Juggling too many cards

Nebulous2

j0hn80y said:

born_again said:

j0hn80y said:

I have 4 credit cards.
Virgin 12k
Tesco 13k
Sainsburys 8k
First direct 7.5k
They have all been taken out over time to use 0% offers except first direct as I find this the easiest to use as its my bank. I owe nothing on them but have no 0% purchase offers available on them. I am pre approved for 0% purchase offers on other cards and will be looking towards the summer as I need to make a large purchase but its getting hard to juggle the 4 never mind adding a 5th. I have had letters in the past basically saying use it or lose it.
As mentioned on other posts, we've all heard that it could be damaging to close them and I've got pretty good credit so don't want to damage that but surely I can't keep adding cards as its getting abit daft.
Whats everyone reccomend?

When you say getting hard to juggle. Do you mean you are struggling to pay them & juggling payments between them?

As that's a £40K debt.

No, I wrote i owe nothing on them. The point to the post which most seem to completely miss is there has to be a point where its ridiculous to keep (as above in the comments) 9 cards. Someone else pointed out that each lender thereafter will probably offer a smaller credit limit and this may get to the point where you have exhausted the system. It will become a full time job making sure you make a spend on each 1, making sure that payment does indeed come out as banking errors do occur and as I've found in the past, constantly checking each card on a regular basis incase of fraudulent activity because someone somewhere will always manage to get your details and if you don't agree with that then you don't live in the real world.
I have an app for each bank, will I end up with 10 banking apps and then maybe lose my phone or have it stolen. Yes I make a note of all logging details but come on seriously!?! What aload of farce for what? Maintaining a few points on my credit file?
I dont WANT to damage my credit but having a full photo album of credit cards is just plain silly.
I feel 4 is more than enough and would ideally like to close 1 before opening another, this should be the sensible thing to do.
Last thing to add is the tone of some of these responses makes me wonder if some of you wouldn't be better suited to a Facebook forum

I wrote a response to this, which seems to have disappeared. Hopefully this isn't repeated. 

Far from your description of lenders offering decreasing credit limits, I've found that they tend to offer you good limits, if you have good limits already. I have intentions of closing cards, but don't always get round to it. Last year I semi-retired and then closed 2 cards, going from 7 to 5. I tend to open a new card and then close an old one, rather than the other way round. Counting debit cards I have had so many in my purse that it sets off security alarms in supermarkets, particularly Lidl.   

I've had over my salary in credit limits for at least 20 years, and at times have had over twice my salary.  I put almost all my expenditure through my Barclaycard as it gives 0.5% cashback, which means that some cards go for prolonged periods of time without being used. I hadn't used my Halifax Clarity card for more than a year until this week, when I put a payment in euros through it. I can't recollect ever having a 'use it or lose it' either.

However, to get to my point. You, like far to many people are letting the credit report tail wag the dog.  Credit is a tool to be used, not something to become a servant to. 

Keep the number of cards you want for the purposes you need. Don't listen to the background babble telling you what to do. If you get a 'use it or lose it' and don't have a need for it, let it go. 

There are much more important things for getting credit. Stable address, stable employment, being on the electoral roll, using credit responsibly, always paying on time, having a few longstanding products, are all more important than whether you have 4 cards or 9. 

Jami74

j0hn80y said:

 we've all heard that it could be damaging to close them 

My understanding (only from reading other threads, I don't have any special insider knowledge) is that the 'damage' is only important if you're planning to apply for a mortgage or re-mortgage or apply for large credit any time soon. 

I recently closed a card with my own bank. I had got it for a 0% interest, 0% fee balance transfer, paid it off early and closed it because I knew I'd never use it again. Then I applied for an Amex (no fee for the first year) and got a limit 4 x any of my other limits. Yeah, the score dropped, then dropped again, but definitely worth it for my nice shiny Amex. I keep my BarclayCard for when Amex is not accepted (still on 0% purchases and satisfies a debit card payment), my Tesco card (used as a clubcard only) and Sainsbury's card (first card but rarely used).

I also reduced the limit on another one to the lowest possible (£500), hoping they hurry up and close it for me so I don't have to phone them but they haven't yet despite me not using it for over a year. I really should phone them.

If you've got cards you are not using and it makes you happier to close them, then do that. I didn't get my first credit card until I was in my forties and nothing bad happened to me as a result of not having them.

ferreroreeses

Spread your expenses across all four each month. If you've got direct debits setup it takes care of itself.

[Deleted User]

Jami74 said:

j0hn80y said:

 we've all heard that it could be damaging to close them 

My understanding (only from reading other threads, I don't have any special insider knowledge) is that the 'damage' is only important if you're planning to apply for a mortgage or re-mortgage or apply for large credit any time soon. 

I recently closed a card with my own bank. I had got it for a 0% interest, 0% fee balance transfer, paid it off early and closed it because I knew I'd never use it again. Then I applied for an Amex (no fee for the first year) and got a limit 4 x any of my other limits. Yeah, the score dropped, then dropped again, but definitely worth it for my nice shiny Amex. I keep my BarclayCard for when Amex is not accepted (still on 0% purchases and satisfies a debit card payment), my Tesco card (used as a clubcard only) and Sainsbury's card (first card but rarely used).

I also reduced the limit on another one to the lowest possible (£500), hoping they hurry up and close it for me so I don't have to phone them but they haven't yet despite me not using it for over a year. I really should phone them.

If you've got cards you are not using and it makes you happier to close them, then do that. I didn't get my first credit card until I was in my forties and nothing bad happened to me as a result of not having them.

Lenders like stability - if you have a card for 20 years, even if you only use it periodically, it shows the bank thinks you're worth having and this is likely to be factored into credit scoring (the internal process that you will never see, not the gimmick one that CRAs show you). If you regularly chop and change, particularly taking out cards it looks like you're desperate for credit or cannot manage your cards at least to a computer, so is likely to negatively affect you.