as high risk due to credit  seeking  behavior.  I've made this mistake twice. It's not pretty. 

Dont let a single approval makes you feel like you have to play with a full deck. As baddies fall off, some people go through app frenzy. Seldom ends well. Plenty of threads attesting to that. 

As your profile gets stronger, none of this will be that important. 

[Superduper2014]

Sensible advise. Thanks. 

I was not going to go on a 4 app or more spree though however wild I imagined I could get lol. 

If I got wild, I was thinking just one more to keep it reasonable, but I don't know if adding 2 more in total cards right now to keep spending spread will be a big no no for Amex. I have an Amex with 13k so in the event thye approve me for little limit, apparently you can have them move that available credit to the new card? Would you think doing just 2 would hurt me? In the end it will be just 2 cards now and then one more before the end of the year total 3 cards in one year. Last year I did 2. 

Thanks for your inisight. 

[Remedios]

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@Superduper2014 wrote:

Sensible advise. Thanks. 

I was not going to go on a 4 app or more spree though however wild I imagined I could get lol. 

If I got wild, I was thinking just one more to keep it reasonable, but I don't know if adding 2 more in total cards right now to keep spending spread will be a big no no for Amex. I have an Amex with 13k so in the event thye approve me for little limit, apparently you can have them move that available credit to the new card? Would you think doing just 2 would hurt me? In the end it will be just 2 cards now and then one more before the end of the year total 3 cards in one year. Last year I did 2. 

Thanks for your inisight. 

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Again, that's up to you.  Yes, you have amex with 13k, but amex has been doing CLDs if SL is not used sufficiently

There is no guarantee that 13k will still be there and there is talk about them tightening lending standards. I would not take them for granted any longer. 

If you have a true financial need for additional cards, go for it

If you're padding utilization, back to square one. 

It's really up to you. Hopefully you have well defined goals, and wont do anything to jeopardize or postpone them. 

I tend to be more cautious these days because card yolo keeps putting me in naughty chair. Shrug lol 

Others will have different suggestions. That, I am sure of. 

Good luck 

[Superduper2014]

good points. I am not counting on anything 100% since all terms and offers and situations can change at any time. 

Just doing my due diligence to weigh my odds. 

People keep saying keep you util low to keep scores high, and since I need to make some big purchases and also keep my scores high for when I do a balance transfer by end of year, then I thought spreading the util across at least 2 cards to keep under 30% would be "better" for my scores by end of year vs the damage that applying and getting 2 new cards now will inflict on my score or profile by end of year. 

I appreciate your view points. Thanks

[pinkandgrey]

In the interest of maintaining sanity, I would say to apply only for cards that you need or will use a lot.
Congrats on the WF Cash!

[Superduper2014]

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@pinkandgrey wrote:
In the interest of maintaining sanity, I would say to apply only for cards that you need or will use a lot.
Congrats on the WF Cash!

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I ended up just applying for the wells fargo. For sanity of course

However, I am still baffled by reading others' posts showing a myriad of cards and applications and still high scores. Anyways, the strategy is no mistery, just app a ton and see what happens it seems. 

[Anonymous]

I don't think anyone ever needs any credit cards, so the only getting what you NEED theory is out the window.. They are all just luxuries..

I don't need any credit cards and would probably be better off without any of them but wht I need from them is a solid credit history so I can leverage investments in the future.. 

What I need is a bunch of positive accounts and the earlier I can get them the better.

5 cards in 2 years may not look that great right now, but in 2-5 years my credit will be SOLID and more impervious to HPs and new accounts at that time with the AAOA weight.. 

I will gladly give up a lot of points now for an optimal future plan and the cards I have got are pretty good or have good PC options, no store cards just 0 AF cash back cards. 

As long as my credit stays high enough to be approved for decent 0AF cash back cards with SUBs I don't see why I shouldn't keep picking them up, one every few months, for the next year or so.. 

I will be 2/24 in a couple months so why shouldn't I pick up a Chase freedom for the SUB? And then a WF cash wise for the SUB?

Actually, I will probably app for the Apple card when it comes out for no good reason other than having a cool card and another 0AF account.. 

That would make 9 accounts total and my credit profile will be a BEAST in 2 years and a bunch of free money from SUBs.. 

Well, I need 10 accounts to get in the green with Credit Carma so why not get them?

OP

I don't think you should be getting cards for some scheme to spend money on them for free or whatever.. 

[Remedios]

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@Superduper2014 wrote:

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@pinkandgrey wrote:
In the interest of maintaining sanity, I would say to apply only for cards that you need or will use a lot.
Congrats on the WF Cash!

---

I ended up just applying for the wells fargo. For sanity of course

However, I am still baffled by reading others' posts showing a myriad of cards and applications and still high scores. Anyways, the strategy is no mistery, just app a ton and see what happens it seems. 

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That's the opposite from "strategy"

You are seeing cards, but you're not asking how long it took to get there. For some, decades or more.

I hope you are not seriously entertaining "app and see what happens" but if you are...good luck. 

[Anonymous]

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@Superduper2014 wrote:

good points. I am not counting on anything 100% since all terms and offers and situations can change at any time. 

Just doing my due diligence to weigh my odds. 

People keep saying keep you util low to keep scores high, and since I need to make some big purchases and also keep my scores high for when I do a balance transfer by end of year, then I thought spreading the util across at least 2 cards to keep under 30% would be "better" for my scores by end of year vs the damage that applying and getting 2 new cards now will inflict on my score or profile by end of year. 

I appreciate your view points. Thanks

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Is your current card still 0% APR? Since you say you have to do the transfer at the end of the year, I take it it is still 0%. Would you be able to pay off a solid chunk of that big purchase before you need to transfer it? If you can get it down to the 30% utilization, you should be fine getting approved for a new card and transfer it out to a new 0% APR card.

Also, how soon will you have to make said big purchase? Would you be able to first get your next AMEX CLI increase and then make the big purchase? If you're able to get your CL increased, you'll have less to pay off to reach 30% before opening a new card & transfering.

Example: 10k CL; 5k purchase --> pay off 2k to reach 30%. 15k CL; 5k purcahse --> pay ~.5k to reach 30%