How many cards is too many?

Puddylove

I wonder about this, too.
I have three credit cards with a combined limit of £35k or thereabouts.
Two of them are empty, and I wonder whether I should close one, or if the increased borrowing to credit ratio will look bad (I have £8.5k on one 0%).
I'd like to get a mortgage in the next year or two.

chrisw99

symphonies wrote: »

I admire those peeps who can actually take advantage of offers and stooze and do all those clever things to make money.

I don't think there's a way to "make money", just to borrow money cheaper or free.


If there is a way to make money, please do tell!

adindas

chrisw99 wrote: »

I don't think there's a way to "make money", just to borrow money cheaper or free.


If there is a way to make money, please do tell!

That is what is so called stoozing ..google it
The concept is simple borrow low using for instance low Balance transfer fee, 0% for purchase from credit card and the cash you suppose to use for buying the item to be kept into high interest current account or instant saving.

anotheruser

I have two.
One that I use abroad (Halifax Clarity), one that I use at home (Santander 123).

I don't need anything more as everything else goes on the debit cards. I'd rather know what's in my bank than spend money which isn't technically mine.

That and the fact I still don't understand that I spend on a credit card in month 1. I get a bill in month 2, and it gets paid automatically in month 3 - two months after the original transaction!

One has a limit of £2,500, the other has a limit of £3,000 I think. I didn't particularly need more so didn't ask. The £2,500 one did drop from £2,000 to just £500 due to a missed payment, that the bank cancelled the DD, but that was over a year ago now and the payment was less than £5.

PennyForThem_2

I have 4


John Lewis MasterCard - get quarterly vouchers of about £30


Sainsbury - get nectar points - hardly use it tbh


Saga - for travel - will use to pay hotels, purchases (yeah over 50)


Clarity Halifax - just applied (don't ask me about what I think of Halifax 'policy' about ccs)


I pay off at statement so no borrowing unless interest free.


Does not seem to have affected my credit - just applied for Clarity and accepted. I do object to the fact that seem to 'increase' credit from what I asked for.

PParka

adindas wrote: »

That is what is so called stoozing ..google it
The concept is simple borrow low using for instance low Balance transfer fee, 0% for purchase from credit card and the cash you suppose to use for buying the item to be kept into interest current account or saving.

If you have the time to keep track of multiple cards then stoozing is the way to go.

Between me and my OH, we have 11 credit cards. All of these are on various 0% deals. As each 0% credit card deal comes to an end, it is paid off in full and the account closed.

The 'stoozed' money is used in our 15 current accounts. Many of these are being used for savings and the others were opened to get switching bonuses. (I do enjoy getting free money from the banks )

enthusiasticsaver

Sounds like a good way of borrowing providing you can keep track of all the monthly payments and you seem to have got to grips with that.


Personally I just have a Santander 123 debit card for our main joint current account and a Santander 123 credit card which I use for supermarket shops ( particularly now Lidl accepts credit cards), petrol and department stores and my John Lewis credit card for everything else unless there is a surcharge for credit cards in which case I use my debit card. It means I get to keep our salaries in our Santander 123 account earning 3% interest for an extra month until the bill paid off in full, I get cashback on most of our everyday spending and every 3 months I get some Waitrose vouchers as a reward for using the John Lewis partnership card. We don't borrow money so no need to use 0% credit cards but if we had to I would do as the OP and use the deals available.

planteria

chrisw99 wrote: »

Sorry I thought I'd made that clear in the first paragraph of the first post...

you did. perplexing first couple of responses:huh:

planteria

and yes, as adindas says, 'stoozing' is exactly what many of us have been doing for 10+ years.

i had 24 cards at one point. currently have 6 accounts open, but reducing shortly. it's all about what works for you, and i would just push each provider, when your deal ends, for a good repeat...or look at closing.
that said, i always retain Amex for spending. and both MBNA and Barclaycard have been brilliant in that i have been able to merge limits and put together a couple of accounts with very useful CLs. so some strategy re. 'who to work with' probably makes sense.. by all means reply for some more feedback, chrisw99. and well done for making it work for you:T

crumpetman

I think you can have as many or as few as best suits you. Some people find it too much stress and hassle to have lots of cards and for others it is enjoyable to have so many cards with different cashback/loyalty points to use at different retailers and also all the balance transfer cards.

This is what I have:

Barclaycard Amex: 1% cashback
Barclaycard Visa: 0.5% cashback
Barclaycard Platinum: 0% BT deal just finished
American Express Gold Charge card: for the 3 months opening bonus
Luma: 4% cashback
Tesco: 0% balance transfer
Santander 123: 0% balance transfer plus other benefits
Santander (another one): 0% balance transfer

I think that's the lot. The Luma and two casback Barclaycards stay in my wallet, the others I do not spend on. The Amex Gold is used just for special Amex offers.

By combining good cashback offers and 0% balance transfer I get a few hundred pounds a year back from the banks. Well worth a few minutes here and there to login to accounts etc.