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From 0 to prime in 15 months

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Eastside
Member

From 0 to prime in 15 months

Hi everyone, this is my first post.  First I want to say thank you to everyone here at MyFico forums.  I spent a good six months reading and studying everything here and at other resources before deciding to jump in to the credit game.  Thank you so much.

 

A little background about myself, I'm 31 years old and never used credit before last year.  If I didn't have the cash, I didn't need it, that was my philosophy.  Then I decided to start looking at houses instead of apartments.  I was in for a rude awakening.  That's when I realized just how important credit is.  My cash first mentality has served me well over the years, it's made me disciplined.  But it's also left my credit reports empty, a thin file.  So, after reading, and studying for many months I decided to take the leap.

 

In February 2012,  I applied for a Capital One secured card and was approved for a $200 limit with a $49 deposit.  Needless to say, I was thrilled, it was my first credit card.  I charged a few small purchases every month and as soon a the statement posted, I paid in full.  Then in July 2012 I applied for the Capital One Platinum card and was approved with a $500 limit.  Again, I was thrilled, I was moving up.

 

After a couple of months, my limits were raised to $300 and $750 respectively.  As of December 2012 my FICO score according to MyFico was 697, CK fako was 664, CS fako was 788.

 

Fast forward to May 2013.  I keep seeing these ads for Discover IT on MyFico, CK and CS.  I decide, what the heck, lets see if I'm pre-qualified for any offers.  I'm not. Bummer.  Oh well, I've only got 2 inquiries on my file, I'm going to take a shot, I feel like I've earned it.  I get the 5 to 7 day message.  Okay, that's better than denied right?  The next day I check the status of my app on Discover's website and it says "Congratulations! You're Approved."  What?  I was beside myself.  It didn't say what I was approved for, what the terms were, or how much I was approved for.  But, hey, I'll take it.

 

Three days later, I come home from work to find this brown box type envelope in my mail.  I open it up and there is this cool blueish-metallic box with a Discover card staring back at me.  I'm thinking, well, they probably gave me a $500 limit, but that's okay, it's Discover, not Capital One.  Maybe $750 if I'm really lucky.  I was beside myself when I saw the $2k limit they gave me, I pretty much lost IT.

 

As of May 2013, Discover EQ 711, CS Fako 789, CK Fako 700.

 

I hope that other people who think like I used to find this post.  Credit is not some horrible evil thing, to be avoided at all costs.  It's a game.  And if you take the time to learn the rules of the game, you can play the game.

Message 1 of 16
15 REPLIES 15
enharu
Super Contributor

Re: From 0 to prime in 15 months

grats!

JPMorgan Palladium (100k), AmEx Platinum (NPSL), AmEx SPG (46k), AmEx BCP (42k), Chase Sapphire Preferred (47k), Citi Prestige (31k), Citi Thank You Preferred (27k), Citi Executive AAdvantage (25k), JPMorgan Ritz-Carlton (21k), Merrill+ (15k), US Bank Cash+ (22.5k), Wells Fargo (12k), Bloomingdale’s (12.4k), Chase Freedom (5k), Discover IT (5k).
Message 2 of 16
LS2982
Mega Contributor

Re: From 0 to prime in 15 months


@Eastside wrote:

Hi everyone, this is my first post.  First I want to say thank you to everyone here at MyFico forums.  I spent a good six months reading and studying everything here and at other resources before deciding to jump in to the credit game.  Thank you so much.

 

A little background about myself, I'm 31 years old and never used credit before last year.  If I didn't have the cash, I didn't need it, that was my philosophy.  Then I decided to start looking at houses instead of apartments.  I was in for a rude awakening.  That's when I realized just how important credit is.  My cash first mentality has served me well over the years, it's made me disciplined.  But it's also left my credit reports empty, a thin file.  So, after reading, and studying for many months I decided to take the leap.

 

In February 2012,  I applied for a Capital One secured card and was approved for a $200 limit with a $49 deposit.  Needless to say, I was thrilled, it was my first credit card.  I charged a few small purchases every month and as soon a the statement posted, I paid in full.  Then in July 2012 I applied for the Capital One Platinum card and was approved with a $500 limit.  Again, I was thrilled, I was moving up.

 

After a couple of months, my limits were raised to $300 and $750 respectively.  As of December 2012 my FICO score according to MyFico was 697, CK fako was 664, CS fako was 788.

 

Fast forward to May 2013.  I keep seeing these ads for Discover IT on MyFico, CK and CS.  I decide, what the heck, lets see if I'm pre-qualified for any offers.  I'm not. Bummer.  Oh well, I've only got 2 inquiries on my file, I'm going to take a shot, I feel like I've earned it.  I get the 5 to 7 day message.  Okay, that's better than denied right?  The next day I check the status of my app on Discover's website and it says "Congratulations! You're Approved."  What?  I was beside myself.  It didn't say what I was approved for, what the terms were, or how much I was approved for.  But, hey, I'll take it.

 

Three days later, I come home from work to find this brown box type envelope in my mail.  I open it up and there is this cool blueish-metallic box with a Discover card staring back at me.  I'm thinking, well, they probably gave me a $500 limit, but that's okay, it's Discover, not Capital One.  Maybe $750 if I'm really lucky.  I was beside myself when I saw the $2k limit they gave me, I pretty much lost IT.

 

As of May 2013, Discover EQ 711, CS Fako 789, CK Fako 700.

 

I hope that other people who think like I used to find this post.  Credit is not some horrible evil thing, to be avoided at all costs.  It's a game.  And if you take the time to learn the rules of the game, you can play the game.


Welcome to the forums!!!

 

CONGRATS!! Smiley Happy




EQ FICO 548 3/3/16
Message 3 of 16
Uborrow-Upay
Valued Contributor

Re: From 0 to prime in 15 months

Eastside, major congratulations to you!!  Welcome to the forum here at myfico, and it's nice to share a victory with your very first post!

 

You made my day with this, you made me relive the experience of getting my own very first credit card...what a rush!

 

You should be proud, you earned it. 

 

Have an absolutely sparkling day!!!  Smiley Happy

 

Message 4 of 16
rtw
Established Contributor

Re: From 0 to prime in 15 months

Congrats! Great story.

Starting Score: EX: 575 (PSECU 5/2/12) TU: 582 (3/6/12) EQ: 664 (4/27/12)
Current Score: EX: 699 (PSECU 06/04/14) 702 (my FICO 08/05/14) TU: 699 (08/01/14) EQ: 675 (07/08/14)
Goal Score: 720
20K PSECU 7/12 | 12K USAA 9/12 | 11K BOA 1-2-3 9/12 | 9K Citi HHonors 9/12 | 8.5K Citi AAdvantage 5/08 | 5K Chase Sapphire Pref. 9/12 | 3.8K Barclays USAir 7/12 | 6K Walmart Dis. 11/12 | 1K Amex SPG 11/12 | 2K Amex BCP 1/13
Message 5 of 16
staifokuzed
Regular Contributor

Re: From 0 to prime in 15 months

Great story. You have great discipline! Seems that you are well on your way to your home purchase.
AMEX B SKY-1K AMEX PRG- NPSL USAA PLTM -6K
DISCOVER IT- 5.2K BARCLAY REWARD- 3.2K
PAYPAL REWARDS -6K VICTORIA SECRETS -1750
USAA AMEX-5.5K CITI TY PREFR 3.1K(NPSL) CHASE FREEDOM -1K
SPORTSMAN VISA- 8K AMEX ED PRFD- 8.5
Message 6 of 16
JonStur
Established Contributor

Re: From 0 to prime in 15 months

Very cool!!!! Use the same discipline with your cards that you used with cash and you'll soon be a member of the 800 club...


Starting Score: TU 595 EX 600 EQ 585
Current Score: TU 820 EX 825 EQ 812
Goal Score: 800 Club (Mission Accomplished)

Amex Platinum, Amex BCP $17.5K, 5/3 Sig $10K, Capital One Quicksilver 15K, Walmart 10K, US Bank Cash+ 15K, Sam's Club 10K, Chase Freedom $6K, Discover More $15K, Chase United Club MileagePlus $33K, Costco $6K, CapOne Quicksilver One $7K, Cap One Quicksilver $5K, Amazon $3K, Barclays $12.5K, Home Depot $7.5K, AppleCard $6K
Message 7 of 16
dddewdrop
Valued Contributor

Re: From 0 to prime in 15 months

    That is an awesome story. Congrats. I have a similar story. I have had ups and downs in life and at one point back in the mid 1990s I had all the prime cards. Chase, Citi, Amex, etc. I was making a lot of money and wasn't focused at all on credit. I actually initially got credit cards to finance a startup internet company.  Things went bad and I couldn't pay my debt. I switched businesses and started trading in the stock market. I ended up being successful. Faced with over 20k in credit card debt that was all past due and about to be charged off, I was able to get out of trouble by coming up with all the money I owed from a big 60k quarterly bonus at work. After that I was like you and just paid cash for everything after closing all my cards...

    Fast forward 10 years to jan of this year I showed up on this site with unknown credit scores and a credit reports that were less than good. When I finally was able to get my scores, I had a TU of 520 and an EQ of around 600.... I had 0 credit cards, 0 instalment loans, and 2 big baddies. Since then I have gotten 4 credit cards including 2 prime and have raised my scores a lot. So like you I figured out that it can be done. What does it take? Determination and a willingness to change your habits and keep them changed over the long term. I have had to learn to manage credit cards. I have had to learn to not use them and if I use them to make it a priority to pay them in full quickly. I have also had to learn to be very selective in which credit cards I choose to apply for. It is good to have some tradelines but having a bunch of cards that I will never use is just opening myself up for trouble. If you open a credit card account then you need to monitor it and keep track of it. So for example, me opening a Victoria's Secret credit account, even though I would probably qualify, would be a bad idea. First of all, I have no need to buy anything there. If my wife got word I had it then she would charge a bunch of stuff that we can't afford. I have been real careful to limit what cards I get and it try and get successively better cards.

   

Message 8 of 16
knoregs
Established Contributor

Re: From 0 to prime in 15 months

Congrats on the IT. Read the threads on the EO for CLI on the CAP1 cards. ~kn

EQ: 700 (FICO ScoreWatch) 11/26/14
EX: ??? (No Current)
TU: 681 (Discover FICO) 11/12/14

Last App 9/22/14... In Garden 'till Summer '15
Message 9 of 16
searchingfor67
Established Contributor

Re: From 0 to prime in 15 months

Awesome story! Congrats!
TU FICO: 772 (Discover) • Exp FICO: 772 (Citi)

Amex BCE $13K | Amex Costco TE $10.4K | Amex SPG $5K | Chase Freedom Visa Signature $15K | Chase Sapphire Preferred Visa Signature $15K | Chase Ink Plus World Elite MC $5K | Citi TY Preferred World MC $10.1K | Citi Forward $10K | Citi Diamond Pref $7.6K | Discover IT $9.9K | JP Morgan Chase Select Visa Signature $9.2K | NFCU CashRew Visa Sig $25K | NFCU LOC $15K | NFL Visa Signature (Saints) $8.1K | USAA Amex $11.3K | USAA World MC $11.5K
Message 10 of 16
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