I have too many credit cards

[tiny dancer]

I think in all about 15. The thing about it, that when I buy something at a new store I will open up an account to get 10 or 15% off that they offer, then half the time I don't use the credit card again. I'm a sucker for a bargain.

 

[cell]

i got a credit card from robinsons-may dept. store the other day and i cut it up and threw it in the trash.

 

[bonosloveslave]

If you have credit cards you haven't used in over a year, you should cancel them so you don't have all that open credit in case someone steals the numbers. Icelle, you should cancel that new account if you threw away the card. It's a pain, but it's just smarter to cancel it if you won't be using it.

 

[Angel]

Credit cards are evil. I have one main one that I use and a secondary one for 'emergencies'. Hope I never have to use that one.
I too am guilty of signing up for cards to get initial discounts and then never use the cards again. I should cancel them, but usually just cut them up. I am lazy I guess.

Apparently the average American has around $10,000 in credit card debt. Not cool.

 

[nbcrusader]

It is far too easy to get caught in the credit card trap. You find yourself making minimum payments, then transferring balances to lower interest rate cards. At one point, I had well over $100K in available credit.

One card should suffice. And like Beth said, cancel any cards you do not use.

 

[tiny dancer]

It is far too easy to get caught in the credit card trap. You find yourself making minimum payments, then transferring balances to lower interest rate cards. At one point, I had well over $100K in available credit.

One card should suffice. And like Beth said, cancel any cards you do not use.

Thanks, Will do.

 

[cell]

i dont want to cancel my robinsons may account, its just that if i have the card, its easier for me to just use it to shop online or by catalog. i'd rather go inside the store and shop, and then just show them my DL. they can charge my account that way. i've had the account open for nearly 2 years from what i was told last week. i just dont like carrying cards. weird huh.

 

[arw]

I fully agree that one card is enough but I have also heard that if you cancel a lot of cards at once and you wanted to buy a car, house, rent an apartment...whatever, it looks bad on your credit record if you do that. Almost like you are running from something. Most cards after a certain amount of time will expire if you don't have anything on them, at least with dept store cards.

 

[IWasBored]

stupid credit card companies keep sending me "finally a credit card deal perfect for students!"

 

[arw]

stupid credit card companies keep sending me "finally a credit card deal perfect for students!"

DON'T DO IT!!!! trust me.....credit cards suck. When I was in in my freshman year of math in high school we had to learn how to write checks!!!! I think they need to teach how to deal with credit cards to because I certainly was unprepared to deal with them. I hate them with a passion. Once my debt is gone, and it shouldn't be too much longer, I will never use another credit card as long as I live. I haven't used one in a long, long time. I'm just paying for my stupid ways while I was in college.

 

[Angela Harlem]

15 cards?!?! You're lucky they have zero balance and that you are careful with money, imagine the trouble you could get into! Same with nbcrusader.
I worked in the merchant services dept of a large bank once and this car salesman contacted me once saying he had a customer wishing to buy a $250,000 mercedes. I said thats fine but we cant help you and he said no, he wanted to know what fee he could charge this woman for paying with either an Amex or her Diners Club cards. First off I was surprised he was ringing as it is illegal to pass on this fee directly to the customer that way and argued this point with him for longer than I cared to. When I told him the fee he would be charged as a merchant was $7750 he flipped. Still not a patch on what this woman would be charged in interest by the card carrier. And to think this woman would have that much available credit on not one, but 2 cards was quite unbelievable.

 

[IWasBored]

i don't want a credit card

 

[KhanadaRhodes]

i have a few credit cards:

my discover card (first one!!)
sears gold mastercard
pier 1 gold card
exxon gas card
lerner new york card

the sears and pier 1 cards i got because i was buying something $$$ and didn't have the money (but i was getting it soon, i had them both paid off in less than a week! woo!) at the time. the exxon card i got because this way i can pay at the pump instead of going inside. a nice thing to have when you buy gas at night. the lerner new york card i got because i was buying a ton of clothes, and wanted to get the 15% off that day. i admit it! the discover card i got because it was my first one. i wanted to establish good credit.

honestly, i'll probably cancel the lerner one sometime this year, even though i've only had it, well, not even long enough to get my first bill. but i don't plan on keeping this many cards. i wish i knew what was a good amount of credit cards to have to maintain good credit, even if they're all empty. i hope hope hope to get a new car in like december, and it'd be nice to get a nice, low percentage on that car loan. i wish there was a way you could do a credit check on yourself without putting points on your record.

 

[Sicy]

I have one credit card with a $5000 limit.

I just dont see the need for multiple credit cards when one credit card can do it all.

 

[KhanadaRhodes]

I have one credit card with a $5000 limit.

I just dont see the need for multiple credit cards when one credit card can do it all.

well if i had a card with a $5000 limit i'd feel the same.

 

[Sicy]

Hey I didnt ask for it. lol. It started at $2000 and every so often I noticed it would go up. That's what I get for paying my bills on time.

 

[LarryMullen's POPAngel]

I have just one, and that's all I can or want to handle.

 

[KhanadaRhodes]

Hey I didnt ask for it. lol. It started at $2000 and every so often I noticed it would go up. That's what I get for paying my bills on time.

oh, believe me, i do the same thing. almost a year with credit cards and i've NEVER made a late payment. the credit cards that let you pay online rock. any who don't (or make you pay a fee to pay by mail or online!!) are living in the 12th century.

my discover card, my very first card, started me off with a $1000 limit. in six months, i think i'll cancel any cards that don't up me to gold, or offer me a credit limit of at least $500.

 

[Mrs. Vedder]

I have one credit card with like 2,500 limit!

Credit cards are the devil!!!

 

[melon]

I have three *only* because it will probably be the last time in a long time that I will qualify for low-rate cards. They give low-rate cards to full time bank assistant managers, not graduate / Ph.D students. However, once you have the card and you are making the payments, they can't take it away from you.

So that is why I did what I did. I have two with balances, and the third I'm not using for now.

Melon

 

[Sicy]

Curious as to what some of your interest rates are.

Right now I have a 8.9% fixed.

 

[Angela Harlem]

you guys get really low rates on your cards. here, if a card advertises that kind of rate, its only a honeymoon period and will then go up tp the usual 16%-18% average. mines $14k a year at 16% but i dont pay any annual fee, and have 60 days interest free period on any purchase. so i really dont pay any fees or interest.

 

[KhanadaRhodes]

Curious as to what some of your interest rates are.

Right now I have a 8.9% fixed.

oh geez i don't know...double digits that's for sure.

i don't really have to worry anyway, as i usually pay it in full before the bill arrives so i get no finance charges. i'm a smart one! yeah right.

 

[melon]

1) 7.9% fixed - my favorite card
2) 8.9% fixed
3) 15.99% variable - I keep it for the relatively large credit limit

Melon

 

[EPandAmerica]

I have one from a bank that I used to be employed at years ago, and I am still getting the *employee* rate of 5.3 percent.

 

[DiGi]

I have one with a 12.5% fixed rate and a 3k limit, which I am sure I could up easily, but have no interest in increasing . I pay it off in full every month no matter how much I charge.

I refuse to pay insane interest payments. Paying a crap load of extra cash for something over time does not make sense to me. My theory is if I can't afford to pay it off this month, don't buy it.

 

[Tech]

Credit Cards suck!!! I have six open accounts but only owe on 3 cards but I hate it!! Luckily they are not insane but it sucks to have debt!! My goal is to have them paid off by the latests sometime next year!!!! As for the Apr's I have one at 14.5%, 9.9% and one that really sucks at 19% fixed!!! As for keeping the cards open I was told that if you close them it looks bad on your credit report or else I would have canceled the other credit cards!!! Once these cards are paid off I'm traveling the world; here I come!!!! Oh also Discover card sucks!! I had a fixed apr of 9% and they changed it to a variable APR and I seldom used that card!!!

 

[Nate Dogg]

Credit cards are evil.

Yes, I agree. I had three cards a year and a half ago. I am down to one(well, two, but one is payed off and I'm only keeping it for my bridge toll debit account...we gotta pay for those spiffy new bridges here somehow!) I owe about 2,500 in credit now on my remaining card, which is still a lot, but I'm in better condition than before....

 

[theSoulfulMofo]

When I first started out with credit cards, I had $700 limit for the longest time... and I was like that.