Credit Cards

[POLL] How many credit cards do you carry on a daily basis?

  • Last Updated:
  • Aug 6th, 2017 9:06 pm
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Poll: How many credit cards do you carry on a daily basis?

  • Total votes: 812. You have voted on this poll.
Zero
 
3
0%
One
 
98
12%
Two
 
274
34%
Three
 
183
23%
Four or more
 
254
31%
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Aug 8, 2012
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[POLL] How many credit cards do you carry on a daily basis?

How many credit cards do you carry on a daily basis?

Note: I'm not asking how many you USE or how many you have in a drawer, I'm wondering how many most people actually carry on a daily basis.

I'm also only asking about NOW, not in the past or "normally". e.g. I used to carry less but I am carrying more now because of promos :)
POLL: How frequent is your RRSP-matching?
Plastiq: Pay any bill with credit card for 0-2.5% fee (help meet min spending and keep old cards active!)
Rewards program transfer times (e.g. SPG->Aeroplan, Marriott->SPG, Amex MR->SPG...)
129 replies
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Snapshot of poll results after 100 votes: STILL almost 50/50 "2 or less" vs "3 or more" (May 26th, 2016 at 10:07 PM PT)
0: 1 -- we have our first NO card carrier after 98 votes! :)
1: 8
2:39
3:23
4+:29

0-2: 48
3+: 52

Snapshot of poll results after 75 votes: almost 50/50 "2 or less" vs "3 or more" (May 26th, 2016 at 06:47 PM PT)
0: 0
1: 6
2:31
3:16
4+:22

0-2: 37
3+: 38

Amazingly sticking right at that 50% balance between "2 or less" and "3 or more"

Snapshot of poll results after 50 votes: almost 50/50 "2 or less" vs "3 or more" (May 26th, 2016 at 02:25 PM PT)
0: 0
1: 5
2:19
3:10
4+:16

0-2: 24
3+: 26

----

What's currently in my wallet:
  1. Tangerine MasterCard for 4% on groceries, restaurants, entertainment (4% ends July 10th, 2% afterwards)
  2. Tangerine MasterCard for 4% on gas, drug stores, recurring bills (supplemental card from my wife's account)
  3. CIBC Dividend Visa Infinite for 4% on first $5k/6 months (ends for me on June 30th, but I am almost at $5k already anyways)
  4. Capital One Aspire World Elite MasterCard for 2% on everything, mainly just for Costco now (used to be my primary card until 5 months ago, grandfathered $20 net fee: $120 - $100 points each year)
  5. SPG Amex for 3-4% or more on everything when I redeem for Starwood property hotel stays (for REASONABLE comparable $ value at what I would normally pay in cash to stay elsewhere, NOT just super-expensive 5-star places. I am comparing to 3-star prices I would pay to stay at)
As you can see I'm currently running at 5 cards and I don't have a problem with that for 3-months ... it may drop down to 2-3 after that.

What's NOT in my wallet:
  1. CIBC Double Double Visa for nothing, because it's crap, but I got $400 free from CIBC last year :-)
  2. Amex Air Miles - used to be for Costco, now it's for nothing :-)
What's NOT in my wallet, but *is* in my "US" wallet:
  1. Chase Amazon.ca Visa for 1% back on foreign purchases with 0% FX fee (and 2% back on Amazon, but .ca only, not .com)
  2. US SPG Amex (USD) for earning SPG points on US purchases and international purchases since it has 0% FX fee.
  3. BofA Cash Rewards Visa (USD) for spending in the US, but not getting much use since I got card above.
POLL: How frequent is your RRSP-matching?
Plastiq: Pay any bill with credit card for 0-2.5% fee (help meet min spending and keep old cards active!)
Rewards program transfer times (e.g. SPG->Aeroplan, Marriott->SPG, Amex MR->SPG...)
Newbie
May 25, 2016
29 posts
5 upvotes
I carry 10, in a metal cigarette holder.
3 Visa, 3 MC, 1 AMEX, 1 Department store, 1 USD, 1 Prepaid/reloadable currency exchange type card I received at the airport.
I really should remove 7, in case of lost/stolen wallet.
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Nov 28, 2013
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Oakville
Uno - I can't be bothered carrying multiple cards trying to figure out which one I should use to spend on which category of spending, etc.
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Feb 24, 2008
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wearysky wrote: Uno - I can't be bothered carrying multiple cards trying to figure out which one I should use to spend on which category of spending, etc.
This will typically be the case with most people. Especially when you add the spouse-acceptance-factor to the equation, 1-2 credit card management will be the extent of what the majority will put up with.

djino
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Apr 16, 2012
3565 posts
688 upvotes
Greely
2 Credit cards: 1 mastercard, 1 visa in a thin wallet.


It's better to have a thin wallet and a fat bank account rather than a fat wallet and a thin bank account.
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wearysky wrote: Uno - I can't be bothered carrying multiple cards trying to figure out which one I should use to spend on which category of spending, etc.
To choose which card to use is a 2s process that can make a $0.10 difference on a $10 purchase, $1 on $100, etc...

There are people who pass by dimes on the sidewalk without stopping to pick them up, and there are those who do not. Some people would pass by a loonie, some would stop for a penny.

For me, carrying an extra card, and spending 2s to select which card is pretty painless.

I agree there's an extreme case where it's not worth it ... but I don't feel 2 or 3 or 4 is extreme at all, and my actual "wallet" is ULTRA-minimalist.

This is it: http://www.money-band.com/
Image

Minus the cash, since I don't carry cash typically :)

So, I'd rather sacrifice a few mm of "leather" or what have you and make my "wallet" a tad fatter with an extra card or 2 if that makes a $$ difference in my bank account.
techcrium wrote: 2 Credit cards: 1 mastercard, 1 visa in a thin wallet.

It's better to have a thin wallet and a fat bank account rather than a fat wallet and a thin bank account.
The two are not mutually exclusive ... I'm going to guess most people carrying 4+ cards are doing so to make their bank accounts FATTER too, not to spend more, but to ultra-maximize their cashback earnings on every category possible.

e.g. this card for 3% back there, this card for 4% that other place, etc...

I supposed there are people carrying 4 cards because they have 3 maxed out and are carrying a balance ... but I think there are more people on RFD carrying 4+ cards to maximize cashback.
So in that case fatter wallet = fatter bank account (this is my case).
djino wrote: This will typically be the case with most people. Especially when you add the spouse-acceptance-factor to the equation, 1-2 credit card management will be the extent of what the majority will put up with.
It's funny how you seem to know what's typically the case ... while the poll has been trending 50/50 "2 or less" versus "3 or more" since the first 4-5 votes came in :)
(yes I know, RFD sample bias)

I look forward to the day all my cards work on Apple Pay and it works everywhere so I don't have to carry a bunch and can still use more than just 1 or 2 easily.
POLL: How frequent is your RRSP-matching?
Plastiq: Pay any bill with credit card for 0-2.5% fee (help meet min spending and keep old cards active!)
Rewards program transfer times (e.g. SPG->Aeroplan, Marriott->SPG, Amex MR->SPG...)
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Nov 28, 2013
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ace604 wrote: To choose which card to use is a 2s process that can make a $0.10 difference on a $10 purchase, $1 on $100, etc...
With 2 cards from different issuers, maybe - once you start getting up into 3 or 4 cards, or more, including 2 from the same issuer to double dip (like with Tangerine), you now have to remember "card ending in 1234 is for categories ABC, card ending in 5678 is for categories XYZ" on top of the other cards/categories. For me, that kills it. I'd rather just have a single card and not have to worry about it. With my spending habits, I'd estimate that I'm losing out on $20 a year. It's *totally* worth $20 a year to avoid that aggravation.
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Oct 3, 2006
10493 posts
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Toronto
Two MasterCards and one Visa. All different issuers.
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Aug 8, 2012
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wearysky wrote: With 2 cards from different issuers, maybe - once you start getting up into 3 or 4 cards, or more, including 2 from the same issuer to double dip (like with Tangerine), you now have to remember "card ending in 1234 is for categories ABC, card ending in 5678 is for categories XYZ" on top of the other cards/categories. For me, that kills it. I'd rather just have a single card and not have to worry about it. With my spending habits, I'd estimate that I'm losing out on $20 a year. It's *totally* worth $20 a year to avoid that aggravation.
To each their own.

For me it's worth the $100 or more easily I get. CIBC gave me 4% for first $5k. that's $100 difference vs 2%.

For Tangerine, a sticker or a sharpie on the card solves it very easliy "gas,groc,ent." "rest,drug,bills" done.

I'd estimate I'm benefiting $100-200 from Tangerine 4% promo and $100 from CIBC 4% promo, so just $2-300 right there in the next couple months.

Worth it for me.
POLL: How frequent is your RRSP-matching?
Plastiq: Pay any bill with credit card for 0-2.5% fee (help meet min spending and keep old cards active!)
Rewards program transfer times (e.g. SPG->Aeroplan, Marriott->SPG, Amex MR->SPG...)
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Apr 2, 2010
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I guess a lot of the decision comes down to:
-How much are you willing to put up with more cards? Does it bother you or do you enjoy doing this knowing you are getting a deal (remember this is RFD, we would not be here if we really did not enjoy some aspect of saving money).
-How much do you spend in the specialty categories. Will you actually gain $10 or $300 in a year.

To each his own.
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Apr 2, 2010
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ace604 wrote: To each their own.

For me it's worth the $100 or more easily I get. CIBC gave me 4% for first $5k. that's $100 difference vs 2%.

For Tangerine, a sticker or a sharpie on the card solves it very easliy "gas,groc,ent." "rest,drug,bills" done.

I'd estimate I'm benefiting $100-200 from Tangerine 4% promo and $100 from CIBC 4% promo, so just $2-300 right there in the next couple months.

Worth it for me.
Are you reading my mind??!! lol :)
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Nov 15, 2004
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Three, one of each.

Amex SimplyCash, Tangerine Mastercard, and Amazon.ca Visa (though I'm not really sure why I carry this one around)
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martydxb wrote: I guess a lot of the decision comes down to:
-How much are you willing to put up with more cards? Does it bother you or do you enjoy doing this knowing you are getting a deal (remember this is RFD, we would not be here if we really did not enjoy some aspect of saving money).
-How much do you spend in the specialty categories. Will you actually gain $10 or $300 in a year.

To each his own.
this. There's a lot of people here getting deals AND enjoying it ... and some getting deals and tolerating the extra cards.
martydxb wrote: Are you reading my mind??!! lol :)
maybe? :)
POLL: How frequent is your RRSP-matching?
Plastiq: Pay any bill with credit card for 0-2.5% fee (help meet min spending and keep old cards active!)
Rewards program transfer times (e.g. SPG->Aeroplan, Marriott->SPG, Amex MR->SPG...)
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Piro21 wrote: Three, one of each.

Amex SimplyCash, Tangerine Mastercard, and Amazon.ca Visa (though I'm not really sure why I carry this one around)
I have the Chase Amazon.ca Visa as well but I do NOT carry it around :-) I use it pretty much exclusively for online US orders I want to pay with in CAD instead of using a US card.

I have a "US wallet" that it sits in for when we travel or I cross the border for a day trip.
POLL: How frequent is your RRSP-matching?
Plastiq: Pay any bill with credit card for 0-2.5% fee (help meet min spending and keep old cards active!)
Rewards program transfer times (e.g. SPG->Aeroplan, Marriott->SPG, Amex MR->SPG...)
Deal Addict
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Aug 4, 2003
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Always:

CapitalOne Aspire Travel WE
mbna Rewards WE
Tangerine MC
Rogers Platinum MC (spontaneous US trips)
TD Gold Elite

Then I might have one or two others from a vast selection to keep active by purchasing coffee or two.
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Sep 21, 2010
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I think that the follow-up question is: is the # of cards proportional to how cheap one is...? LOL. That's quite probable.
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ace604 wrote: this. There's a lot of people here getting deals AND enjoying it ... and some getting deals and tolerating the extra cards.
Right, but you're the one who was acting like I was somehow in the wrong because I can't be bothered figuring out separate cards for individual categories. I'm all good for other people wanting to do it, never said otherwise. What I said was that *I* can't be bothered.
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Apr 19, 2010
3071 posts
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In Wallet:
CO Costco MC
Amazon.ca Visa
PCF WE

On AppleWatch:
CT WE
RBC VISA

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