How many cards is too many?

StatusRed

Hi,

I'm currently stoozing £12.5k across 2 credit cards, I'm thinking of stopping here but I've sort of now got used to seeing the balance build up in my savings and not leave my account so I'm considering a 3rd card. Is it a good idea or not? I'm very disciplined so there's no worries of accidentally stoozing a large sum and feeling tempted to spend it.

I'm up for remortgaging in about 3 years, that's my only credit consideration.

Cheers.

daivid

If you are sure you will remain disciplined and always be able to pay of any (and all) cards when asked then add more cards up to the point you are happy to be managing them all. I track mine using a spreadsheet of cards and savings, with the expiry dates of the offers and relevant balances. I have 3 cards active currently, will add another if/when I can be bothered with the set up. In the run up to the mortgage renewal you may want to consider how much credit you have and how many applications you are making but you have 2 years to stooze away merrily before then.

StatusRed

daivid said:

If you are sure you will remain disciplined and always be able to pay of any (and all) cards when asked then add more cards up to the point you are happy to be managing them all. I track mine using a spreadsheet of cards and savings, with the expiry dates of the offers and relevant balances. I have 3 cards active currently, will add another if/when I can be bothered with the set up. In the run up to the mortgage renewal you may want to consider how much credit you have and how many applications you are making but you have 2 years to stooze away merrily before then.

Alright cheers. I think I'll look for another then. I did find when I applied for the 2nd card though that my chance of getting cards seemed to decrease, I guess that's due to the amount of available credit going up etc. 

daivid

2 cards isn’t many, do you have non BT cards too? Circumstances and credit histories play their part, typically I have between 6 and 10 cards at any given time (3 regular use then 3or 4 0% and a few old 0% not yet closed down).

Brie

5 cards here.  1 for day to day use paid off in full each month.  1 for travel only due to no fees out of the UK.  1 has had the balanced reduced to a stupidly low amount - I'd close it but keep if merely for sentimental reasons as it was the first card I had.  And 2 that are used just for BTs.  Sometimes it's to clear the daily use card, sometimes to pay down the mortgage flex account.  Basically anything that's going to save me money.  

StatusRed

daivid said:

2 cards isn’t many, do you have non BT cards too? Circumstances and credit histories play their part, typically I have between 6 and 10 cards at any given time (3 regular use then 3or 4 0% and a few old 0% not yet closed down).

Yes, 4 cards in total at the moment.

ZeroSum

I've currently got 7 cards. 6 stoozing 0% cards with a total balance of over £20k
And a cashback card, I use when not stoozing.

If you're remortgaging with current provider, then there isn't any additional credit checks, it's just clicking a few buttons which I did a couple of months back

pjread

Personally I just carry one stooze card, but that's more about laziness than anything else, as it means plenty of options for the next transfer... 

Volcane

I currently have 13 open credit cards, most of which have their purpose :

Barclaycard Platinum - 7500 limit - used for 2% cash back at supermarkets and petrol stations. Opened in 2008 when cash back rates were much better. I’m so surprised they haven’t changed the cash back rates on this. I also get regular BT and MT offers on this,

Barclaycard Cashback - 9500 limit - was originally an EGG money card back in the day. Offers 0.5% cashback but kept for the regular BT and MT offers. I’m considering changing this to one of their newer Avios cards in the App.

Barclaycard Hilton Honors - 7500 limit - used whenever I stay at Hilton hotels and also have regular BT and MT offers. Opened in 2009 when Barclaycard allowed more than one card per customer.

Santander Everyday card - 5600 limit - card associated with my main bank. Only used for its initial 0% purchase offer and never used since. Never received any BT or MT offers on it.

Virgin Atlantic - 12700 limit - opened for its signup bonus and my current best card for BT and MT offers as only 2.5% fee.

Sainsburys Nectar Card - 12000 limit - opened for its signup bonus and I’d heard Sainsbury’s offer good BT and MT deals but have never received any.

Amex cashback credit card - 12000 limit - opened for the 5% cashback signup bonus and my main card except for supermarket and petrol purchases ( see card one ).

Amex platinum charge card - opened for a boosted signup bonus and since used for its associated travel perks but only used for purchases when Amex have offers I can make use of.

Amex British Airways Premium Plus - 9400 limit - as above, plus Avios points.

John Lewis Partnership Card - 2000 limit - opened for its signup bonus but rarely used now.

Marks & Spencer’s reward card - 1750 limit - opened for its signup bonus and used when shopping in M & S

Tesco Clubcard+ Credit Card - 12400 limit - opened for extra clubcard points when buying petrol when used in conjunction with card one above. Also receive regular BT and MT offers on it.

Creation IHG card ( the £99 fee black version) - 10000 limit - was used when stopping in IHG hotels but partnership has recently ended. I’m keeping replacement card due to regular BT and MT offers with a decent credit limit.

I used to have a Newday Amazon Platinum card used for Amazon purchases only but closed that down when their partnership ended. If Amazon launch a replacement I will apply for that.

JuliusCaesar

I currently have 5 credit cards used for fast stoozing, with a total stooze pot of £30,000 (I use my Lloyds Platinum credit card as a 'mule card' to do a no-fee money transfer, then immediately transfer the balance to a no-fee or low-fee BT card).

I also have 4 0% puchase cards used for slow stoozing and have maxed out the credit limit on 2 of them.

However, I'm retired without a mortgage, so credit score isn't an issue for me.

Growingold

Volcane said:

I currently have 13 open credit cards, most of which have their purpose :

Barclaycard Platinum - 7500 limit - used for 2% cash back at supermarkets and petrol stations. Opened in 2008 when cash back rates were much better. I’m so surprised they haven’t changed the cash back rates on this. I also get regular BT and MT offers on this,

I have Barclaycard Platinum have had it many years but only gives 0.5% cashback.