Yeah wow 80 cards would melt my brain trying to keep track of them all
@Yasselife wrote: @Anonymous How do you keep track of +80 cards, and do you check them daily?
@Rogue46 wrote: Yeah wow 80 cards would melt my brain trying to keep track of them all
Not to steal his thunder @Yasselife and @Rogue46 but @Anonymous has posted several times about his method. Yes, it's more of a "hobby" for him and he has a very disciplined way of keeping all the cards in usage. He also has some higher spend from his personal business dealings which are partly the reason for the high number of cards and total credit limits.
He has said that he uses a ledger-style system to track it all, and that it does require some extra work and focus to juggle it all. He rotates through his cards on almost a daily basis and I believe they all get at least one charge a month. But he apparently enjoys it!
He posted about it HERE among other places. At the time he started this thread (May 2020), he "only" had 42 cards. 
I find it interesting but to me, I would never want to manage that many cards. The 21 that I have now is more than I've ever had and more than I really want to keep in the long-term. We all have to decide how much we choose to manage.
@Aim_High
thank you. I was seeking advice because this is a hobby of mine too. Mint app makes it easy for me to track; it's the management of usage what intrigues me. I should have looked for that type of topic instead.
@mark I want you to know I'm a fan of yours 😄
The major pros and cons of closing cards has been covered above. Personally, I'm a believer in putting some thought into closing a card, but there are definitely times to do it. Since we can only grow our new accounts and credit limits at a pace controlled by our lender's standards, I choose to be careful in closing any cards that I've taken time (and hard inquiries) to open.
Considering the impact of utilization if someone is carrying balances is probably the most important issue. But also consider the loss of a highest CL, an oldest card (since there is no guarantee a card will stay on a report for 10 years), or lost opportunities such as the ability to product change or to take advantage of BT offers in the future.
I periodically rank-order my cards by major attributes and consider what they are contributing to my finances and FICO. I consider age, credit limits, APRs, fees, card perks, lender diversity, rewards, payment networks, as well as overall satisfaction with customer service, fraud support, and technology (web/mobile app). Some cards contribute in many areas but making a list makes it evident that some have little value. The last time I closed multiple cards was a few years ago after I paid off several cards with balance transfers or promotional APRs that were no longer useful. For another example, I usually recommend closing older starter cards that have AFs or unfavorable terms after one of our members builds better credit.
On the plus side of downsizing, there is a cost to managing idle or non-useful cards, mainly in terms of time and fraud exposure. If they aren't needed and won't adversely affect overall profile, there's certainly no reason to keep cards open that have become obsolete. However, as @RSX pointed out, having multiple cards with one lender or at the same place where one has deposit accounts makes monitoring idle accounts fairly easy.
@longtimelurkerhas a valid point in that the "law of diminishing returns" often applies as more cards are added. Some of our members enjoy the "hobby" aspect of collecting, truly need the sheer total amount of credit for regular spend, or enjoy fully optimizing rewards even as the incremental gains begin to drop-off. For all of us "credit enthusiasts", there comes a point when we have to decide what is "enough" between simplicity and complexity. That point may be three cards, five cards, ten cards, 81 cards. We all get to pick what is best for us.
@longtimelurker wrote:To make up some random stats (and then claim they are scientifically proved): my guess is that for most people, 10 cards will achieve at least 90% of the benefit of any larger number of cards. (The wiggle room is for, e.g. really frequent but non-loyal travellers, who use different airlines and hotels, and thus "need" more airline/hotel cards)
I think I'd cut that in half frankly more like 5 cards is 97% or even 99%.
Really the only advantage more provides credit wise after 5+ years or so, is buffering credit changes... but after a while you stop making them rationally unless you just are in hobby territory.
This pandemic sort of is case in point for me after years of credit expansion: April 2020 mortgage, May 2020 AOD because yeah, godlike especially for me now... and that's it. 19 months without a new tradeline though I had a few inquiries like the mortgage pre-approval I needed to show the builder here in Raleigh. What use credit even, let alone more tradelines?
Realistically short of a 3.5% or better default spender (at $0 AF so easy math) I can't see really opening any more rationally; people SUB chasing notwithstanding, there I suspect some additional padding that isn't part of the churn probably helps.
