Please, count the credit cards that are in your wallet. How many plastics are there? More than one? Maybe, more than 10? It happens that sometimes we keep making new and new credit card deals hoping that the next one will have better options. Statistics shows that the majority of credit cardholders in America have 6 to 10 credit cards. Moreover, there are some consumers that have just a tremendous amount of cards, I mean more that 40! Is it actually ok to have that many plastics and what impact might it have on the credit history of a cardholder?

There is no universal or ideal amount of credit cards. Credit card deals are influenced by lots of factors. Nobody, even specialists, is able to say what amount of plastics is more optimal to manage. It is clear, though, that it is pretty risky to have numerous cards because it might get tough to keep them all under control.

So-called store credit cards are so popular during the holidays. People open several cards at a time in order to receive 10% discount on the holiday time purchases. It makes sense only if you are a frequent customer of a particular shop; otherwise, you don't need that many store cards with astonishing fees and interest rates.

Americans just love their plastics and find them absolutely convenient. Most of them just adore all kinds of rewards credit cards.

Some high-income cardholders have more than 40 cards (at a time!). Some of such cardholders feel that "the more the better". Banks just appreciate such cardholders who can afford that many cards.

One of the major inconveniences of having lots of plastics is that credit card management gets more complicated. Having just a couple of cards can be problematic. Just imagine what happens when you've got more than 10!

Lots of credit cardholders use their balance transfer cards for making purchases. Eventually, they face very high interest rates and way too often get into deep debts. As a result, credit score gets damaged severely. Don't think that with low rate card deals you will be able to avoid all the problems.

Everybody knows that it takes time and financial responsibility to build up a good financial history. By having a lot of plastics, you increase the risk of late fees. Let's assume you have got 16 cards. So, in order to keep up with all the due dates of all the cards you will need to keep in mind a whole lot of information, which is not that easy.

It is extremely important to keep out debt ration as low as possible. For $3,000 credit limit the balance should be not more than $1,500. Undoubtedly, it would be better to split up the sum into two cards. Moreover, credit companies don't like the customers that use too much credit. You can even be penalized for that and get a mark about that in your credit report.

All the credit card specialists recommend having the number of cards according to your needs. For a typical customer it is between 2 and 6. And certainly such rules as regular payments should be a must for you. It is the best ever advice for a credit cardholder.