How many credit cards is too many?

Actually it makes no difference, I once had 14 credit cards and still had credit scores above 800 because of the way I managed them by always paying them off in full before the due dates.

I have since cut back to 3 major cards that I use for just about everything I but every month and still pay them off in full before the due dates and still have scores well over 800. Plus never pay penny in interest or fees and actually make several hundred dollars a year in cash back rewards.

As far as you AMX do not cancel it or lower your limits this will adversely affect your score.

So to answer your question, no 3 credit cards is not to many, actually it's just about right. Most experts recommend that people have 3-4 credit card accounts (revolving) with balances below 30% of their limits and 2 cars, homes, motorcycles, furniture, computers or personal accounts (installment) all with good long payment history's to have the very best score and profile.

Theoretically you can get as many cards as you want, in real practical life there is nothing that you can't do with one card only, so there is no need to have many, as far as I can see it, "needing" more than one or two cards is just bad judgement, smelling trouble in the distance already. Good luck anyway.

RE:

How many credit cards is too many?

I have 2 credit cards, the first one being my oldest which is a no frills Mastercard, and then I have an Amex that I use when I can to collect Airmiles. I was thinking of applying for a different Mast...

Believe it or not, the number of cards you have makes no difference on your credit reports or credit scores.

I have 8 or 9 cards and I have a very good credit score.

What is important to your credit score is to keep your balances low overall, pay every bill on time, keep your oldest accounts open and to not seek new credit very often. Applying for various credit 2 or 3 times a year is fine. Applying 2 or 3 times a month will really hurt your score.

Do not cancel your current cards. Leave the accounts open. It actually hurts your score to close accounts, because your ratio of credit used vs. credit available gets worse. If you don't want to use the Amex card, just throw it in a drawer somewhere.

No moving money to your Capital One card won't help you just yet. You just need to pay as much as you possibly can towards your Bank of America card every month and do not use it at all. Clip coupons, downgrade your cable or cell phone package, eat mac and cheese a couple nights a week. You'll be surprised how much extra money you will have to put towards your credit card bill. That's the best way to pay it down. About the Avon account. It's time to talk to your mom. Tell her you need her to pay that off NOW it hurting your credit especially if they are calling you b/c she is late paying. You can also call Avon and see if you can be taken off the account you may need your mom's permission to do this but if you can you should and soon.

Do not cancel the Amex nor lower your limits.

You can have as many credit cards as you want, but keep in mind several things:

- If you apply for many credit cards all at once, the hard inquiries will hurt your score. You will get a hard inquiry every time a creditor checks your credit (regardless of approval or denial). Each inquiry stays on your report for 2 years.

* 0 inquiries will not take any points off your score.

* 1-4 inquiries will decrease it 12 points (This is ok, and you should try to stay in this range).

* 5 or more will decrease it an extra 9 points on top of the 12.

Too many inquiries may indicate to lenders that you are trying to take on more new debt or possibly overextending yourself. Try to keep your inquiries to a minimum and apply for new credit only when necessary. So if you plan on acquiring several credit cards, apply for one or two of them every two years, that way the old inquiries have gone away when the new inquiries hit your report.

- Never close a credit card. Having long term credit accounts that you consistently pay on time is an important indicator of stability to lenders. Even if you aren't planning on using it, do not close it. Cut it, shred it, burn it, store it, do whatever you want with it, but do not close it. Not only will it help your credit history, but also your balance-to-limit ratio.

- The balance-to-limit ratio determines how much credit you have and how much you owe. For example, if you have 2 credit cards with a $500 credit limit each, then your total limit is $1,000. If you have a $0 balance on both credit cards, then your balance-to-limit ratio will be 0%. If you make a $100 purchase on one of the cards, your balance-to-limit ratio will be 10%. Now, if you choose to close the credit card that has the $0 balance, your new total limit is $500 and your balance is still $100, so your new balance-to-limit ratio is 20%. It didn't increase abruptly, but I know people that have closed $3,000 limit credit cards, hurting their balance-to-limit ratio badly. This is how many points you will lose as your balance-to-limit ratio increases:

*0-15% = No points off

*16-29% = 3 points off

*30-50% = 10 extra points off (13 total)

*51-64% = 6 extra points off (19 total)

*65% or more = 5 extra points off (24 total)

So keep your balance-to-limit ratio low, don't close credit cards.

You entitled to one free credit report per year, and several pages offer this service. I use www.freecreditreport.com, not only because I want to see how my score is doing, but also because it is a great way to prevent identity theft. They show any activity in your credit, so if you see that “you” have applied for a credit card or a car loan when you didn’t, you can act right away to prevent it from hurting your credit. They will give you 1 month for free, and if you choose to keep the service, it’s $15 monthly. I pay those $15 because it’s way cheaper than trying to get your identity and credit back after it has been stolen and tampered with for several months/years.

You should NEVER cancel a credit card. What you need to do is put it somewhere safe, like in a safe, and do not use it. Canceling a credit card affects your credit; you should keep it, even if you aren't using it. Three is not unreasonable; just do not pile up 8 or something :)

There probably is a point where having too many credit cards could be a negative. However, it would be a whole lot more than 3. It's not the number of accounts. It's the balances you carry and how you pay those accounts.

a credit seeker is an individual who is online applying for multiple credit cards in a short amount of time. if on your credit report you have multiple inquiries for creditors than you are in fact a credit seeker. but 2 credit cards are not alot. i have 12 credit card ( the oldest is a capital one account that i have had for 10 years) please ddon'tcancel your oldest card if you like what the card if offering go ahead and apply. just ddon'tuse more that 20% of your overall credit and pay of the balance in full each month.

As long as your debt ratios are low, below 25% and you are making timely payments your score will not be negatively affected. The only way to truely eliminate your personal credit liability however is to establish business credit. www.BusinessCreditKey.com - worked very well for me and showed me how to establish business credit without using personal credit

Three is not unreasonable, provided they are all kept current and you don't carry large balances.

If the other two cards are in good shape, I would not change them at all.