Credit cards

[dafarmer]

Discover only for me. I have credit, debit and savings there. There are websites with surveys you can fill out that tell you the best card based on your spending and reward preferences.

My Discover setup:

Everyday expenses like groceries, gas, shopping on credit and paid in full monthly. Once we get within $200 of our monthly limit I tell my wife to quit shopping until the billing period ends.

I setup monthly fixed expenses in a debit account to automatically transfer fixed amount from main local bank. Car and life insurance, mortgage, Alliant, 529's, Roth IRA. Update this once every 6 months when Alliant changes the new budget billing and once a year for mortgage. Only other thing that changes is car insurance moving a buck or two in either direction.

Use the savings for emergency fund as it's generally one of the best % nationally.

She listens to you? She stops shopping?

 

[dmclone]

Here's my current setup:

View attachment 101307
Yellow border = me; pink border = wife

I don't know how you manage this many. My wife has 3 cards and it's hell trying to get her to use the right one, which changes quarterly. I went so far as to make her a little spreadsheet that says "Chase Freedom=Gas, Reserve=Groceries, etc".
I use an app called WalletFlo that helps a little

 

[BCClone]

I don't know how you manage this many. My wife has 3 cards and it's hell trying to get her to use the right one, which changes quarterly. I went so far as to make her a little spreadsheet that says "Chase Freedom=Gas, Reserve=Groceries, etc".
I use an app called WalletFlo that helps a little

My wife likes to open store cards also. Like kohls, Maurices and stuff. I got her to mostly a debit card and her credit score finally shot up. She would have a few lates because she would forget about them when they came. It was her way of me not seeing certain purchases since I paid the main credit cards and handled the bank balances.

 

[CycloneWarrior]

I don't know how you manage this many. My wife has 3 cards and it's hell trying to get her to use the right one, which changes quarterly. I went so far as to make her a little spreadsheet that says "Chase Freedom=Gas, Reserve=Groceries, etc".
I use an app called WalletFlo that helps a little

Nice, I ended up going with a similar setup. I got chase preferred instead of reserve, mainly because I don't fly all that often.

 

[khardbored]

Doesn't having that many different cards mess with your FICO score?

There are a few different factors to the FICO score. One of those, though small, is hard inquiries. So, when we open a new card, it does take a small hit (about 6-10 points) temporarily, but that recovers within 2 months. That is the negative of opening multiple CC's.

Another factor is overall credit utilization (a moderate factor). IE, when your statement closes, how much of your available credit are you using? In this sense, having a lot of cards (but either not using them or only using a few at a time) is actually a help to the credit score. No one knows the exact Fair Isaac scoring system, but it seems those two things pretty much cancel out.

My FICO score usually runs anywhere from the 770's to 790's.

I don't know how you manage this many. My wife has 3 cards and it's hell trying to get her to use the right one, which changes quarterly. I went so far as to make her a little spreadsheet that says "Chase Freedom=Gas, Reserve=Groceries, etc".
I use an app called WalletFlo that helps a little

I hear 'ya! I pay all the bills in my family, so my wife only uses CC's for things she buys in-person. While my part is complex, I try to keep her part simple. The AMEX Gold has "Fareway, Hy-Vee, Aldi" written on a slip of paper taped to it, and then a Chase Freedom Unlimited with "Everything else" written on it. And, I take the attitude that if she makes a small slip up it's not a big deal. (Happy wife > extra points).

 

[conmebol]

Doesn't having that many different cards mess with your FICO score?

I have 18+ cards and my FICO score is usually around 820.