Is it good idea to have many credit cards?
September 4, 2008 – 6:03 pm
People applying for credit cards pretty often: at the gas station, at retail stores. But how they can know, how many credit cards is enough for a person? There is no clear answer on this question. When you calculate your budget, you see that a part of your income goes for paying off your credit card statements? If it is more than 50 percent, chances are you have got too many credit cards.
There are other disadvantages of having too many credit cards. For one each credit card that you apply, it takes 20 points off of your credit score, that recovers only several months later. Your credit score is important because it affects the things that you will be able to do in life, like the house you will be able to live in or the car you will have to drive. If you are a young person just starting out don’t go overboard with the credit cards. Trust me when I say you are going to have to use that same credit history all your life and destroying it when you are young can lead you into a life of debt and heartache.
Many credit cards now require you to have a personal identification number (PIN). Having many cards can be confusing unless you have the same pin for each one which is not recommended. Having too many credit cards can be confusing because you may not remember all your PIN’s.
At the same time, having a large number of credit cards can be confusing, but it is good for your credit history. If you have a lot of cards, but don’t use them, you have large “available credit”. This parameter is being used when calculating your credit score. In the eyes of the banks, more credit is available for you - better. But it’s important not to use all available credit more than 50%. Be careful.
Most Americans carry 8-10 credit cards. All these cards could lead to serious problems. Many credit card companies offer service of credit card consolidation, when you pay only one bill for all you cards. Well, taking this route can be a good idea as long as you cut up the ones you pay off and don’t take them and go on a shopping spree maxing them out again. Many credit cards offer introductory rates that are too good to be true but are just to tempting to pass up. Then after the introductory period is over then you have a credit card you can’t handle. Then you end up missing payments then are charged late payment fees and whatever other fee the credit card company wants to charge. Also making a payment late can hurt your credit score which is not an option if you want to be able to make future purchases.
Credit cards can be a great thing to have. Many things that we do these days require a credit card, but having a credit card also comes with a great sense of responsibility. Having too many cards can lead to trouble because the more cards we have the more we tend to spend and soon all of our cards are maxed out. Then we have trouble making the payments which leads to additional charges. My opinion is that if you are going to have a credit card, make it only one or two and make sure you only spend what you are going to be able to pay off as soon as you get the bill.