April is almost over. Last weekend of this month! There are quite a bit of credit card offers swirming around: PNC Bank has a new credit card; Citi has cancelled a lot of their sign up bonuses; Chase has implemented stricter rules though the Chase Ink card is still available with 60k points or 70k points if you visit in branch and give them the business code; American Express has also tightened its hold; lot of regional and local ( city/state/county) specific credit unions have average offers coming up - the best way is to listen to the radio stations or just search for the local banks and then apply in their site directly. But all in all, this seems to be a time for a credit card diet!
Yes, this blog is going to be unique in advocating a credit card diet to most people out there. This thing has gone on for a while and like an obese person, many credit card appers have just binged on credit card apps willy nilly. And like an obedient restaurant, banks have served up the feast rather quite well. So now is the time to just cool off a bit, maybe run around in a beach or park, maybe go outside and do other activities .. or maybe just go shopping without thinking of a credit card. Wait! What is that ?? Well, it is the same free feeling that one used to get right after getting a job in their early 20s when all one could think was what to buy and what is the budget. While these days it is mostly which credit card to buy with and how much should be the spend etc. Just be free like the old days and go out and buy and have fun. Which is why we are celebrating the next few months as credit card diet months - a period of about 3-4 months when no matter what one is not going to apply for a new credit card. This will also be the time when the credit score will likely get back to higher ranges positioning you to better offers down the line. And the credit report will get a breather form incessant inquiries and you can review it as a silent period and bookmark it as a time when you did not have much activity going on.
In future, we will tend towards having at least a few months per year when there is no credit card app. And also the apps themselves will be in silos rather than just apping 10s of them on a single day. The reason being getting spaced out or edged out of this game as you accumulate more and more credit cards. The rules prevent you from getting too many points repeatedly and many banks will deny you points if you apply in the last 1-2 year. So all in all, this will become a more choosy game as times flies by.
