Destroyed my credit around 2009-2010 when i was around 19 years old. Spent the next too many years going down a horrible path of drug addiction. Got clean march 9th 2015 and have been trying to rebuild from scores in the low 500s for a little over a year now. Started my journey with the notoriously bad First Premier Bank card.
I had gotten to the point where i could get accepted by all the bad credit lenders, and a decent amount of store cards (also a cap 1 platnum) but would alway be rejected by all of the big name cards (amex, citi, chase, discover, ect). Bassically any card that was actually good with decent rewards.
Before yesterday i had gotten my ficos up to an average of 654 and had these cards
First Premier Bank - $300
Credit One - $500
Capital One Plat - $500 (CLI from 300-500 in june after 5 months of payments)
Amazon store card - $1000 (just recieved CLI from 700)
Walmart Store card - $1050 (just recieved CLI from 900)
Paypal Mastercard - $700 (CLI denied)
Havnt gotten anything new or apped for much in a good couple months so i decided to try the Amex pre-approval. I try it maybe once a week and never get any offers. This time i got pre-approved for the Blue Cash Everyday card. Apped and Approved for $500!!
Later that night i was researching TVs as i am looking to get a new one and saw a promo on bestbuys site offering 10% back on first purchase with either their store card or the citi bank bestbuy visa. Apped and got Approved for the Citi Visa with a $2000 starting limit!!! I was blown away by the SL, as its almost 3x higher then my highest limit non-store card
Feels really good to have finally gotten in the door at both Amex and Citi, and to now have cards with no AF that actually offer decent cashback/rewards.
Back to the garden for now for at least a couple months. My plan is to cancel the FPB and Creditone next month before they hit me with the next AF, and just work on raising the other cards limits rather then getting any more cards anytime soon.
BTW i always pay in full every month
