What to do with my cards, part 2

[smc733]

So now I'm in a real quandary here.  For the life of me I can't decide which avenue to take.

THEORETICALLY, Chase Freedom is the best way for me to earn rewards.  But, at the same time, it has a crappy 22.9% APR.  Will I be wasting time with this card, such as it never growing into a realistic APR?

I'm still searching for how to best design my garden, and so far I can't seem to come up with the right fit.

I like BofA, I bank there, etc, and it has a nice 10.99% APR, and they've been generous about CLIs and great with CS.

Discover, the more I learn about them, the more I realize they SUCK.  15.99% APR, crappy $1,500 limit, and .25 for the first $3,000.  This card sucks.

Citi is a sockdrawer, high limit, terrible website, terrible CS, high redemption threshold

What do I do?  Has anyone only used 1 of their credit cards and nothing else each month?  Is it bad to only use 1?  Anyone have suggestions for how to go about maximizing rewards with a card that will grow with me?

[barbaralee]

Personally, if you are going to PIF each month I wouldn't sweat the APR so bad. I only have 2 credit cards, one for internet and one for everyday purchases. Honestly, I can't even begin to understand how people juggle so many cards. I tried once, a few years back, and failed miserably.  Anyway, my CU cc that I use for EVERYTHING has a 16.9% interest, but I don't blink an eye. On my statements the interest that I have paid year to date is a nice 0. My SO just got approved for a cc rocking a 23% interest rate, but he is still planning on that being his main card for years to come. He has never paid a dime in interest. We are very much "don't put more on credit than what you have in the bank" type of people. My mom has also only used one cc for the last 25 years. She recently bought a 2nd home and the realtor said that when they pulled her credit score it was the highest they had ever seen.

As long as you PIF each month and do no cash advances/BTs/checks the APR makes little to no difference. If you are planning on rotating balances I would go with the card with the lowest interest. Whether you use one card or a hundred I think it makes no difference as long as you keep your DTI within your means.

[SocalMark]

Good post barbaralee.

[mmduluth]

When I got my Chase Freedom card it came with a year with 0% purchase APR and a couple of months ago it started reporting the rate at 9.24%.

[jefftca925]

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@barbaralee wrote:

Personally, if you are going to PIF each month I wouldn't sweat the APR so bad. I only have 2 credit cards, one for internet and one for everyday purchases. Honestly, I can't even begin to understand how people juggle so many cards. I tried once, a few years back, and failed miserably.  Anyway, my CU cc that I use for EVERYTHING has a 16.9% interest, but I don't blink an eye. On my statements the interest that I have paid year to date is a nice 0. My SO just got approved for a cc rocking a 23% interest rate, but he is still planning on that being his main card for years to come. He has never paid a dime in interest. We are very much "don't put more on credit than what you have in the bank" type of people. My mom has also only used one cc for the last 25 years. She recently bought a 2nd home and the realtor said that when they pulled her credit score it was the highest they had ever seen.

As long as you PIF each month and do no cash advances/BTs/checks the APR makes little to no difference. If you are planning on rotating balances I would go with the card with the lowest interest. Whether you use one card or a hundred I think it makes no difference as long as you keep your DTI within your means.

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+1   Before I got my Amex cards I used my Freedom cards (1 for utilities, etc. and the other for everyday stuff) almost exclusively.  The utility card has my highest APR at 18.24% but I PIF before statement closing.  I have not paid a cent in interest in the 3 years I've been rebuilding (except for my car loan).  An APR is pointless unless you're going to carry a balance or something.   If the rewards have great redemption value like the Freedom card does I'd work that card.

[smc733]

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@jefftca925 wrote:

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@barbaralee wrote:

Personally, if you are going to PIF each month I wouldn't sweat the APR so bad. I only have 2 credit cards, one for internet and one for everyday purchases. Honestly, I can't even begin to understand how people juggle so many cards. I tried once, a few years back, and failed miserably.  Anyway, my CU cc that I use for EVERYTHING has a 16.9% interest, but I don't blink an eye. On my statements the interest that I have paid year to date is a nice 0. My SO just got approved for a cc rocking a 23% interest rate, but he is still planning on that being his main card for years to come. He has never paid a dime in interest. We are very much "don't put more on credit than what you have in the bank" type of people. My mom has also only used one cc for the last 25 years. She recently bought a 2nd home and the realtor said that when they pulled her credit score it was the highest they had ever seen.

As long as you PIF each month and do no cash advances/BTs/checks the APR makes little to no difference. If you are planning on rotating balances I would go with the card with the lowest interest. Whether you use one card or a hundred I think it makes no difference as long as you keep your DTI within your means.

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+1   Before I got my Amex cards I used my Freedom cards (1 for utilities, etc. and the other for everyday stuff) almost exclusively.  The utility card has my highest APR at 18.24% but I PIF before statement closing.  I have not paid a cent in interest in the 3 years I've been rebuilding (except for my car loan).  An APR is pointless unless you're going to carry a balance or something.   If the rewards have great redemption value like the Freedom card does I'd work that card.

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Alright, makes perfect sense.  I can't ever envision carrying a balance, and if I know I'll need to, I can always use the BofA card for that.

So for now I'll use Freedom for everything, Discover for anything 5% that chase isn't offering (June:  Groceries, Jul-Sept:  Movies), until I'm ready to apply for Blue Cash Everyday later in the year, then that would replace Discover to give me Freedom + BC Everyday.

[Anonymous]

I think this plan sounds rock-solid...

Ray