[kork13]

Agree w/ Steve--good question, boosami.

I actually had to ask myself this exact question just last week, when I applied for a new CC to replace the 3 I currently have. What caught me off-guard was when they asked me what credit limit I wanted. I ended up basically figuring out what I expected would be the max I would probably put on it, and tripled it (as DS brought up, to keep my balance below 30% utilization).

Currently I have about 30% of my annual salary available in credit card limits, not including this new CC... Including it I'll be over 50%, which IMO definitely IS too high, so I'll be cancelling a couple cards after I get the new one.

But at the level I'm at right now (~30%), I'm pretty comfortable with that... It's enough for my expenses (while staying below 30% total utilization), but I'm also not concerned with how high it is either. But really, it's probably more than I need. As a general rule, I might suggest no more than 25% of your annual income. Obviously exceptions exist, and other factors are involved (such as self-employment, family, etc.), but I think if nothing else 25% is a decent starting point to work with.