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Started By
Message
Ever "forget" about credit cards?
Posted on 8/8/16 at 9:27 am
Posted on 8/8/16 at 9:27 am
I've opened quite a few credit cards in my time. Mostly to take advantage of introductory periods or rewards. It's also done a lot of good for my credit score and such. I also don't close them out, usually just cut up a card if I'm not going to use it any more. I don't want to shrink my credit limit or credit card history if not needed.
But last night, I really started thinking of all the cards I have now. I'm at 7 cards right now. I only use one and pay it every month leaving no balance, 3 are in my safe, and 1 has been cut up (at least I think I did about 2 years ago
) . Others stay in my wallet. Thing is, I completely forget about the ones I cut up or keep in the safe. I haven't checked those accounts in some time. How irresponsible is that? When is it worth closing an account just so that you don't forget about it and run the risk of the info being stolen. I have cards open that I haven't used in 6 years.
Like I said, it's done wonders for my credit. I usually get offered the lowest rates and pretty high limits. But I hate the feeling that I'm being irresponsible. I know I could just nut up and keep on top of it, but life happens and I know I'll go months or years without checking again in the future.
But last night, I really started thinking of all the cards I have now. I'm at 7 cards right now. I only use one and pay it every month leaving no balance, 3 are in my safe, and 1 has been cut up (at least I think I did about 2 years ago
) . Others stay in my wallet. Thing is, I completely forget about the ones I cut up or keep in the safe. I haven't checked those accounts in some time. How irresponsible is that? When is it worth closing an account just so that you don't forget about it and run the risk of the info being stolen. I have cards open that I haven't used in 6 years. Like I said, it's done wonders for my credit. I usually get offered the lowest rates and pretty high limits. But I hate the feeling that I'm being irresponsible. I know I could just nut up and keep on top of it, but life happens and I know I'll go months or years without checking again in the future.
9
Posted on 8/8/16 at 9:30 am to KG6
quote:
. I haven't checked those accounts in some time
Those accounts are added for viewing to my bank account portal. They are $0 and if that changes I know to check on them
Posted on 8/8/16 at 9:32 am to KG6
If there is a long period where you don't use a card, they could close the account, affecting your avg history of credit. But, some people have well over 20 cards, and cancel all the time.
Posted on 8/8/16 at 9:33 am to KG6
I applied for a Home Depot card 5 or 6 years ago to take advantage of their one year 0% interest. I got denied because they saw I had 3 open credit card accounts with a $0 balance. I had forgotten about 2 of them. I had never run into that before, and haven't since. My score was around 740 at the time, IIRC.
This was during the recession so maybe that had something to do with it.
This was during the recession so maybe that had something to do with it.
Posted on 8/8/16 at 10:24 am to The Spleen
Have 2 cards like that from Chase. Represent $30k or so in credit. Cards in safe, not used in years, zero balances. I check the website from time to time for activity. Yesterday my phone starts ringing off the hook from Chase fraud prevention. Someone was trying to get new copies of BOTH the cards sent to them. That's scary as frick. These cards aren't really out there.
Posted on 8/8/16 at 6:01 pm to achenator
As a small business owner and cc user I'm curious what the future will hold with points/ cash back. As a small business owner my
Fees keep going up and up. I used to pay low 2% and now rewards cards are almost 3%. In ten years are we going to be getting 5-6% rewards back and pay 4-5% in fees?
My point is I personally wouldn't use CCs at all if I didn't pay so much in fees with my small business. My personal rewards make me feel like I'm getting something back to make it closer to a zero sum game for me. I wish it was just cheap fees and no rewards though, but I think it's going to continue to rise in fees and rewards so I'll keep playing the game.
Fees keep going up and up. I used to pay low 2% and now rewards cards are almost 3%. In ten years are we going to be getting 5-6% rewards back and pay 4-5% in fees?
My point is I personally wouldn't use CCs at all if I didn't pay so much in fees with my small business. My personal rewards make me feel like I'm getting something back to make it closer to a zero sum game for me. I wish it was just cheap fees and no rewards though, but I think it's going to continue to rise in fees and rewards so I'll keep playing the game.
Posted on 8/8/16 at 9:02 pm to KG6
I just make sure each credit card is included in Quicken's "one step" update. It makes the update longer but not that much, and I know I'm covered.
About 2-3 months ago a card I hadn't used since 2009 suddenly had a $450 charge from Walmart.com. Since I download every weekend I knew three days later, called the card and Walmart, and had no problems getting it taken care of.
Quicken One-Step update is a great way to catch stuff like this IMHO.
About 2-3 months ago a card I hadn't used since 2009 suddenly had a $450 charge from Walmart.com. Since I download every weekend I knew three days later, called the card and Walmart, and had no problems getting it taken care of.
Quicken One-Step update is a great way to catch stuff like this IMHO.
Posted on 8/8/16 at 10:58 pm to KG6
I've got a few old ones that sit in the safe.
I had a MasterCard for about 20 years. Didn't use it for a long time, and they sent me a letter saying we must no longer be a good fit, so they closed it. I heard some cards were doing that when the economy went soft and folks were getting laid off.
Now I try to use them all a time or two a year.
I had a MasterCard for about 20 years. Didn't use it for a long time, and they sent me a letter saying we must no longer be a good fit, so they closed it. I heard some cards were doing that when the economy went soft and folks were getting laid off.
Now I try to use them all a time or two a year.
Posted on 8/9/16 at 8:45 am to KG6
Just create a mint.com account and set an alert if they ever have a balance. They will email you if anything changes.
Posted on 8/9/16 at 8:45 am to KG6
OP - If your open cards have been open for a long time and have no AF, just leave them as is, and check on them ever so often. 7 cards with a long AAoA will do wonders for your credit with literally no downside. If anything, lower your credit lines to a minimum on the cards that you don;t use so it frees up some credit with banks should you choose to go for any more cards in the future.
Posted on 8/10/16 at 10:56 am to KG6
My wife switched to my bank when we got married and as a result never uses the credit card from her old bank. We kept the old card open so her credit wouldn't be negatively impacted.
However, we just got hit with the credit card's annual fee. Does everyone still pay the annual fee on these unused but still active credit cards? If not, how do you get around paying the annual fee?
However, we just got hit with the credit card's annual fee. Does everyone still pay the annual fee on these unused but still active credit cards? If not, how do you get around paying the annual fee?
Posted on 8/10/16 at 11:04 am to Tha Herg
quote:
Does everyone still pay the annual fee on these unused but still active credit cards?
Hell no. Why would you? Cancel the card.
Posted on 8/10/16 at 11:11 am to AmeriKop45
quote:
Hell no. Why would you? Cancel the card.
Honestly we forgot there was an annual fee on this particular card.
I'm assuming the negative impact on her credit is not worth paying the $100 annual fee.
One other option we can explore is reaching out to her old bank and simply downgrading the credit card to one that has no annual fee. Not sure if they would allow for it.
Posted on 8/10/16 at 11:18 am to Tha Herg
quote:
I'm assuming the negative impact on her credit is not worth paying the $100 annual fee.
There is no negative impact. If you maintain a small/zero balance on the card.
Seriously, people are so worried about closing cards because they think it will negatively impact their score. It has near 0 effect. If any, it goes away in a month or so. Closing credit cards is not a problem unless you are closing your oldest ones. That decreases AAoA.
quote:
One other option we can explore is reaching out to her old bank and simply downgrading the credit card to one that has no annual fee. Not sure if they would allow for it.
Depending on what CC you have and are going to. Citi will product change from any to any pretty much. Definitely worth looking into.
Posted on 8/10/16 at 1:07 pm to AmeriKop45
Im only worried to close oldest accounts. I did this right out of college (account with my larents on it), then tried to buy a house. Closing that out made it difficult to get the loan through at first. I had a great score, just a short history.
Posted on 9/15/16 at 12:33 am to KG6
It is always better to use one credit card rather than using multiple cards. You have adopted a very good strategy in this regard as you are using a single card. Earlier I was also using 7 to 8 cards and the result was, I was in heavy credit card debt. With the help of the credit card negotiators , I came out from this problem. Since then I am using only debt card.
This post was edited on 9/15/16 at 12:37 am
Posted on 9/15/16 at 7:32 am to foshizzle
quote:
About 2-3 months ago a card I hadn't used since 2009 suddenly had a $450 charge from Walmart.com. Since I download every weekend I knew three days later,
Why not just put alerts on the cards where you get a text when they are used so you know instantly?
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