One credit card with a dash of control please!
Give me three good reasons why you need more than one credit card. I dare you!
Notice I said three? I was going to say one but there may be one or two like “a place I deal with does not accept visa”, or “I used different cards for points, air miles, etc.”.
If you do not carry a balance on your cards, I will grant you immunity on the question. If, however, you have more than one card and at least one is maxed out or close to it, the answer is NEVER!
Seriously, why do you have more than one? The likely answer is (although I’m sure many won’t admit it) “so I can spend more money than I earn”. The intentions might be good (buy necessities, pay for the kids sports, buy gifts) but the results are the same (if you consistently spend more than you earn, you will eventually hit a financial brick wall, and your finances will crash). This might mean something as drastic as losing a home or something less severe like paying for a decade or more for living above your means for a few years.
Solution: down size your credit. If you carry a balance on more than one credit card start working on eliminating all but one. Some methods include: paying the higher interest credit one first, move balances to a lower-interest card, consolidate and vow not to use anymore credit until the loan is paid.
