Seems like objective for many on here is:
1) Have lots of available credit and cards and rewards
2) Have a high FICO score
3) Both
Choose whatever goal you like but to have both takes TIME. You just can't rush building credit history. For those that rush to get every card all at once and then say they are done apping for the next several years I find hard to believe. Like someone said if you're not going to be apping all the time why be so worried about AAoA? The world is made up of all kinds of people, everyone travels their journey the way they see fit. Some people only care about rewards and collecting credit cards. There are others who are more prudent and practical and yet others who are addictied to apping. So you have to dig through all the information and find what appeals to your sense of thinking and plan your goals accordingly. Everyone thinks their way is the right way so take what you need and create what works best for you.
@pakprotector wrote:I like having the limit cushion as I grow my portfolio. Someday I will have limits high enough on my cards to where I dont need as many but until then I like what I have. I remember well when I didnt have many options - now I do.
thanks,
BLH
That was me, prior to May 2013. Did not get rewards until October 2014. Start trimming this December, and I want a diamond, not blispay nor marvel (in sig, that is 
).
@Ghoshida wrote:
@jawbrkr wrote:Sometimes I think this site hurts more than it helps...and it sure helps a lot. People are on this like crack and can't control their impulses, no doubt. I see people applying on a whim just because a new card is out. What's the new craze these days, Blispay? Everyone and their mom wants to get on that train and ride it till it blows up and in the end wonder how their credit got screwed. Moderation people. But hey, who am I to tell folks what to do.
Not sure how the part in green automatically leads to the part in red?
Credit can get screwed because of (a) inability to manage finances because of habits or (b) circumstances outside of someone's control, like sudden job loss, medical emergencies etc.
While I don't app a lot, a big chunk of people who app for a lot of cards (especially if it's got a great reward structure and / or perks and / or signup bonuses) do that because they can (i.e. have great credit) and know how to manage it well.
Also let's get this straight. If I can budget and spend only $3,000 a month, how does it matter in terms of getting into debt whether I do it on one card or over 5-6 of my deck of 15 cards? In the process, I can also manage to get the signup bonuses on 2 of those cards, and get some free flights or cashback that I would have otherwise not got.
That said, for a lot of people it can be time consuming to manage multiple cards; it is clearly better for them to focus on as few cards as possible to maintain a good cash balance as well as a good score. I find it time-consuming as well, which is why I don't have a very large number of lenders; but I have multiple cards from most of them.
Many people here have addictive personalities. We all see it in the threads they put up. More cards, more available money and more spending. That can be dangerous, especially for these kinds of people. A new card comes out and they are off applying when they dont need to. I wont go as far as saying this applies to everyone but we all know there are plenty of people who run out of "the garden" because they just cant sit long enough to allow what they have to grow. How many times have we read a thread that started off with "So i was bored and decided to app..."
@Themanwhocan wrote:
@jawbrkr wrote:Sometimes I think this site hurts more than it helps...and it sure helps a lot. People are on this like crack and can't control their impulses, no doubt. I see people applying on a whim just because a new card is out. What's the new craze these days, Blispay? Everyone and their mom wants to get on that train and ride it till it blows up and in the end wonder how their credit got screwed. Moderation people. But hey, who am I to tell folks what to do.
The new craze is Marvel. Blispay was last week.
Well there you go. It seems there is a new craze each week.
@kdm31091 wrote:I think it's important also to not let a CC reward program dictate your spending. I think most people do it, to some degree, even subconciously. You think "oh, I have a special dining card", so you eat out more. "Oh, Discover is doing amazon this quater", so you purposely spend more to "maximize" your savings, even though you'd save more by not buying things that you don't need in the first place.
I'm not saying it applies to everyone, but I see people who seemingly are letting the tail wag the dog. Don't let a creditor decide when, where, and how much you spend. A rewards program should compliment your existing spend, not make you spend more because of it. It can be hard, admittedly, because on some level you are thinking of the "extra rewards" you get for certain purchases. But I think more often than not it can just lead to spending more which defeats the purpose entirely.
I got a cash+ because I figured to myself "I eat fast food a lot anyway", but that doesn't mean it's a good thing. I should be eating less fast food, not having something that encourages me to do it more. So yes, it's nice to have the benefit, but I have to be diligent not to purposely eat out more. In the same vein, if you tend to overspend on junk on Amazon, the last thing you need is a card to encourage you to keep doing it. Again, not all habits are bad, and not all spend is reward driven, but I think it's something to be aware of in the credit card world. It's easy to justify yourself saying "I spend x on y anyway", but does that mean that spending is a great idea?
But if you are inclined to do this, you can do it with 5 cards just like you can with 20 cards. The number of cards is not the issue in that scenario.
