Thanks for all the replies. I feel it's been something really holding me back, and since I am so close to completing it, why not now? It's never too late to learn. By the way, I forgot to mention, my company pays tuition reimbursement - 100% on tuition and books for an 'A' or a 'B' and 50% for a 'C'. No matter, because I don't plan on less than an 'A'. ... View more

@Math_Rocks wrote: @mipema wrote: After several years away from college (and 12 credits short of my degree) I decided to register for class this fall, and finish my degree. I am currently working on a triple major (Liberal Arts, Computer Science, Mathematics and a 3.2 GPA), with hopes of becoming an engineer (or possibly architect) of some sort. What Math do you still need to take and how long has it been since you had a Math course? Been about four years. I still need to complete Linear Algebra, and Discrete Math. I may need to test again but I will be sure to brush up beforehand, hopefully, I won't have to repeat Unified Calc I or II. ... View more

rbbyrbsn wrote: Warning it click accept an offfer but don't complete , and you try to pull them up again you won't be able to   Thanks for the input, but this is not at all what I was asking.  I asked if using a different name, other than the one on my birth certificate would cause me to not have any "pre-approvals" which was answered by Cheddar.   I don't need any more credit, and don't want any more credit.  I only did the whole pre-approval thing out of curiosity.  Thanks for your input nevertheless. ... View more

cheddar wrote: mipema wrote: Thought this was a bit weird, so if anyone can offer an explanation, I would be more than happy to hear it.   So, I went to BofA website, and clicked the link for pre-approvals of CC's they offer.  I filled in all my information and got approvals on three of their products.  Then for s***s and giggles, I went back to BofA's homepage, and did it again, (all the same information entered -- ie. Address, SS#, DOB, etc.), but this time, substituting Mike for Michael (my first name).  This time, BofA says I am not pre-approved for anything.  What gives?  Anyone know?   Forgive me if this is in the wrong fora.  I am sure a MOD will move it, if it is.  Thanks in advance MOD SQUAD. They generate preapprovals based on a soft pull of your CR.  If the name you give them doesn't match the name on your CR, they won't give you any offers.   Good to know - thanks Cheddar.  Ya know... They say Cheddar makes everything better.  I dunno about that.  You ever had cheddar cheese on rocky road ice cream?   Hmmm... In the personal information section of my CR's, my name is listed as Michael, however Mike is listed as a former name.  Do I need to contact the CR's to tell them, I am still using my name, and probably will be for the next, oh I dunno, 50 or so years? ... View more

mipema wrote: Just checked Credit Karma Score right after checking the WaMu PFico score, and there is an 8 point increase from 716 to 724.  Second time my score has jumped in two months.  First time on June 7th from 712 to 716, and again today from 716 to 724.  WooHoo!!! Another bump in score from 724 to 727 today 8/14.  FAKO is on the way up - TU FICO however, remains stagnant at 703.  I really want to make the 720+ club on all three so I can finally buy my house.   TU 703, EQ 699, EX 705 as of 7/27/08 ... View more

I didn't realize Citi had a LUV button until this post. After finding the button, and accepting an offer for a CLI this morning, I returned to the home page and the button was no longer there - Surely because I had just accepted an offer minutes prior. My thinking is that the database keeps track of when auto-generated CLI's are available, and if they are, show the button... ... View more

Sorry about your card being closed by them.  Same thing happened to me.  Always PIF'ed, never carried a balance from month to month, and had excellent history with them.  Just closed it for no other reason than non-use.  No letters, no warnings, just one day receive a letter telling me they have already closed my account.    I agree with all the other posters on this thread, that I will NEVER recommend any card backed by HSBC to one seeking credit.  CSR game me the same speech about how they MAY be able to reopen the account with a manual review - excuse my french, but that is complete and total bs.    After several calls to their CSR's and "supervisors", I was informed the only thing I could do at this point was to apply for a new card.  My response to that was, "Why should I do that, when you are only going to close my account in three months when I don't use the new card."  HSBC, welcome to my permanent ban list.    Good riddens!!! This is a family forum- please keep the language in check- Thank you Message Edited by Timothy on 07-24-2008 05:53 AM ... View more

Just checked mine.  Up 31 points from 658 to 689.  Actually, this score is from June (WaMu PFico is 1 month behind), so apparently, my Discover More and Citi Platinum Select are aging nicely. Message Edited by mipema on 07-24-2008 11:01 AM ... View more

jaybird201 wrote: Great posts everyone! I just ordered a Fossil ID Bi-fold. I'm a big fan of Fossil for their quality and style. It has an ID window, 8 credit card slots and a money clip all in one: Message Edited by jaybird201 on 07-14-2008 09:43 PM I liked this wallet so much, I went to Macy's at lunch today and purchased this one.       I don't like the fact that it doesn't have a place to keep $$$ inside, but I digress.  Ah, the pleasures of impulse buying. ... View more

40 ... View more

@Anonymous wrote: We have some old COed accounts (paid in full immediately after CO) with HSBC, Capital One and Merrick Bank. Does anyone know if any of these CCCs will allow you to reopen COed accounts that were paid in full? They are all from circa '05. I'm asking because I could have SWORN I read here somewhere where a few people were blessed enough to have this option ... TIA!! I had a CO with Cap1 circa 2000, and had a second Cap1 card with no charges at all on it. They closed both cards, and I ultimately settled with them for about half the balance owed on the Co'ed card. Several years later ('05 or so), I tried to reopen both cards, but was unable to reopen the CO'ed card. They allowed me to reopen the card with no charges on it though. I think maybe given the fact that you paid the CO in full immediately after it occurring, you may have a better shot than I did, as I waited several months ignoring mail and phone calls, before finally deciding to settle the account. No harm in trying to reopen the accounts. Good luck!! ... View more

cheddar wrote: Well, very cool. I'm impressed! You must be a smooth talker, LOL. HA! Best one I've heard all day! About as smooth as a cobblestone road to be completely honest. and goes on to say.. I have an intro rate on purchases of 0% until 1/1/10 (17 more months), but once that period is over I'll definitely keep in mind that it's possible to talk them lower. Yeah, very cool, nice long 0% intro rate. I did just talk to a CSR at WaMu, and inquired about the Purchase APR. He told me that the APR was variable and was adjusted as a courtesy. It is however, set to remain lower than prime for life, and with prime currently 5.00, I'll take it. ... View more

How did you get 4.74% fixed for life?  Was that part of the original card offer or did you have it lowered somehow?  That's the lowest WaMu rate I've ever seen!   Not that I doubt what you're saying, but are you sure it's not Prime + 4.74%?   Just got home, checked statement. 4.74% Purchase APR is correct (Effective APR 0.0% cause I always PIF). Additionally, there was a letter in my mailbox from WaMu informing me they had CLI'd me 1000 bucks. Sadly the APR on the cash advance is 23.99% (Hopefully I will never have to visit that well). ... View more

cheddar wrote: mipema wrote: I have only good things to say about WaMu.    I just logged in to check my statement balance, and to my surprise they hit me with another 1K CLI for a total of 4K.  Started out with 2K when I first opened the card (in May of '06, if I recall correctly), which has now doubled, all because of paying in full and on time.  Not to mention, they gave me this ridiculously low purchase APR for life which is 4.74%.  Not too shabby if you ask me.   Did I mention I <3 WaMu? Congratulations on the auto-CLI!  I have to agree with your sentiments, too.  WaMu has been very, very good to me.   How did you get 4.74% fixed for life?  Was that part of the original card offer or did you have it lowered somehow?  That's the lowest WaMu rate I've ever seen!   Not that I doubt what you're saying, but are you sure it's not Prime + 4.74%?   I don't remember exaclty how I got them to lower my APR below 5%, but I know it was definitely not part of the original agreement.  I spent hours on the phone with their CSR's, and insisted that I would not use this card until they gave me an APR that would allow me to use the card for a rather large purchase in the event that I needed time to pay something off.    I am very persistent on the phone, and when I don't get an answer that I want, I will continue to rephrase the question until I do get the answer that I want.  I suspect the CSR just got sick of me asking the same question over and over and over, and agreed to the lower terms.  :)  (I am a real SOB sometimes)   I could be wrong about the APR (I am 99.99% sure I am not), but I will recheck tonight when I get home (leaving work in about 10 minutes), and post any information I find to be inaccurate (or confirm what I've already posted).   Thanks for the Kudo's.  800 here I come!!!!   Edited for spelling mistakes Message Edited by mipema on 07-15-2008 04:49 PM ... View more

@Anonymous wrote: @mipema wrote: @haulingthescoreup wrote: @mipema wrote: By the way, this is a 10 point increase (up from 689), and the first I've seen since 1/2/08. Weird how it is 6 months exactly from one increase to the other. I hope I don't need to wait another six months for my next bump. It probably is literally that at least one of your baddies or your accounts had a "birthday." Do you have anything that was either opened or picked up a derog in either July or January (of the last several years) on your reports? I did get all of my credit reports just two days ago from annualcreditreport.com.  On those reports the only things I've noticed that have been different since last year are a Discover More opened in Jan of '08, a Citi Platinum opened in March of '08, and a baddie fell off this month (I've got another one falling off in August - Yay!).  Other than that, there has been no difference - well, aside from the fact that I actually PAY my bills before the due date as opposed to paying whenever I've felt like it.  Whatever the reason, I'm not complaining, and hope to see several more score bumps before the end of the year.   My goal for the end of this year, which I believe is attainable, is 750.  Six months to get there. I don't think hauling was asking about the differences between the last time you ordered reports and this time.  She's asking whether your accounts and/or derogatories (like late payments, even the ones a long, long time ago) have any significance for the months of January and July.   Did your lates occur in those months and/or do you have any accounts that were opened in those months?  In what month was your oldest account opened?   Good question(s).  See the problem is this.  On all of my deragotary accounts (four of them at this point), all of that information is listed as N/A on my CR's (DOLA, DOFD, etc.), excepting my car loan.  Why?  I have no idea. So, perhaps, one of those accounts could be the culprit.    The only somewhat recent late payment happened around Jan of '05 (about 3 1/2 years ago), and was for my car loan.  Incidentallly, it was paid in full the following month - February of '05 (which is when I decided, I am tired of living in debt).  Perhaps this is the deliquency to which they are referring?  It was a 60 day late which coincides with my CR's.  Good catch Cheddar - thanks   By the way, what steps (if any) should I be taking to correct those accounts listed as N/A, or should I just let sleeping dogs lie?   Happy fourth eveybody!!! Thanks for all the input. ... View more

@haulingthescoreup wrote: @mipema wrote: By the way, this is a 10 point increase (up from 689), and the first I've seen since 1/2/08. Weird how it is 6 months exactly from one increase to the other. I hope I don't need to wait another six months for my next bump. It probably is literally that at least one of your baddies or your accounts had a "birthday." Do you have anything that was either opened or picked up a derog in either July or January (of the last several years) on your reports? I did get all of my credit reports just two days ago from annualcreditreport.com.  On those reports the only things I've noticed that have been different since last year are a Discover More opened in Jan of '08, a Citi Platinum opened in March of '08, and a baddie fell off this month (I've got another one falling off in August - Yay!).  Other than that, there has been no difference - well, aside from the fact that I actually PAY my bills before the due date as opposed to paying whenever I've felt like it.  Whatever the reason, I'm not complaining, and hope to see several more score bumps before the end of the year.   My goal for the end of this year, which I believe is attainable, is 750.  Six months to get there. ... View more

@Anonymous wrote: @mipema wrote: @marty56 wrote: I been wanting a KIss Chase Visa card for awhile. It look really cool. I have to wait till next year at least. You wanted the best, you got the best... Is it really a KISS CC? I knew Gene Simmons was financially smart, but that would be ingenious. Sure is.    The KISS Visa® Card with Chase Flexible Rewards can be found here - http://www.firstusa.com/cgi-bin/webcgi/webserve.cgi?partner_dir_name=cac_kiss&page=index ... View more

marty56 wrote: I been wanting a KIss Chase Visa card for awhile.  It look really cool.  I have to wait till next year at least. You wanted the best, you got the best... ... View more

@Anonymous wrote: Hello.   I feel your pain with the student loan stuff.  I once had a situation like yours, and although I am no expert,  I waited until my loan was out of default before I tried getting credit.  I tried several times during the course of having the default and was denied EVERY time.  Once the loan was out of default, I was able to get credit.  I ended up getting an orchard bank cc with a very low limit....but hey, one more step in the right direction!!.. I echo this posters' comments. I too had student loans go into default and was in a program to repay the loans. Ultimately I paid them off, but my credit reports still bear the battle scars. I did not apply for ANY credit during this time, knowing full well I would be DENIED. Anyhow, I had a Capital One card closed by the lender because of all the shenanigans with the default status on the loans. I didn't owe Cap One money at this point, yet they closed it. After paying my student loans in full, I got Capital One to reopen my TL, keep the history, and opening date. It's now one of my oldest positive TL's. I personally, would wait for the loan to come out of default status to apply for any credit cards, as you are bound to get better rates/cl's etc. at that time anyhow. ... View more

I think if that's your intent, you should be safe carrying a balance for only a short period of time (ie. 2-3 months), however some of the more knowlegeable folks on this board may know something I don't.   I wanted to add, I recently received a pre-approval for a Citi Platinum Select MC, which gives me 0.0% on all new purchaes through April of '09 (which I opened in January of this year, so it is also 15 months), and may be a viable alternative to the Amex Blue. ... View more

Technically, yes, it is a pay over time card.  Is it Amex's intention that you revolve a balance?  Absolutely not.  I would recommend a card from BoA, Chase, Citi, or Discover if it is your intent to carry a balance, and pay over time.  ... View more