Trying to Figure Out Which Cards to Close

[Mike1014805]

So in February 2024, I filed for Bankruptcy due to Medical Debt and in May 2024 I was discharged. I unfortunately burned Wells Fargo, BofA, Capital One, Chase, Barclay, TD Bank, CITI and Elan Financial/US Bank (Credit Union) at the time of filing, I had no choice. At the advice of my BK Lawyer, I opened the following credits to help rebuild my credit score and it worked. I went from a 539 to 711 fico score in 12 months. Here are the cards, in order that I opened and their limits. None of them carry a balance except for one. My lawyer told me to do the AZEO Method which definitely worked:

1. Mission Lane (NO AF) Visa: $1,000 approval | $2,000 Current Limit ($1,000 increase 6 months in)

2. Merrick Bank MC: $1,000 Approval | $2,000 Current Limit ($1,000 increase 6 months in)

3. Ally Bank Cashback MC: $1,000 Approval | $1,500 Current Limit ($500 INCREASE 6 months in)

4. Petco Store Card Bread Financial: $300 Approval (Still at $300)

5. Dell Charge Bread Financial: $1500 Approval (Still at $1500)

6. Mercury Visa Rewards: $500

7. Burlington Charge Card: $300 Approval (Still at $300)

8. Kohls Store Card: $300 (opened in October, still at $300)

9. Capital One Quicksilver: $300 (opened in October, still at $300)

10. Petal 1 Visa: Originally pre-pproved for $1000 then downgraded to $350 w/$50 AF ACCOUNT CLOSED

11. PayPal Cashback Mastercard: $700

12. TD Bank Cash Visa: $5,000

13. TD Bank Double Visa: $500

14. Capital One Savor Rewards: $750 (Opened May 2025)
15. AAA Travel Visa: $2,300 (Opened May 2025)
16. PayPal Credit: $1,000 (Opened May 2025 and Syncrhony DID NOT pull my credit for this)

I know it's a lot of cards, but I plan on actually closing the ones highlighted in bold, and then "gardening" for the next 2 years. (To be honest the only reason I opened so many cards was to simply see if I could. I'm not telling you or anyone else to do this, I just wanted to see what I could get approved for and to rebuild my credit).

Anyway, I wanted to know what card(s) you would close if you were in my situation, or should I just put the ones I don't use in the "sock drawer" so to speak? I know I definitely want to keep using the following cards:

1. TD Bank Cash Visa: $5,000

2. TD Bank Double Visa: $500

3. Capital One Savor Rewards: $750
4. AAA Travel Visa: $2,300 
5. PayPal Credit: $1,000
6. Kohls Store Card: $300
7. Ally Bank Cashback MC: $1,500

[Seatac]

It looks like you plan to ditch about 6k in credit lines...why?

The quality of the credit provides does not, at least to my knowledge,  affect your score or getting other , better, cards.

So why at this stage would you want to lose that much available credit.  

You have tine. Wait. Sock drawer the undesired cards. Let them close those accounts if they want to...garden for a year or two.

With your legitimate monthly spend run up to 75% on each card you desire and PIF before the closing date.

If you are really organized set a schedule of say 3 or 4 months to do this to each card you desire to keep. Show responsible heavy utilization and payment.  

Let them see you can handle credit responsible and most will reward you with clis

[smcj]

I would close any cards with an annual fee (though timing on those closures is obviously whatever works best for you).

I would not close a single no-fee card.  Sockdrawer those.  Be sure to put something tiny on each and pay it off at least once per 12 months, so none of them get auto-closed due to inactivity.

Having these cards will help your credit profile in a serious way eventually, particularly as they weight your average account age to "older" as they, well, get older.

I have only seen one issuer (JP Morgan Chase) get wound up about too many accounts in good standing with zero balances (and by wound up I mean denying CLIs for this cited reason, despite a financial profile that makes it clear a small 4-figure limit is well out of date).  And that issuer is pretty meh so to heck with them.  The better offerings of other issuers more than make up for it over time.

Just my $0.02.

[Navaster]

I am in agreement with @smcj. Close any card with an annual fee and put the rest in the sock drawer. No reason to close them. Just get better cards that fit with your spending slowly over time.