Originally Posted by imnotalawyer

I don't think anyone is attacking your personally, nor has there been any vitriol. However, this is a discussion soliciting advice and people (myself included) should be willing to receive constructive criticism for any points of discussion they may be offering. My "lazy" barb was mostly meant with some sarcasm but there is some truth to it. A modestly "optimized" card profile really doesn't need to include more than two to three cards and what that may look like has already been discussed by a number of users. You make a bad-faith counter to this with an absurd hypothetical of a 17 card profile, which few consumers ever approach, that requires some sort of algorithm to wield.

Some of your advice is also nonsensical, debit card usage being a prime example of this. So far as simplicity is concerned, the only advantage a debit card offers is that the money is automatically deducted versus a bill at the end of the month. If that is a concern for you then this can be addressed by simply setting up auto-pay on your credit card account. Using a debit card forfeits any advantage (cash back/point return) you may have earned through the credit program and, as others have touched upon, also forfeits the considerable purchase protections.

Again, I point all of this out not to knock you but to point out the flaws of this approach. If this works for you then who am I to stop you but, if offered as advice, others should be aware of the shortcomings so that they can make a better informed decision about what may work for them