I’m I opening to many credit cards

magpies79

So basically after going through a divorce 10 years or so ago credit history took a huge hit missed payments ended up with defaults and 2 CCJs and have been slowly paying off all debt related to these.

 so defaults are gone have 2 ccjs showing one soon to be paid but will have another 3 years active on my credit file the other nearly paid comes off file in 2 months apart from that everything else is ok no missed payments in last 2 years.
I’ve been trying to rebuild credit file with some positive and consistent history of money management so been opening credit cards and have a loan but all with sub prime lenders but I’m I going to far with regards to the amount I’m taking out.

have Vanquis credit card limit £3,000 balance £0 held for 2 years use for fuel pay off in full no late or missed payments.

vanquish Loan £2,000 owe £1,000 plan to pay off in April no missed or late payments.

marbles credit card  limit £1,900 balance £0 used for shopping paid off in full no missed or late payments.

zopa credit card limit £900 balance £0 used for shopping paid off in full no late or missed payments. 

And finally 118 credit card limit £1,200 balance £250 car broke but hope to clear.

so zopa,118 and marbles cards where all taken out late last year should I stop now and just manage what I have and just keep ensuring cards are used payments are made.
appreciate advice 

finalfantasist

Three cards is more than enough to build a credit history.  Unless there's a particular reason to hold a card (rewards etc) then there's no need to keep opening them.

Ebe_Scrooge

magpies79 said:

should I stop now and just manage what I have and just keep ensuring cards are used payments are made.

appreciate advice 

Yes.  Having yet more cards will not have any appreciable impact on your credit history.  You're doing the right thing - use the cards regularly, always always ALWAYS pay in full every month.  Please tell me you didn't take out the loan purely for the sake of your credit history ?  Yes, keeping up repayments on a loan will add to your good standing, but there's absolutely no need to be paying (in the form of interest) for the privilege.  Correct use of credit cards will have exactly the same effect at zero cost.

magpies79

Thank you for the replies I’m guessing my credit worthiness won’t improve much once my ccj comes off my file in April as I will still have one on there like is it kinda the thing a ccj period on your credit file is bad don’t make a difference if it’s 1 CCJ or 2 CCJs.

and I will continue doing what I’m doing then no point in opening more was basically just doing it to get the ticks it month
all are high in interest so don’t carry a balance 
just have to be patient and hope high street lenders will become available one day but I’ll assume that won’t be until the last ccj have fallen off. Thanks again 

magpies79

Ebe_Scrooge said:

magpies79 said:

should I stop now and just manage what I have and just keep ensuring cards are used payments are made.

appreciate advice 

Yes.  Having yet more cards will not have any appreciable impact on your credit history.  You're doing the right thing - use the cards regularly, always always ALWAYS pay in full every month.  Please tell me you didn't take out the loan purely for the sake of your credit history ?  Yes, keeping up repayments on a loan will add to your good standing, but there's absolutely no need to be paying (in the form of interest) for the privilege.  Correct use of credit cards will have exactly the same effect at zero cost.

No so car broke down basically worthless so brought a car for £2,000 for work rather then kept buying £500 run arounds that would get me through one mot then repair were always silly, work on the railway so been lucky as actually been able to do overtime so able to pay it off early was taken out for 3 years but I’m just into a year of it just need to ring them for a settlement figure.

Fighter1986

magpies79 said:

So basically after going through a divorce 10 years or so ago credit history took a huge hit missed payments ended up with defaults and 2 CCJs and have been slowly paying off all debt related to these.

 so defaults are gone have 2 ccjs showing one soon to be paid but will have another 3 years active on my credit file the other nearly paid comes off file in 2 months apart from that everything else is ok no missed payments in last 2 years.
I’ve been trying to rebuild credit file with some positive and consistent history of money management so been opening credit cards and have a loan but all with sub prime lenders but I’m I going to far with regards to the amount I’m taking out.

have Vanquis credit card limit £3,000 balance £0 held for 2 years use for fuel pay off in full no late or missed payments.

vanquish Loan £2,000 owe £1,000 plan to pay off in April no missed or late payments.

marbles credit card  limit £1,900 balance £0 used for shopping paid off in full no missed or late payments.

zopa credit card limit £900 balance £0 used for shopping paid off in full no late or missed payments. 

And finally 118 credit card limit £1,200 balance £250 car broke but hope to clear.

so zopa,118 and marbles cards where all taken out late last year should I stop now and just manage what I have and just keep ensuring cards are used payments are made.
appreciate advice 

Yeah that seems a bit excessive.

As much as I hate Vanquis, it will pay dividents to keep the card you've had open the longest open, as lenders love to see stability.

Get rid of the 118118 card, they're a trashy lender.

Zopa card has the lowest limit but overseas transactions are fee free with them so it's useful holding on to in case of travel abroad.

Vanquis loan get rid ASAP. There's no merit to keeping it open for any longer than absolutely necessary, absolute waste of interest.

Just as a point of curiosity - how long have you had the Zopa card? Was it given with a £900 limit right off the bat?

I have one with a £300 limit and would like to keep it long term as I kinda like the way they do things, I just hope they'll review the limit soon.

magpies79

Yeah plan to sort loan out ASAP and zopa was opened just before Xmas and yeah £900 was starting limit are they new to credit cards? Think it’s the best rate out of all the ones I have 
I understand peoples approach to vanquish it was my first card back on the credit card ladder so to speak can’t fault it but suppose it’s no different to any other high street lender if the balance is paid off in full I guess but yeah hopefully one day with some hard work and control can make my way back to some normal cards. Thanks again for your advice more then helpful 

[Deleted User]

You're doing better than me. I have 1 satisfied CCJ and Zopa only gave me a limit of £300. Marbles upped my limit to £1600 from £600 and 118 upped my limit from £200 to £1200.

I also applied for a Tesco Foundation card around Xmas time which came with a £200 limit and was upped to £600 last month. Zopa is the only one that hasn't been upped. 

sleepyjones

How'd you get a Vanquis card with a £3k limit in 2 years (when for over a year Vanquis haven't been doing increases).
I don't have any CCJ's or missed payments, and can't get my Vanquis over a £500 limit

(This isn't really a question, I'm just thinking out loud)