How many is too many?

krazyk

I have 9 personal credit cards (yes count 'em 9!) and 1 business card. Perhaps a really stupid question but is this too may cards, will this have a big affect on my credit rating? How many cards would it take to improve my credit rating by a large amount? In total I have a credit limit of £41.55k on and a balance of £24.5k. The Tesco card is empty so I could get rid of that and I will pay off the business card next month. Other than that my Morgan Stanley card has a balance of £1450 and A&L of £1600. I could balance transfer the debt to the other cards to get rid of these 2.

I have just got the new Egg (Blue) card and with a 0% interest offer for 5 months I am using that for new purchases only (shame it doesn't get 0% on BTs).

Cards I have (I can give my credit limits and balances if it helps?):

Alliance & Leicester
Barclaycard
cahoot
Capital One
Egg
Egg (Blue)
MBNA
Morgan Stanley
Tesco

K

smartsaver

You know you have too many cards when you start getting rejections! I think 9 is a lot and wouldn't apply for any more for a while.

krazyk

I don't want to apply for any more and actually want to get rid of one of two at least but if I can get one with a 0& balance transfer option then that would great help as I pay a lot in interest on these cards.

K

Xbigman

So is this a card problem (serial stoozer) or a debt problem? If its the former then good luck. If its the latter then you have 9 cards too many.

As a straight forward question, you should only really need 3 cards. Business, personal and a back up.
Regards



X

krazyk

Both. :-(

Yep, 3 sounds a good idea. But I'm several years off having enough room to put my debt onto 3 cards.

K

krazyk

Hi there,

I've started balance transferring my debt around from one card to the card (thanks to having the new Blue card that comes with a 6.5k limit). I've been able to move my whole debt from my A&L card, Barclaycard and a third from my Morgan Stanley card and moved it onto the Egg Blue card (temporarily). I've put through transfers back to A&L at a rate of 4.9% till Sept (with a charge) and to Barclaycard at a rate of 5.9% till cleared but Barclaycard have refused the transfer (though the amount is not far off from what was on the card before).

So now a bit stuck. I've sent a message to Barclaycard and await there reply. But basically if I cannot put money back onto the card that's at least one card I can get rid of. Tesco might be another one too. I phoned them up twice in one day and asked what their balance transfer rate was. Both people on the phone gave me 2 completely different rates (!!). I didn't mention this to the second person (a feel that I should now) but she said to call back another week as the rate changed regularly.

K

oscardog

Start shopping around this site for the best offers.

Whether you are paying off the debt or not then 0% BTs and purchase offers are around (some without fees still).

I have just got a Sainsbury card with 0% on purchases for 12 months (and it gives me Nectar Points!!) so that might be a place to start (if the offer is still on).

Otherwise get rid of as many as possible and get as much of the debt onto 0% as you can.

Good luck

krazyk

Hi oscardog,

Thanks, unfortunately I will be refused any new cards due to my 'bad' credit rating besides applying for more credit would affect my rating. :-(

K

krazyk

Hi Al Mac,

Nectar is just a points card. You need to use the service/companies/cards that are signed up with Nectar, e.g. Sainsbury, Vodafone, BP and lots more. I get points from using Barclaycard and Vodafone, plus my parents get points from their energy provider (can't remember the name).

You can also use it at Argos, I think you just need to show it when you order?

K

Galstonian

You know you have too many cards when it becomes hard work to find another to apply for!

lemongirl

Currently have 12 cards and going very strong.

Combined stoozed limit is kind of scary!