So ten years ago... I took out school loands, and starter card... and promptly ruined my credit.
Five years ago, with a solid income, I called up the debt collectors and started to rehabilitate my old school loans.
Two years ago, I got by first new credit card from BOA with a $1,500.00 limit. Score!
Last November, I decided to get serious about my scores, so I signed up for MyFico 3 Bureau monitoring and...
What an eye opener!
My scores were about 700, but there was so much room for improvement!
(My cc util was 100%, but hey its zero interest and I pay ontime so im good.... Right??? My last school loan's util was about 30%)
Between Nov and Feb (and this community!) I paid off the cc and paid the loan under 10% util.
New scores? 810, 785 (still dont think the loan is reporting as sub 10% grrrr) and 850! (WHOA MYTHICAL UNICORN!)
SO my goal waas to open 2 large tradelines with some CU's like NASA and PenFed. I could have apped during the NASA madness last summer, but I wanted my score to be dialed in first. Truthfully I was scared to apply after so many years of crappy credit and rejections.
Anyway - 10 days ago the moment of truth Arrived! It was time to app spree!
So I sat down, calmed by nerves and apped for NASA....
Drumroll.....
.....
More Drumroll....
Instant approval $2,600.00!
Sweeet! Man this is great!
Then I thought, wait a second
Isnt NASA supposed to give like mega cc lines?
hrm.
Maybe Navy will be better. Everyone loves NFCU!
So over I went and apped. I had already applied for membership awhile back in preparation for this day.
Anyway So I clicked submit Annnnddddd......
Instant Approval! $12,000.00!!!
Boom! Now that's what I'm talkin' about! Happy Dance!
I have arrived!
But what's up with NASA?
So the next morning I called in to recon and asked to match NFCU, which they agreed to think about.
Then last Sat I went in to sign some papers, and happened to talk about the recon.
My LO asked how much?
I said why not 30k, and I'll take the counteroffer?
Long story short, the underwriters came back with some static... weeeellll you see.... you actually dont qualify right now becasue you dont have three open tradelines showing and you have a thin file and blah blah blah. Even though you do have a perfect payment history, and an 850 EX. But we can leave the file open 60 days though and you can come back later k?
.....
.....?
... And here I though I was done with being treated like a peaseant.
LESSON LEARNED: If the computer says yes, shut your greedy piehole until the card comes. THEN recon.
So what did I do?
Well I'm glad you asked. I went straight home to make sure I had three tradelines showing!
USAA Instant Approval $7,500.00
Amex Everyday Instant Approval $3,000.00 (And we're cool becasue you know that's getting 3xed in 61)
1500 total tradelines, multiplied to 22.5k How bout them apples?
But wait... There's more!
So I took 2 HP's on EX, and 2 on EQ...
I wonder who pulls TU? Oh BOA does?!
You say I should hit the love button on my origianal BOA card?
Well, some days I'm a pushover. Instant Approval, 1500 to 5k.
Total CL's: Up to 27.5k Awesome.
Job well done. Goal achieved.
So I let everything sit until yesterday.
In fact my Amex arrived yesterday.
I ripped the envelope open and waved it around like it was Christmas morning!
I made my wife look at it. I made her smell it!
It's a good thing I have a loving and patient wife. I am a lucky man. Anyway, she rolled her eyes like usual, but that's only becasue she has *always* had good credit. She just dosnt undersand. But you know what I'm saying.
Anyway I started to worry. This is a lot of cards. My precious scores! What happens when all these cards report!? *Gasp*
I better apply some more while I still can.
I've heard good things about PenFed, so last night I apped for both the membership and the card. I *may* have still been feeling alittle burned my NASA. Maybe...
Instant approval: 20.5k. Whoa. PenFed is Awesome!
Time to plan future CLI's and head to the garden. I know. I know.
Ohh but then that sneaky creditaddict and his NFCU CLI MEGATHREAD came along.
And he told me I could get a NFCU PLOC with no gardening required!!!!
Ahhhhhhhhh! Peer Pressure! Okaaayyy Fine. LAST ONE THOUGH SSREIOUSLY. I MEAN IT THIS TIME!
NFCU PLOC Instant approval 15k
AFTERMATH:
And as crazy as it seems I think I could keep going.
But the truth is I have established the relationships I plan on keeping for the next 10 years, and I'm in a good place. I don't need anymore tradelines. I don't even need everything I've got now. After learning just how much UTIL affects score (mine went up between 100 and 150 points between maxxed and zero) I'll never charge my cards over 10% UTIL again. It's just not worth it.
If you are reading this, I would like to say thank you for all the help! This forum has an incredible amount of knowledge and has made all the difference. EDIT: speaking of which... shoutout to gardeningTate! - He told me Amex will 3x CLI upon approval - without the 60 day wait. And he was right!!!!!!! If you're still on the journey, keep it up! My income is average. The promised land does exist.
Spree Totals:
NASA FCU: Approved Then Denied HP EX
NAVY FCU: $12,000.00 HP EQ
NAVY PLOC: $15,000.00 SP
USAA: $7,500.00 HP EQ
AMEX: $3,000.00 $9,000.00 HP EX
PENFED: $20,500.00 HP EQ (for membership SP for Card)
BOA CLI: $5,000.00 HP TU
Total: $63,000.00 $69,000.00!
Congrats on all the hard work to get to this point!
