Strategy to get to 21 cards...

[SUPERSQUID]

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@dytch2220 wrote:

What is the best strategy for getting to the magic #21 cards.  I have 7 currently and am still in the late stages of repair before I will have "good" credit so I can start applying for cards I really want to keep.  I'm looking for the most efficient without hindering my ability to get increases or impacting my credit scores unduly.

If you dont' mind sharing, would also like suggestions of cards I should apply for from good through excellent.  I'm mainly looking for cash back and/or no annual fee type cards.  I do have accounts with USAA and PenFed, but no credit lines as of yet.

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I can only comment keeping my experience in mind and not chastizing someone for actively trying their own way. I have too many cards in my view and im slowly closing some. The main reason i have too many is during my rebuild i have qualified gradually for better and better cards with better terms and limits. I have added cards faster than closing the old ones and i am closing them gradually with their effect of raising my utilization upon closing them always on my mind.  usually the plan of action is to grow the ones i like thereby not  affecting my utilization too badly if i close one. So far so good as my scores never have taken a big hit however they havent shown a major rise in the last year but my profile is a bit of a disaster so what i have accomplished in my eyes is amazing wiih the knowledge of this forum to help.

[UH_HUH]

Have between 50k through 3K on all these cards. Doesn't get ya anywhere but a bucket full of cards😂 21 is not a magic number. Listen to all these bright people who know what they're talking about

[Jnbmom]

@UH_HUH 

Love that inquiry number 😂😂😂

Hooe you and yours are well 😊

[SUPERSQUID]

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@UH_HUH wrote:

Have between 50k through 3K on all these cards. Doesn't get ya anywhere but a bucket full of cards😂 21 is not a magic number. Listen to all these bright people who know what they're talking about

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Wow, you have 117 open credit cards?

[Jnbmom]

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@SUPERSQUID wrote:

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@UH_HUH wrote:

Have between 50k through 3K on all these cards. Doesn't get ya anywhere but a bucket full of cards😂 21 is not a magic number. Listen to all these bright people who know what they're talking about

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Wow, you have 117 open credit cards?

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I think that's total accounts not all are open , I know @UH_HUH  has a lot of accounts though but I don't think that there total opened . 

[UH_HUH]

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@SUPERSQUID wrote:

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@UH_HUH wrote:

Have between 50k through 3K on all these cards. Doesn't get ya anywhere but a bucket full of cards😂 21 is not a magic number. Listen to all these bright people who know what they're talking about

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Wow, you have 117 open credit cards?

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That is only one credit report. Equifax will kick that number closer to 130 Experian another number. But it is in the balllark. I just collect them. Some people are 1%ers I'm more like.0005. Just a hobby

I also have 3 of the same cards with 4 different lending institutions. Gets tricky 

[UH_HUH]

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@Jnbmom wrote:

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@SUPERSQUID wrote:

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@UH_HUH wrote:

Have between 50k through 3K on all these cards. Doesn't get ya anywhere but a bucket full of cards😂 21 is not a magic number. Listen to all these bright people who know what they're talking about

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Wow, you have 117 open credit cards?

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I think that's total accounts not all are open , I know @UH_HUH  has a lot of accounts though but I don't think that there total opened . 

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Great to hear from you @Jnbmom 😁 hope you your husband and the kids are all doing well. I'm honestly not sure if that 62 number is the highest or lowest of the 3 CRA's Hope you had a great Thanksgiving 

[Remedios]

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@dytch2220 wrote:

To many of you that gave valuable and respectful input, thank you.

For those of you that gave scolding responses or tried to make me feel stupid for asking questions towards what I thought was a legitimate aim, shame on you.  Is this not a place to be mentored?

The root source of the information may well be Credit Karma, however, I got it from a YouTube channel called "Ask Sebby".  See chart below.

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I was totally going to leave it alone - but...

Answers usually match the question. When you asked to question,  it was just "how do I get to 21 cards?" with no explanation why you feel that you want/need exactly 21.

It's going to leave most scratching their heads wondering what on earth (or somewhere else) is going on. 

You signed up 10 years ago and even if you aren't the most prolific poster, surely you have seen others describe the issue, then ask their question. 

So, instead of reading into non-existent mocking, look at your first post and ask yourself " Had I not watched this on YT, would I know what's the significance and importance"

You didn't get scolded by anyone, but you sure did some scolding of your own. 

To answer your question, there is nothing magic about 21 cards. There is some magic in thicker files, they are a bit more resistant to volatile score changes (utilization, aging, accounts with balances - all scoring metrics). 

So, thick file can be a good thing or a bad thing, depending on why you're rebuilding for the second time. 

As far as Sebby goes, he's like those people on Ancient Aliens, he doesn't believe 💩 he's saying but he's getting paid to say it. 

[Jnbmom]

💯 of what @Remedios  stated 

[Revelate]

Didn't see this mentioned and I'm one of those that had 20ish open revolvers at one point and even at 35 total accounts, guess how many I actually use?

4.

I don't know if CC rewards stick around or not, but everyone eventually gets to what I'd term as "rewards complete" for 99% of their spend with about 5 cards: I'm a little less as I don't really need a gas / grocery card otherwise I'd probably be right at 5.

The large numbers of accounts that are sometimes seen on this forum are indeed hobbies: there's nothing wrong with that, arguably this forum was my hobby for a good long while, but there's absolutely no credit scoring reason to get that many and I suspect while it may not harm them, they are going to get some weird looks.

Anyway if you are close to the end of your repair, just hang loose till clean (or clean enough) and then go get the tradelines you really want.  I'm vaguely interested in seeing who closes which unused tradeline on me but other than that they sit in a locked box being pointless otherwise.  My own strategy is just hanging out till there is a chance for an opportunistic pickup like the AOD card was for me that slots into #4 though really could replace my #2 but I'm credit lazy.