2007 Review: Single Ma’s Annual Credit Card Review
Back in the day, I used to track my credit cards religiously because I had so many - about 22 active at one time. Most of them served different purposes with the various reward options. There was my favorite grocery rewards card, the gas card, store card, office supply card, restaurant card, the card that redeemed points for gift cards, the cash back card, etc. Nowadays, I’m not into juggling the reward game as much. I’ve slowly reduced the herd and stick to cash back incentives only.
It’s been over a year (July 2006) since I’ve reviewed my credit card limits. So here’s the latest and greatest of Single Ma’s credit card family.
- Bank of America Platinum Priority Visa
- Limit: $50,000
- Thoughts: Ever since this incident, BofA has been on my shyt list. The only reason I keep the card is because it’s one of my oldest - and now my highest limit. I use it occasionally because it’s also my only card with the virtual number feature, which I prefer for online shopping.
- American Express Blue Cash
- Limit: $42,500
- Thoughts: This is one of my oldest cards. For a long time, it was also one of my highest limits, but BofA surpassed it last year. Unfortunately, the customer service has been surpassed by others too. It’s a cute card though - blue and transparent. I used to get kick out of the stares when I whipped it out, but that fascination gradually wore off. Having an Amex is not exclusive anymore, the brand has been diluted, and the cash back structure is not competitive.
- USAA Platinum Visa Cash Rewards
- Limit: $35,000
- Thoughts: I love love LOVE this card!! Their customer service is THE absolute best, which speaks volumes because I’m very hard to please. Needless to say, this is also my card of choice for EVERYDAY use. The reward is 1.5% cash back on anything, anytime, anywhere with no annual limit. I wish they offered the virtual number feature. I would NEVER have to use anyone else!! I also use USAA for my primary banking needs.
- Navy Federal Credit Union Platinum Visa
- Limit: $20,000
- Thoughts: Always nice to have a credit union in the family. Never know when you’ll need a loan with a great rate. The monogram is kinda cute too. LOL
- Chase Rewards Mastercard
- Limit: $20,000
- Thoughts: Can you say poor customer service? I haven’t used this card regularly in ages. It’s one of my oldest cards and will continue to benefit my credit score, but I refuse to help them earn a dime.
- Citi Professional Mastercard
- Limit: $19,900
- Thoughts: I originally opened this card (with the Diamond Reward MC) for 10,000 reward points each and redeemed them for $100 each. There was also a nice little BT offer with no fees, but I never took advantage of it. Because of the 5% cash back on Diamond Rewards, Citi quickly become one of my favorite cards. But…as soon as they stopped offering 5%, I stopped using the card. It’s lovely when you have options.
Soon after, I combined the limits and closed the DR. I decided to keep the Professional for business purposes, but I haven’t used it in months. - Macy’s Store and Visa
- Limit (Store/Visa): $1,500/$8,000
- Thoughts: This is the newest member of the family, born in May 2007. I love shopping during a semi-annual sale and getting an additional 15-20% off the “clearance” price just by using my card. Macy’s is one of my favorite department stores, next to Nordy’s and Bloomies of course. I’ve never used the Visa option outside of the store, and never will.
- Wa.lm.art Store Card
- Limit: $900
- Thoughts: Hate. This. Store. Never. Shop. There. The only reason I still have the card is because it’s my oldest revolving account. Otherwise, it would have been history a long time ago.
TOTAL AVAILABLE CREDIT: $196,300
To address the common questions:
1 - I charge everything on my credit cards - from utility bills to a pack of $0.25 gum. All charges are paid in full when the statements close and I earn a few hundred a year in cash back rewards. No 0% BT games.
2 - I always carry my favorite card (USAA) with an extra on rotation for backup.
3 - None of my cards have annual fees.
4 - I have no idea what any of my interest rates are because I never carry a balance, so it doesn’t matter.
5 - Every six months, I use each card to keep it active. Otherwise, the creditor will close it due to inactivity. Once a card is closed in good standing, the history only remains for 10 years.
6 - I track the status on all cards through yodlee using ONE login.
7 - I set notifications on every card (except USAA) to send an email when more than $10 is charged, so I’ll be notified immediately if/when it’s used.
8 - I use a credit monitoring service that notifies me via email of any changes to my credit report.
9 - All cards have a ZERO liability policy, meaning I will not be held responsible for any unauthorized charges.
10 - I prefer using credit over cash due to extra protection, better tracking/budgeting, extra warranties, and of course - rewards.
MOST POPULAR QUESTION: why do I have so much outstanding credit?
A better question is, why not? I use credit as a tool, not as a means to incur debt.
ETA: I don’t know why but someone emailed me just to question my ability to obtain such high credit limits. For the record, everything I share about my financial life is true. When I’m talking about someone, I may gloss over certain details to protect the innocent, or maybe even my identity. But for the most part, my financial life (previous struggles and all) are verifiable under oath. With that said, I don’t have to prove anything to anyone. But just to humor the straggling non-believer, here’s a screen shot of my BofA Plat Visa (card #1 above) account.
Happy now?
If I ever feel the need to lie about my finances, it’s time to shut this blog down!!
~*~*~*~*~*~
Work to achieve, not to acquire.
And as always, BE FABULOUS!
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~*~*~*~*~*~Work to achieve, not to acquire.
And always, BE FABULOUS!
This blog is the story of my financial life as a single mom. Subscribe via (feed reader) or (email) to follow the rest of my fabulous journey.
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6 Reasons I’m not renewing my AMEX Gold « PF Under 30 (Pingback), 25 February 2008, 17:14
[...] Posted January 21, 2008 Not sure if you know this already or not, but ever since Single Ma’s Credit Card strategy post, I’ve been contemplating mine. And since a big piece of that has been over-dependence on [...]
wow.. that’s a comprehensive list!!! when I saw the 22 active I almost choked on my tea!!! I remember having 23 CC’s but I was no where near fabulous with my money.. I pretty much used them to pay each other.. *dumb* but its a valuable lesson I learned.. It made me NOT want another one… April will be a year since I got a new CC.. WHEW.. and I’m looking to pay it off by the end of February.
I wanna be like you when I grow up LOL
That is exactly what I was thinking why does she have so many open lines of credit,lol. I only have 5 cards and I use them like you do for groceries, gas, etc and pay them off monthly. I have always been told that it does not look good to have too many open lines of credit. I really learned something new.
I was considering applying for 1 or 2 other cards but since I want to purchase a home in the next few years I did not want my credit history to raise a red flag with mortgage lenders for having too many cards/open lines of credit. Now I am confused, lol.
No temporary credit card numbers on the rest? I don’t think I could survive without those, and I hate Bank of America as much as you.
Wow, impressive. One day my credit cards will grow up and have limits like yours. LOL. What is yodlee? Is it some kind of online bill pay or virtual vault?
@ BK - At least you learned your lesson and will NEVER repeat it again. Right? I’m also glad you opened a new card since you’ve rehabbed yourself. The only way to build credit is to get more credit and use it wisely. With revolving accounts, it doesn’t take long. You’ll be financially fabulous in no time!
@ nikki - What do you mean why do I have so many open lines? You have 5, but you think 8 is a lot? Hmm, ok.
We’re from a different school of thought. If I’m in the market for a large purchase that needs financing, here’s the way I see it. With my credit score, assets, and salary, the bank will be competing for MY business. Competition is a lovely thing and being financially fabulous gives you options. If they don’t like how many credit lines I have open, then I’ll go to another bank. Their loss.
BTW, when I bought my house in 2006, I had about 14 OPEN revolving lines. In fact, they were looking to see if I had managed larger credit lines. I’ve trimmed the heard over the years though. Now there’s only 1 on the list that I’m willing to let go if necessary, so I will always have at least 7. The more, the merrier!
@ Dog - Nope, no virtual number on the others. Only BofA.
You just gave me an idea. I’m about to write USAA an email and recommend it.
@ Rhapsody - Yodlee is an account aggregator. Yes, you can pay bills through it too, but I don’t. Check it out here.
how can the creditor close an account you haven’t used in a while for inactivity? I’ve never heard of that before…
Maintenance of your account in their system costs them money. If you don’t use it for an extended period of time (on average 6 mos or more), they close it. You may get advanced notice, you may not. “Closed due to inactivity.” It is what it is.
At the very beginning of the post you did say you had about 22 active accounts at one time…..
Ok, but you’re comment was.
“That is exactly what I was thinking why does she have so many open lines of credit…”
I only have 8. But even if I still had 22, my question remains - why not? Tell me why it’s bad? Better yet, tell me why you have 5? Some people may think 5 is too many.
WOW This is sooo cool! you’ve become my inspiration for the future… when I pay off this 10,000 from CITI!!!
I would not want so much credit available, there’s nothing I need to buy on credit that should cost more than 5,000.
Thanks for the post it was really nice.
DAYUM girl you can buy a nice house in ATL with your avalable credit! LOL
Im not a big friend of cc’s, to much to keep up with.
i can understand being uncomfortable with having so many open lines of credit but i think it’s pretty obvious from reading SM’s blog for awhile now that she makes it work for her. i hope i can accomplish that someday!
Chase has actually been pretty responsive when I’ve called them. If I could just get them to institute soft pulls for credit increases, I’d almost ONLY use my Chase Freedom card. But my credit limit is too small for that.
Of course, everything looks pathetic when compared to USAA, or so I’m told.
How’d you get a USAA Visa with 1.5% cash back? I get a much smaller percentage back on my USAA Mastercard, but I don’t really want to switch to a card from some other issuer since USAA has such fabulous service and can be counted on to do right by their customers, a rarity among credit card companies. Do you think I should call and ask nicely?
@ e.c. - The 1.5% is a tiered cash back rate based on how much you spend. Since this is my primary card, it doesn’t take much for me to reach the top tier. I say call ‘em up honey!
Those limits are mind-boggling. Are these kinda on the high side or are they mainstream limits for average Americans?
Happy now?
Actually, I’m even more depressed now.
Wow!! I agree with Rhapsodydiva, when my credit grows up it wants to be just like yours. I hope when I finally do get out of debt, I have the outlook you have on money. You really have your head on your shoulders. I am not sure I could handle that much credit though. Maybe when I am older.lol
but hey, I am still learning