So in this post I am going to talk about all the credit cards that my wife and I have. It is a crazy amount by most normal people’s standards. This I know. It was even featured when I was on the CBS Sunday Morning show talking about rewards cards
So I will repeat my common mantra – DO NOT SIGN UP FOR A CREDIT CARD JUST BECAUSE SOME GUY ON THE INTERNET SAID THAT YOU SHOULD! YOU DON’T HAVE TO BE QUITE AS CRAZY AS I AM TO STILL RESPONSIBLY USE CREDIT CARD REWARDS TO TAKE YOUR FAMILY ON VACATION
Okay then with that disclaimer out of the way, here are a few thoughts
The old tracking system
I used to have a giant spreadsheet where I’d list all of our cards and another tab where I would put down spending and reconcile it to different accounts.
Then every Saturday (or so), I would go through each of my accounts, making sure that I understood each transaction and hadn’t missed anything (like an unwanted annual fee or something like that)
This got to be super unwieldy and time-consuming, which caused me to stop doing it, which led to some unfortunate occurrences, like annual fees that I paid that I would have preferred not to pay, and other transactions that I didn’t recognize and/or needed to get reimbursed or take action with.
Clearly this non-action was not working either so a new system was born!
The new tracking system
After putting it off for awhile, I finally decided to organize with Mint. I also considered You need a Budget (YNAB). There are pros and cons with Mint or any other online system I know, but I figured I would give this a try.
One thing that I do NOT have is a good way to track my signup bonuses. I don’t want to run into an issue where I miss out on a signup bonus (again)
[The time I missed out on a $400 signup bonus]
The complete list of 43 credit cards
And we all know that the only reason you clicked on this post is to see the list of all the cards my wife and I have :-), so here you go:
- Amex
- Dan
- Every Day
- Hilton Honors
- Amex Plat
- Delta
- SPG Business
- Carolyn
- Every Day
- Hilton Honors
- SPG Biz
- Dan
- BoA
- Dan
- Alaska Business
- Carolyn
- Alaska personal
- Dan
- Barclay
- Dan
- AA Aviator
- Arrival
- Upromise (my oldest card so I keep it for Average Age of Accounts)
- Carolyn
- Aviator
- Dan
- BBVA
- Dan
- BBVA Compass NBA card
- Dan
- Chase
- Dan
- Freedom
- Freedom (old Amtrak card)
- Hyatt
- IHG
- Ink
- Marriott Business
- Carolyn
- Freedom
- IHG (SEE: Why you should get 2 IHG cards at the same time)
- Hyatt
- United
- Slate (her oldest card)
- Dan
- Citi
- Dan
- Hilton
- Hilton
- Hilton
- AT&T Access More
- AT&T Access More (SEE: How you can still get an AT&T Access More card)
- AA Plat
- Prestige
- Premier
- Carolyn
- AA Gold
- AA Plat
- Double Cash
- Prestige
- Hilton
- Hilton
- Dan
- First Bank
- Carolyn
- Best Western
- Carolyn
- US Bank
- Dan
- Flex Perks
- Flex Perks business
- Dan
This does not include any Authorized User cards, which we have several of
And now what?
I’m glad I did this – it makes me feel good to have a bit of organization here! I did find a few problems that I need to address such as missing accounts, or discrepancies between the list I had and the list on their website. I’m also planning on canceling some of these cards before the annual fees hit (and so I can apply for the cards again!). The worst part was finding that Hyatt Place Atlanta somehow charged me $40. Perhaps I earned NEGATIVE hotel fire alarm compensation, where I pay THEM when the fire alarm goes off??!!?
What about you? Which of these do you have? Leave a note in the comments