What to throw away and what to keep!

[UpAndComing74]

SO on this journey I feel like I have made a small step forward in my rebuild since bankruptcy.

At the beginning of June 2020 my credit cards are as follows:

Credit One-$700

Merrick-$600

Discover Secured-$1000

Synchrony Paypal-$200

Synchrony Amazon-$560

Mission Lane-$500

Chase Freedom-$1000

Capt 1-$750

Cap 1 Business-$1000

Fast forward to today and I have added:

Discover (Graduated)-$1000

Mercury Visa-$2500

Navy Federal-$1000

Apple Card-$1500

(PenFed Recon pending)

My plan is to run utilities(cable, internet) and Auto insurance through some of these cards to keep activity.  My question is...obvioulsy I do not need 13 cards...Which ones do I close and which do I keep with monthly activity? Which ones would i want to run my montly bills through and will it hurt my scores to close the smaller ones I do not need?

Current scores are

Efx-668, TU-668, EXP-687

TIA!!!

[Anonymous]

@UpAndComing74   

Some questions in order to help you

 1. what are your oldest cards? 
2. how far out from BK7 DC are you?

3. Is that the new Apple Card or the Barclays Apple Card? (Also I thought you had to be 3 years post BK7 to get one)

4. Which cards have the highest AFs and APRs?

5. Which cards give you the best rewards?

6. which cards have the best chance of decreasing your utilization?

7. Which cards will grow and which will not?

[CYBERSAM]

With exception of Discover, Navy, Apple Card, everything else can go and you won't miss them!

Cap1 if you can upgrade it to QS and get CLIs...

Keep the cards that you like to have for long term. At this time is best to just garden and let your good history age as your score rises.

[UpAndComing74]

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@CYBERSAM wrote:

With exception of Discover, Navy, Apple Card, everything else can go and you won't miss them!

Cap1 if you can upgrade it to QS and get CLIs...

Keep the cards that you like to have for long term. At this time is best to just garden and let your good history age as your score rises.

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Close them or put them up in the closet and sock drawer them?

[Tomatoshadow2]

I wouldn't close any cards if they don't have an annual fee. Just put a small charge on them, every few months to keep them active, never know when you may need the card for something.

[SouthJamaica]

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@UpAndComing74 wrote:

SO on this journey I feel like I have made a small step forward in my rebuild since bankruptcy.

At the beginning of June 2020 my credit cards are as follows:

Credit One-$700

Merrick-$600

Discover Secured-$1000

Synchrony Paypal-$200

Synchrony Amazon-$560

Mission Lane-$500

Chase Freedom-$1000

Capt 1-$750

Cap 1 Business-$1000

Fast forward to today and I have added:

Discover (Graduated)-$1000

Mercury Visa-$2500

Navy Federal-$1000

Apple Card-$1500

(PenFed Recon pending)

My plan is to run utilities(cable, internet) and Auto insurance through some of these cards to keep activity.  My question is...obvioulsy I do not need 13 cards...Which ones do I close and which do I keep with monthly activity? Which ones would i want to run my montly bills through and will it hurt my scores to close the smaller ones I do not need?

Current scores are

Efx-668, TU-668, EXP-687

TIA!!!

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My advice would be to ditch Credit One, Merrick, Mission Lane, and Mercury, and to STOP APPLYING for any more cards.

[Loquat]

A lot of good questions have already been asked. I will echo a few of them by asking how far in the distance is your BK? Also, what is your overall utilization vs credit limit?

Depending on these answers and how old these cards are...it may be best to leave all of those without AFs alone for a while and let them age (since you already took the HP for them anyway).

I'm not a fan of holding on to cards that cost but don't provide a return of any sort...those I say cancel regardless of time. This hobby is about increasing your overall profile as well as picking up some worthwhile benefits in the process; never about spending money just for the sake of doing so.

[UpAndComing74]

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@Loquat wrote:

A lot of good questions have already been asked. I will echo a few of them by asking how far in the distance is your BK? Also, what is your overall utilization vs credit limit?

Depending on these answers and how old these cards are...it may be best to leave all of those without AFs alone for a while and let them age (since you already took the HP for them anyway).

I'm not a fan of holding on to cards that cost but don't provide a return of any sort...those I say cancel regardless of time. This hobby is about increasing your overall profile as well as picking up some worthwhile benefits in the process; never about spending money just for the sake of doing so.

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Thanks! My BK Was discharged 01/2017. My AF on Credit One alone is $99. Overnight I had a 30 day late removed and saw my score enter the 700 club. I'm just afraid closing the card that I have had for over 3 years will hurt my AAofA and cause my scores to drop again!!

[SouthJamaica]

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@UpAndComing74 wrote:

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@Loquat wrote:

A lot of good questions have already been asked. I will echo a few of them by asking how far in the distance is your BK? Also, what is your overall utilization vs credit limit?

Depending on these answers and how old these cards are...it may be best to leave all of those without AFs alone for a while and let them age (since you already took the HP for them anyway).

I'm not a fan of holding on to cards that cost but don't provide a return of any sort...those I say cancel regardless of time. This hobby is about increasing your overall profile as well as picking up some worthwhile benefits in the process; never about spending money just for the sake of doing so.

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Thanks! My BK Was discharged 01/2017. My AF on Credit One alone is $99. Overnight I had a 30 day late removed and saw my score enter the 700 club. I'm just afraid closing the card that I have had for over 3 years will hurt my AAofA and cause my scores to drop again!!

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As long as it's not having a major impact on utilization percentage, closing it will not affect your credit at all. It doesn't stop counting towards your AAoA until it's dropped from your credit reports, which is usually many years down the road, typically 10 years or so.  So please get rid of it.

[Anonymous]

I wouldn't close any of the cards without an annual fee unless you think your current volume is to much to handle. You need to take a break and garden untill  your FICOs are in the 700s. Focus on growing your CLs through softpulls and eventually, when you apply for your next card, you will start getting those big boy limits.