When I'm standing in the checkout line I can help but notice that some people have more than one credit card. I think of how much finance charges they must be paying...jees. Granted some are specifically for department stores but still, how many is too many? If you had more than one credit card would you consolidate them for just one?
It really depends on the amount that you carry as a balance and the percentage of interest you pay. I have a friend that makes it an art to transfer balances from on card to another to get low interest rates. It is such a tricky game that I think it is actually very dangerous. I for one have one major credit card but several store cards. I prefer it like that because you get all sorts of store discounts if you use there cards. That can burn you. What is an option is to consolidate to a credit union loan or something like that which has a very low interest. Don't run the cards up to the hilt, pay off the consolidated loan and you have a great credit record. Just remember that if you are trying to get a loan they consider the total potential you could charge in credit so to many cards, even if at zero, are not a great thing.
There's nothing wrong with having several credit cards as long as you're not rotating your debt among them. You can abuse credit cards in a variety of ways to take advantage of lower interest rates, or bonuses and rewards but as Mockingbird mentions, it can be rather dangerous to do so. Ultimately the biggest thing is that you just don't carry a balance over every month. As long as you can pay it off, you can have as many credit cards as you want. In fact, having more than one can help with building good credit.
I like having a credit card for emergencies and it used to be my holiday money and luxury backup but I have maxed it out and I absolutely hate having a credit card or anything that has been bought on credit. The amount of interest that you pay is ridiculous and my philosophy is that if you cannot buy something for cash then you dont buy it at all. Get rid of the credit cards or get them into a plus where they pay you interest.
If you were to look in my wallet, it would appear that I have a lot of credit cards, but sometimes looks can be deceiving. I have 2 debit cards that go with separate bank accounts (one for household expenses and one for "fun"). I also have a debit/credit card that goes along with my HSA which I use for my medical expenses, and I have 2 credit cards, but one is an emergency card that doesn't have a balance. So while my wallet appears to be full of cards, each one has its own purpose and it's not as "bad" as it looks.
