I would agree that it is harder to manage debt. I suggest not having any debt in that case. And yes, hard requests negatively impact your score more than say

I would agree that it is harder to manage debt. I suggest not having any debt in that case. And yes, hard requests negatively impact your score more than say having 10 lines of credit would positively impact your score. Hard requests do not last as long as credit lines though. Does this (low impact) factor suggest that you request to get a new card every month? No. I think the top range (for credit lines) is 15-22. Going above that would not affect your score any more positively. I think it's ridiculous but that's what it's become. The more you borrow (or technically "can borrow") the more lines you'll be able to get.