What is the total number for colleges one should apply to?

I think you should always apply to at least 7. 2 reaches, 3 fits, and 2 safeties. That way you are covered on every front, and you'll hopefully have your choice of both fits and safeties should it come down to that level. BUT!!! The key is to know whether the schools you're applying to have rolling admissions. If they do, you need to apply AS EARLY AS POSSIBLE!

I applied to 7 schools (6 safties lol) and got into the school I actually wanted to go to.

To be safe, normal people apply to 30-35. A lot of colleges will throw your application without looking at it so they can make the ratio of accepted people to applications received higher. To combat this people apply to a lot of colleges. About 10 will actually look at your application.