How many credit cards

[ilovemk76]

There is no number that is too many. For some people, one is too many.

When a person opens many in a short period of time, that could indicate you see a change in your financial position and might need that credit to live on. That is a red flag, as is shown by Dawn.

 

[seashoreCM]

I would say it is good to have at least two credit cards of the Master/Visa variety. It is not unheard of for a merchant or hotel to over-authorize an amount and the next time you want to use that credit card, it shows up as credit limit exceeded.

If they ask ridiculous questions about why you have so many credit cards, I say it is okay to give a ridiculous answer like getting another chunk of reward points.

I do not have a foreseeable need for a loan, but if they ask about credit cards, I would ask if they needed to have one or more of them closed.

Over the years I have cancelled credit cards because they all of a sudden adopted an annual fee, or when newer credit cards came along with more rewards. This was one at a time, not several in quick succession.

One credit card I had some years back allowed me to take out cash advances and not pay any transaction fee or interest, provided I paid it all back within a month. They changed that policy after a few years.

 

[hsmamato2]

DawnM the only time having multiple cc's (with no balance carried) becomes an issue is if you need to refi,buy a car,etc in the next few months...so best not to open any if you're planning to do that....otherwise, not much impact on an already good score overall....

 

[hsmamato2]

I think some people are confusing how much credit card DEBT they have vs how many credit cards- otherwise the statement above makes no sense. there's nothing to 'afford' in terms of credit cards. You're talking about how much spending you can afford.

this is correct. Having a credit card,or twenty has nothing to do with 'affording' things....But as another pp said, there is no correct number, for some people, one card is too many. I know of people (google it) who collect multiple cards monthly,for various purposes- Or some,like some of us here, who have mutliple cards b/c doing so provides multiple rewards for doing so.... but as I said before, it has to be done CAREFULLY,and with GOOD RECORDS,and with NO DEBT carried,in order to work at all.

 

[OrangeCountyCommuter]

With 11 credit cards, your credit is not as 'excellent' as you think it is.. You're hurting your credit score by having that many cards. Why do you think you need so many?

Never let facts get in the way of the DIS assumption

I know I have more then 11. Credit score well up there in the 800 plus area.


So I don't know how you know someone else's credit score.

 

[ktmo]

It also depends on if you are going to be trying to get a loan for anything (car, house, re-fi) in the near future. If not, it probably doesn't really matter.

I don't even know how many credit cards DH and I have.

 

[DawnM]

We had not planned to refi, but with the rates dropping so low we decided it was worth it.

Dawn

DawnM the only time having multiple cc's (with no balance carried) becomes an issue is if you need to refi,buy a car,etc in the next few months...so best not to open any if you're planning to do that....otherwise, not much impact on an already good score overall....

 

[MomToOne]

I have 4 major, 3 store.

As far as the major ones go, I have one I use on a daily basis because it has the best rewards, and one that I use for international travel and that I know won't cancel me on a whim (credit union card with no extra fees). The other two I got because of awesome signup bonuses (airline cards) - these have annual fees, but I get benefits each year at least equal to the fees even without much use on them, so I am keeping them for now. But I will cancel them as soon as I am not getting a benefit equal to the fee.

The store cards I only have because I get significant benefits from having them, e.g. Target for the 5% discount.

I keep track of every item I charge and pay off all of my credit cards every month - so having all of these cards in my wallet presents absolutely no "temptation" for me. Because of that, and the fact that I have a great credit score (that I monitor regularly), I see no problem having all of them. I may even open another one or two if some more fabulous signup bonuses come along. Of course, if you are challenged by credit, this it NOT the philosophy for you.

 

[Eureka]

We must be in the minority. We have one Discover card and one MasterCard. No store cards, no Disney Rewards card. We rarely carry a balance, and mostly use them for recurring charges like Netflix and EZ Pass.

 

[sookie]

I would not close any accounts because that can shorten your overall length of credit history. I would just cease to use them and put them away. Make sure you continue to monitor them and make sure they aren't used by anyone else!

 

[ICF]

With 11 credit cards, your credit is not as 'excellent' as you think it is.. You're hurting your credit score by having that many cards. Why do you think you need so many?

We refi'd last summer -- both of our scores were over 800.

Currently we have....

SW Visa (me - wife cancelled her's back in Nov to avoid yr 2 annual fee)
Disney Visa (me)
Amex Hilton Honors (we each have our own)
Citi Thank You Mastercard (wife)
Target Card (wife)
Kohls (both of us have our own)
Meijer Dept Store (wife)
GM Mastercard Card (me -- seldom used)

That's 10 cards -- 11 back when we refi'd -- we may even have something else that I am forgetting.

So it's quite possible their credit is just as good as they think it is....our's was.

 

[MomToOne]

I would not close any accounts because that can shorten your overall length of credit history. I would just cease to use them and put them away.

That statement is a bit too broad. If you have a card with an annual fee that you are not using, and you have other credit cards on your credit history, closing that card should not do any major damage. There is no point to paying for a card you are not using.

Also, if you keep a card, you need to use it a few times a year, or most banks will automatically close the accounts on you these days. I just had one get closed on me because I hadn't used it in a year.

 

[TheRustyScupper]

. . . How bad is it to have that many? . . .

1) Don't know if there is a "too" many.
2) As long as you can manage the debt, or absence of it, you are fine.
3) We have (11) credit cards, but (3) are business related.
. . . (2) for our own LLC's
. . . (1) for personal and business air travel
4) We use the Delta-AMEX solely for air travel
. . . for the air miles
. . . for the preferred boarding (good for groups)
. . . for the free baggage check
. . . for other travel perks
5) We have one card we use for all personal buys so we get the rewards
. . . gas
. . . groceries
. . . utilitiy bills
. . . medical bills
. . . furniture
. . . golf
. . . haircuts
. . . and ANY purchase that takes plastic
6) We use one single card for the LLCs, to get the rewards
. . . goods
. . . services
. . . taxes
. . . etc
7) We usually gain (1) new card per year, solely for free interest
. . . the business sometimes has individual large expenses
. . . although we could pay in one month, budgeting over a year can be nice
. . . a slight advantage is having free interest and investing the other money
. . . once the free interest is done, we usually never use the card again
. . . then we get another free interest card for the next year

 

[mrssmith06]

We have 5 and I feel like that is too many!!
4 of those are store cards, and 1 major cc.
We have balances on 3 of them.

 

[Couchy]

With 11 credit cards, your credit is not as 'excellent' as you think it is.. You're hurting your credit score by having that many cards. Why do you think you need so many?

Not true at all. I have about 5 major cards... for the rewards and what not and several store cards. I just got my credit score last week when I got a car and my score was 832 from two different credit score companies

 

[MomToOne]

Not true at all. I have about 5 major cards... for the rewards and what not and several store cards. I just got my credit score last week when I got a car and my score was 832 from two different credit score companies

FYI: The credit score pulled by car dealers often uses a different scoring model than the normal model (an "Auto Enhanced" score). Don't assume because the dealership tells you it was 832 when you applied for a car loan, that that's what the bank would consider it to be if you went in to refi a house or you apply for a new credit card. You should pull your standard credit score to see how it compares. I've always found my car score to be higher than my normal score - it weights your history of car loan payments more heavily than the standard model.

Not saying that's your case, or that you have bad credit (to get an 832 auto score you still presumably have very good credit), just trying to share some additional knowledge...

 

[brucerob62]

the bottom linea is credit is measured by 3 things
1) good mixture of installment and revolving credit

2) ontime payments

3) ratio of total credit available/total credit used....the less you use the better of course, preferably under 10%

 

[mm1971]

is too many? DH and I now have 11. Our credit is excellent. I just got a SW Rewards card for each of us for the bonus points and I am thinking about getting one more (business card). How bad is it to have that many?

I have identified 3 I wouldn't mind cancelling, and I will soon.

We have 5 total cards. Disney, SW, Amex and wife has 2 of her own. We use the points for vacation and signed up for the SW recently for the points bonus. The simple answer is that any tim e you open or close an account, it can have a short term impact on your credit score. As long as you are not remortgaging or looking for a loan in the next few months, how many you have is really up to you.