I’m 27 and just took out my 6th card.
This new card is the only one I have a balance on; I took it out specifically for a 0% APR deal so that I could make a large purchase. I plan to have it paid off asap.
Still, is 6 too many? I’m scared my score will go down if I close any of my older cards, but there are 2 or 3 that I almost never use.
It’s only too many if you can’t handle managing those cards. Closing a credit card doesn’t drop your score, it only drops if your available credit utilization increases dramatically, like going from $50k in credit card limits to $10k while having a higher balance, but utilization doesn’t have a memory so once you pay off your cards, it rebounds.
@Wilkie
Great answer.
Don’t worry about it, I have about 10 open cards.
Wilder said:
Don’t worry about it, I have about 10 open cards.
I’ve got 15-20. I’ve lost count. The average of my three FICO scores is about 830.
Feel free to close any cards you don’t want, even your oldest cards. See this thread:
Credit Myth #8 - When you close an account, you lose its credit history.
And this one:
Credit Myth #10 - Closing a credit card hurts your credit.
If you have so many cards that you have trouble keeping track of them and you might miss a payment because of it, you have too many cards. For some people, that’s 4 cards. For others, that’s 44.
You see this all the time here and on r/CRedit: The “never close a credit card because it will tank your credit” myth is so pervasive that people keep cards open for years (or even decades) that they don’t want or use, and they just put a small charge on it every once in a while to keep it open.
Then something goes wrong with autopay or they thought there weren’t any charges on the card, so they didn’t pay their bill, and next thing you know, they have a missed payment (or several) on their credit report that’s going to drag them down for 7 years.
I’ve lost count of the number of posts I’ve seen where this happened to someone, and now they’re asking for help.
Use as many as you see fit, but space out your applications in 6-month periods and always pay the statement balance. No minimum payments!
I’ve got 14 and I’m in the market for another.
3 is enough.
I have 27, no one’s sent anybody looking for me that I’m aware of.
I have 15.