I don't understand why some people seem to want to collect as much plastic as possible. For myself I try to find a good rewards card that I like and that is the only one I use. For instance my current card is my GM card with the old sub prime cap one as a back up for emergencies. I charge everything to the GM card to get as much rewards as possible. I'm looking at getting a Principal Bank or Chase Stockback card in the next month or two simply because by the end of the year I'll max out on the GM rewards. Then I'll start using the next card I get. Unless I find another rewards card in the next year I don't plan on switching cards for years to come. And I don't plan on getting more cards simply because I don't see any point in it.
A main reason --- RATIOS. If you have one great credit card with a 10K limit and charge 6K, you just tanked your scores. You have several cards with a combined 100K limit, and 6K is a proverbial drop. Another reason is options. Some cards have great rewards. Others have frequent great BT offers. Choice, like Knowledge= Power
PART OF IT IS A GAME...NOT A GAME TO GET IN DEBT...BUT A GAME TO SEE HOW LOW AN INTEREST RATE YOU CAN GET...HOW HIGH OF CREDIT LIMITS YOU CAN GET...AND A FEW OTHER REASONS YOU WOULDN'T UNDERSTAND... I have all my cards that I pay interest on at 4.25% down to 0.00% and anything above 4.25% is ALWAYS paid in full... I "DID" pay "UP-TO" 9.99%...BUT NEVER OVER 9.99% I use AMEX DELTA and UNITED VISA AS MY PURCHASE CARDS (ALWAYS PAY IN FULL) ALL THE OTHER CARDS ARE USED FOR BT'S...THEY OCASSIONALLY SPEND SOME TIME IN THE SOCK DRAWER...
RATIOS... YEP...that is another reason... TOTAL CREDIT LIMITS $5,000...SPEND $4,000 YOUR AT 80%...RED FLAG!!! TOTAL CREDIT LIMITS $40,000...SPEND $4,000 YOUR AT 10%...NO PROBLEM...
Never thought about the ratio part. Although in my case it would only matter if I go for a mortgage and then I would try to have everything close to paid off. My current revolving debt is less than $3000 and I consider that very high.
Re: Re: Why have a lot of high limit cards? The "how many cards can I get" game is played by some people because they think a high credit score is the Brass Ring of life. What most of them fail to realize is that if they just stop applying for cards, transferring balances, etc, they'd have a great credit score.
F.Y.I.~~if you owe $0.00 you will NOT get a HIGHER score than somebody owes "SOME" debt!!! (ALL THINGS BEING EQUAL) YMMV
Re: Re: Re: Why have a lot of high limit cards? Are you saying the transferring balances itself is lowering your score, or just what you are revolving?
Re: Re: Re: Re: Why have a lot of high limit cards? If you don't keep your cards for a long time then you have a short average account life and a lower score than someone who keeps the same card for a long time. FICO is meant to maximize the profits of creditors and they don't want people to transfer their balances every time a 0% BT offer comes around.
Re: Re: Re: Re: Why have a lot of h 1. ratios 2. savings some of my existing cards continuously offer teaser rates. i transfer balances to those who give me the best rate. Haven't seen my fico score go down because of it (i do keep low balances, on no more than 2-3 cards, no more than 10% total utilization on my personal cards. (i have 8 personal credit cards, and a few biz cards). 3. flexibility if some one jacks your rate - it hasn't happened to me yet - but if it does - there are other cards i can transfer to. 4. security - part A call me crazy - but i don't like the thought of only one cc issuer handling all my credit needs. while most of my cards are with fairly well established companies - who knows? Maybe one day Citibank will decide that in order to be more profitable - they're going to raise all their rates to 28%. At least i have amex, chase, bofa etc to fall back on. 5, security - part B I have - between my biz cards and personal cards - over 200K in credit. I don't plan on ever using over 15% of that amount - BUT - I like knowing that it's there - just in case. Who knows what kinda curve balls life's gonna throw at you down the line? I want to be able to know that if one day i find myself out of business or out of a job - that I'll have the time to get back on my feet - without having to use a large portion of available credit. For example - let's say - i needed 6 months to find a job or open a business, let's say the bare minimum i need to pay my bills and live each month is 3000 bucks. i could go for 6 months on credit alone - 18K - without seeming (to the cc issuers) as though I'm over extending myself.
Re: Re: Re: Re: Why have a lot of h Those are all good reasons. For me after 911 I was out of a job and started my own business. Most banks won't loan money to start a business. They want to see results first. By having credit lines I don't have to have some banker telling me how do my business. Another reason to is you never know when you're gonna need to head South. It's nice to have some cash on hand to fight the feds.
Re: Re: Re: Re: Why have a lot of h #3 CHASE "JACKED" OUR RATES...WE CAN BT THEM GONE IN LESS THAN ONE WEEK AT 0.00%-5.90% It wouldn't even to hurt to pay off a 16.24% "JACKED" rate with a 9.99% card!!!! ...OR I may just use their web site and EFT the balance GONE!!!!!!! WIFE didn't want to call...so I wrote a letter for her to CHASE telling them what to do with their "JACKED" interest rate!!!
Re: Re: Re: Re: Why have a lot of h I am going to CLOSE both accounts and pay it off EVEN IF THE 0.00% BT RATE IS NOT EXPIRED!!!! I JUST DON'T CARE ANY MORE!!! If anybody asks...I CAN NOT RECOMMEND CHASE!!!
Re: Re: Re: Re: Why have a lot of h What about having an emergency fund of 3-6 months in cash for the things that can happen? I for one intend to pay off all my debt: vehicles, student loans, credit cards, and last but not least the home. I intend to pay cash for everything once a reach the pt. of being debt free. Once folks get rid of all their debt burdens, you can have a lot more options available. It took me awhile and a few IT job hops (some voluntary and some not), to make me realize that I need to be the one making financial decisions for my life. I use to believe in charging things and using credit for business and personal things, but when you accumulate a lot of debt, that you become a slave. There is a reason as to why the banks and credit card companies are so profitable, it's because they control the purse strings. Once you cut the purse strings, you will have control of your own financial destiny. Take a look at the "bird seed" or fine print in your statements where it basically says they can change the terms of agreement or cancel the card at their discretion. Once folks stop using and charging on their cards, their credit will improve automatically because their debt will decrease over time.
Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Why have a lot GEORGE - I HEAR YA! Chase has been very good to me - SO FAR - but I'm gonna watch 'em like a hawk after reading GEORGE's posts. Actually I just might pay em off and close em in SOLIDARITY with GEORGE! Because - if i can be blunt here - and i believe i can - so i will - so there - NOBODY (I said NOBODY) screws my buddy GEORGE and gets way with it. It's that simple. It's that complex.
Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Why have a lot of h Pooky~~ALL THINGS BEING EQUAL...a NON credit user WILL NOT have a higher score than a credit card user that pays IN FULL or has a low revolving percentage...like <30% IF A PERSON GOES 100% CASH/CHECK~~I ASSUME YOUR SCORE WILL BE IN THE 500'S JUST AN EDUCATED GUESS...
Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Why have a lot I couldn't agree more. It's definitely a goal of mine. I'm ashamed to admit that only just recently I started to seriously look into savings, money markets etc. You're absolutely right. By the way - and apropo - citibank is offering a $150 free cash bonus if you fund an internet checking acct with $1500 and pay at least two bills online. I just opened an account with them. If anyone's interested - here's the link: http://citi.bridgetrack.com/cbol/ba...8B1A7ADAB8F938383F6E1E6F8B26DD22&Promo_ID=CGG however - be forewarned - they do a HARD on Experian.
Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Why have a lot Mark LA... however - be forewarned - they do a HARD on Experian. They gonna' SEE how you take care of a checking account with your credit report??? WHAT HAPPEN TO CHEX SYSTEMS???? ARE THEY OUT OF THE LOOP????
Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Why have a lot yeah GEORGE - I know it's totally weird. As far as I know - they ALSO check Chexsystems. i kinda had a gut feeling that Citibank checks Ex - even for checking accounts - but the GREEDY bastard in me didn't care cuz I wanted that $150 bouns. Sad, huh?
: Why have a lot FICO is the shell game used to maximize the profits of creditors and they don't want people to transfer their balances every time a 0% BT offer comes around.
