Any disadvantages to having a lot of credit cards?

[Flubber]

yeah but i borrowed the money to start it in cash, and then the whole business was conducting using cash, and when i sold the vans, i was paid in cash. i do have a bank account, but i've had it since i was like 15 or something. in fact i have two, i opened another one to put my poker winnings into a few years back.

i actually asked my bank if it was possible to get a credit card for emergencies in brasil, and they told that it wasn't because i didn't have a credit rating, maybe they meant i didn't have enough of one, but those were the words they used. i can't get a contract mobile phone for similar reasons, again not that i'd want one.

Credit can be weird. I had a client when I was in private practice that had to declare bankruptcy. Once he was discharged from that he went to the bank and deposited $500 and then borrowed $500 against the deposited security. They charged him crazy interest but on such a small amount it didn't matter that much and within a few years he could get unsecured credit again. Sometimes new borrowers do the same type of thing.

[Flubber]

The SO and I (who is 3 years younger than me) will be putting a 25% downpayment on a ~1500 sq foot house sometime next year too. I'm kind of upset because that'll put me in debt with a mortgage. But we're going for a 10yr mortgage.

Saving the 25% is smart-- It allows you to avoid those God-awful CMHC fees-- 10 years payout is great but with interest rates this low my temptation is to invest more and pay back less (but this largely depends on your risk tolerance and belief about market growth over the next 10-15 years).

Currently my only debt is my mortage on my home (currently up for renewal) I could choose a 5 year variable and get something like 2.6% or I could lock in for something like 3.7 or 3.8. Historically the variable rate has worked out better in something like 36 of the last 40 years but this time there is a part of me that worries abourt the downside of potential increases (Note if I take the variable I would have a conversion option to change to a fixed rate at the then existing fixed rate so a variable choice is not permanent )