How many credit cards do you have?

[hermione]

Originally Posted by Kathryn

I do wonder how it affects credit scores for people who refuse to carry or carry only a single small-limit card. Husband used to work for a cash-only guy who got denied a mortgage when he was in his 40s (despite making an excellent income and a 25-year employment history with the same company)--just because his credit record was basically blank.

This is the reason we use credit cards now. When my sister and I tried to purchase our first (used) car from a dealer after we moved to California from Hawaii, they gave us a really hard time because we had not credit history except for my Old Navy card with a $425 credit limit that I never used. We were very uninformed back then and let them charge us 24% APR on that car. We wised up quickly and paid that car off as soon as we could - 13 months later. But it was a good thing it took us 13 months and not 12, because when we applied for a mortgage, our loan officer told us that they look for loan accounts that had been opened at least 12 months.

Anyways, after that first experience with credit, we started using credit cards to build credit history, and in 2005 we were approved for a mortgage.

[td076923]

8 or so. Most (if not all) are reward intensive. The latest one in the wallet is the one with 5% back from Citi. Timed all my big ticket items for this one, including taxes for 07. There are several good deals out there I am crazy about books so I have one from Amazon, Borders and Barnes and Noble.

[mama4jc]

We have 3 - an Amex Costco card, a Citicard, and a Banana Republic card - all with incentives. We pay off our bill every month b/c I guess that was just how we were taught to do it - for a long while, I didn't even know you can pay only the minimum payment! LOL! The cash back has been great since it's for things we would have purchased anyways (for the most part .

[indieretailer]

My husband and I got rid of all our cards.

Used to have Citicard VISA AAdvantage for all our business expenses when we had our storefront. (We were able to share the hundreds of thousands of miles for employee gifts.)

Now going all cash, but use a new Paypal Debit card for business expenses that aren't invoiced like IT services, etc.

I do use a AMEX for my family's residential care business. Use it only for groceries.

[StudentMom]

I have 5. Three of them are cut up and I'm slowly paying those off. Once all the cards are paid off I will keep the My Points Visa, I love those rewards. It's the only card I use regularly and pay off the balance immediately. The others I haven't used in a long time and the other one not cut up is for emergencies and in case I have to cover this summer's tuition by myself. The "good" thing about having many cards and balances that drive me nuts is that I certainly learned my lesson.

[fpark]

Two, but just one that I use. Both are visas. One is a student credit card from Bank of America which I opened when I went to college. Now I have a Chase visa that gives me 1-2% cash back which I use constantly.

[CheapCanuck]

I have one credit card right at the moment. Balance is always paid off before any interest is incurred. Looking at possibly signing up for a 0% introductory APR (15 months) on balance transfer card. I'd using it to pay off the remainder of my car loan (7% interest), and then pay down the card before the 15 months is up. Should save me a decent amount in interest charges in the interim, so why not?

[hobo with a rolex]

I have 1 credit card and 2 debit cards (one is an HSA card). The one credit card is my amazon card. They give really straightforward rewards and you get double rewards at amazon itself. I pay it off every week so I actually don't even know what the interest rate is, I have had it for 4 years and never carried a balance.

[Night Runner]

I have two - a visa card with Bank of America, which I use on about 95% of my purchases, and a student credit card from CitiBank, which rewards my good GPA (I'm a college student) every semester by giving me reward points. I buy a stick of gum with it every month, just to keep the credit history rolling. Needless to say, I pay off both cards on time and never carried a balance. :^D

[Livingalmostlarge]

1 citibank driver
2 citibank simplicity
2 american express
2 discover
1 AT&T
1 citibank home
1 citibank student
1 furniture
1 best buy
1 home depot
couple of others from college I never cancelled. So at least 15. I probably need to cancel a few.

Anyway though I never carry a balance and we use one mastercard and american express for Costco. That's it. Sigh, maybe I should cancel all.