@cws-21 wrote:I, intentionally, have what I consider to be a minimalist, cash back lineup. At this point in time, I have a total of eight credit cards, which includes a near useless credit union card that I only keep because it is my oldest. My minimalist, cash back lineup is provided below, not as the only or best, but as an example and point of reference. There are a variety of reasons as to why I have the cards that I do, but, for the most part, I have a grocery card, a dining card, a gas card, a card with cellphone protection, an Amazon card, a no foreign transaction fee Visa card (same as Amazon card), a Target card, a (hopefully) future no foreign transaction fee Mastercard card (same as Target card), and a 2% everything card. I have been contemplating getting an Elan Max Cash Mastercard for utilities and, possibly, cellphone (5% cash back and cellphone protection), but, aside from that, I do not have any intention at this moment to add more cards to the seven that I use every month. I can still be enticed to get a new card, but it just takes more to do so for me than it does for others (of course, no judgment--to each his or her own). I may replace specific cards such as the Citi Double Cash with the AOD Visa (if possible for me to get the AOD Visa) or the Chase Amazon (especially if Chase loses it) with the Affinity Cash Rewards Visa.
- American Express Blue Cash Preferred (mostly for 6% cash back on groceries, but also Amex Offers)
- Citi Custom Cash Card (mostly for 5% cash back on dining, but also on groceries, to complement BCP, or gas, if ever my Ducks Unlimited goes away)
- First Bankcard Ducks Unlimited Rewards Visa Card (mostly for 5% cash back on gas and in-store convenience store purchases, but also 5% cash back on sporting goods)
- Wells Fargo Propel Amex Card (mostly for cellphone protection, but also 3% cash back on transit and travel as well as Amex Offers and Wells Fargo Deals)
- Chase Amazon Prime Rewards Visa Signature Card (for 5% cash back at Amazon and no foreign transaction Visa, but also Chase Offers)
- Target RedCard Credit Card (for 5% cash back at Target and, hopefully, no foreign transaction fee Mastercard in the future if converted)
- Citi Double Cash Card (for 2% cash back on everything else)
I am curious about who else is out there in the myFICO universe with a similar approach/strategy/philosophy. If you are like-minded, I have a few questions, in no particular order, to which I would be interested in reading folks' responses. Feel free to answer any questions, all questions, or provide any other information that you would like to share that others (and I) may find interesting. The questions are really just to get the discussion started as I am sure there are many others questions that could or may even be better to be asked.
What does a minimalist approach/strategy/philosophy mean to you?
I can tell you what it does not mean to me... having 7 cash back cards. I wouldn't consider that minimalist at all.
Why have you purposefully pursued a minimalist lineup (e.g., more accounts would be too much for you to manage)?
I didn't pursue my credit card lineup in a 'purposeful' manner. I just saw things I liked and applied for them. Some I kept, some I closed.
What cards are in your minimalist lineup and why did they make the cut while others did not?
My lineup of cash back cards, which I don't consider minimalist, consists of Chase Amazon Prime, Citibank Double Cash, PenFed Power Cash, 2 Discover IT cards, and NFCU Cash Rewards. I guess they made the cut because there's nothing about them that irks me.
Do you have a specific number of cards that you try to stay below? An ultimate number of cards for which you are pursuing?
I don't have specific numbers in mind, but I like to be able to alternate the cards so they don't all become due at the same time, and I don't like to spread each too thin... i.e. I don't actually have much personal spend, so I don't like to spread it out over too many different cards.
Do you have any other "rules," established by yourself, that you try to follow (e.g., I typically won't pursue a card that will only yield a 1% increase in cash back)?
I didn't think I had any rules, but I certainly would not even consider a supposedly 'cash back' card that yielded only 1% cash back.
Have you sought out particular types of cards (e.g., rotating categories, flat 2/3%, etc.)?
I much prefer flat to categories. I don't have enough brain cells to worry about categories.
Do you want to cover only specific categories of spending (e.g., groceries, dining, and gas)?
I wish they covered more categories than they do. I don't spend much but I do pay a lot of bills, almost none of which get me anything.
Do you typically sock drawer cards or close accounts when a card's cash back is no longer beneficial to you (e.g., I closed my Sallie Mae and Uber cards)?
I typically close cards rather than sock drawer them. I don't have a single 'sock drawer' card. I'm afraid to have an open card which I don't use, both because (a) I don't like 'adverse action' and (b) I fear fraud and identity theft.
@SouthJamaica wrote:
@cws-21 wrote:I, intentionally, have what I consider to be a minimalist, cash back lineup.
At this point in time, I have a total of eight credit cards,
What does a minimalist approach/strategy/philosophy mean to you?
I can tell you what it does not mean to me... having 7 cash back cards.
I wouldn't consider that minimalist at all.
I think the problem we get into here is that the definition of "minimalist" can vary widely. And My Fico'ers who attempt to optimize cash back will by nature get MORE cards to some extent. It's just a matter of how far you want to optimize your rewards and that point where, as asked by @cws-21, additional rewards become marginalized to not further pursue. Consequently, "Minimalist Cashback Strategy" is almost an oxymoron and subject to a wide range of profiles.
I know some members who purposefully have ONE card or maybe no more than THREE cards. Those are true minimalists. But they almost certainly are not optimizing rewards even though they have a simple lineup that works for them. They may diversify between multiple lenders, may have a card that offers a lower APR, and may choose a variety of payment networks like AX/MC/VS. If they are also pursuing cash back, they probably have at least one uncapped uncategorized card that earns overall high rewards.
An excellent card for a profile like this would be the AOD FCU 3% Visa Signature. An alternative would be the Bank of America Premium Rewards card with Platinum Honors Preferred Rewards status that earns 3.5% cash-back on all dining and travel and 2.625% cash-back on everything else. If you couple the PR with a Customized Cash Rewards card (with Platinum Honors), you could also earn 3.5% on groceries and warehouse clubs and 5.25% on a selected category like gas, with a total cap of $2500 per quarter on those combined spending categories. That's a pretty good general return with a 2-card combo, and you could call it a day.
I know others who have a little more loose definition of the minimalist label who choose to slightly diversify into cash back up to about 5-10 cards. We have quite a few of those on the forums; members without travel points cards, who pay little to no AFs, and who have managed to successfully target their highest spending categories with a single card (although perhaps without a backup if categories or cards are nerfed.) For those who want "back-up" cards, it's easy to get into the low double-digits and still consider yourself a "minimalist" IMO.
Profile and lifestyle could also dictate the number of cards a "minimalist" would carry. For example, someone who spends a lot of money might need more cards.
I consider anyone who consciously limits their cards to some level as a minimalist, as opposed to a card-collector strategy who never gives it much thought. I've become more thoughtful of my card selection over the years and I think it's also natural to allow the number of cards to grow and evolve as your profile ages. So even with my 20 current cards, I consider myself somewhat of a minimalist since I'm very deliberate about adding cards and don't want to add/keep cards that are not serving a unique purpose. I have a few that I could easily cut and that, also, is a conscious focus. To me, a conscious focus on minimizing or limiting cards is one trait of a "minimalist." Recently, even @credit_is_crack had a thread about minimizing and posted a "culled-down" list of 19 cards! 
So it's all in the perspective.
https://ficoforums.myfico.com/t5/Credit-Cards/Off-With-Their-Heads/m-p/6385444#M1787519
@cws-21and I had a PM discussion about my "less cards with higher limits" strategy and this discussion expands a little on that for cash-back cards. My strategy is more of a combination of travel points and cash back. While I never intended to be a true minimalist down to the point of three cards or less, I did have an ongoing-discussion with another member who had done just that and I considered what that would look like for me. In the end, it was a change that I just didn't feel was right or necessary for me.
Among other members, I think @Kforce might have something to contribute here based on several other postings including this recent one:
https://ficoforums.myfico.com/t5/Credit-Cards/Off-With-Their-Heads/m-p/6386446#M1787776
@cws-21 wrote:@SouthJamaica, thank you for the reply. Maybe I should not have referred to a seven card cash back lineup as minimalist, but, IMHO, having 7-8 cards total is minimalist, at least, it seems so compared to the number of cards many other myFICOers have in their signatures. I think you misinterpreted my example given your comment "I certainly would not even consider a supposedly 'cash back' card that yielded only 1% cash back." I mentioned "I typically won't pursue a card that will only yield a 1% increase in cash back." I good example of what I meant is potentially replacing my Wells Fargo Propel with 3% dining for a USB AltGO with 4x points for dining, which would be a 1% increase in cash back. We are definitely in agreement regarding not loving rotating category cards and preferring to close accounts rather than sock drawer cards.
Yes I did misunderstand what you meant by that. Sorry.
Each of my cards serve a purpose except for my Victoria's Secret card.
Walmart MasterCard for 5% cash back for my Walmart grocery pickup.
Target Redcard for 5% off my purchases at Target.
SavorOne for 3% cash back on dining and 3% cash back on grocery stores that are not Walmart and Target.
Americard I want to convert to cash rewards to use on 3% cash back on online shopping.
Discover It for the 5% rotating categories.
Quicksilver I use on my bills which I will be replacing with a 2% cash back card but let's all be honest, I love this card because Capital One is the ONLY credit card company I have that doesn't freeze my card if I swipe it somewhere I've never been lol. It's my go to card to use in any store I've never shopped at. So even though I'm replacing it I'll still be using it at clothing/ drugstores.
