Or can I do better? I file ch 7 a little over a year ago and just basically sat on it not messing with credit because I wasn't employed. August I decided after landing a steady job I hadn't anything to lose so I applied for a Capital One QS one card, which to my surprise despite making barely above minimum wage (no rent or mortgage though), I was approved for. a $1k CL. Around september, I applied for a Zales store card and use it to repair my wife's engagement ring, utilizing a tiny portion (like 9%) of the CL, which was also $1k. Immediately after the Zales card showed up on my report my credit shot up from 553 to 579. Upon opening the CO QS it went from 547 to 553, hardly anything to write home about. Just today it went up to 580 (I guess because I payed the QS bill on time?) I also just got approved for a double your line credit card which, while offering no benefits and charging me a $6 member fee monthly, will add another padding to my available credit. I also have an old David's Bridal card with no balance that obviously won't be used again. That one has a $3.5k CL. New student loans are about $12,000, and I will begin repaying them soon. How does that effect the score?
One thing that might possibly hurt me is the CO QS has a 70% utilization, which I am aggressively knocking down (used it for a medical bill as it has 9 mo 0% APR). Will this continue to negatively impact me once it is paid down or only while it is high? My overall credit utilization is like 16%.
How long will the BK continue dragging me down? I went ahead and applied for as many things as I felt would be useful or might have a chance in being accepted for, and the two denials I got (one from barclays, the other from SYNCB, which I previously burned for a lousy $500) mention "recent serious deliquency" or other stuff about BK. The BK has been discharged about a year now and all accounts are current.
What else can I do to improve? Will the three active CC's be enough to keep boosting my score?
