App advice rebuild advice

[Anonymous]

Was curious if there are any options for myself, that you fine my ficoers know of. I have fico 8 scores of- TU 645, EQ 610 and EX 611... I have two defaulted student loans from 08-2010 that hopefully fall off next year, about 7,000 between the two. 1 account in collections for 333 that is about 3 years old. My average age of credit is not very good and I have about 12-15 inquires on each CR. I am an authorized user on my wife's discover card, capital one card and BP card which have high balances and are not that old either (less than a year). I personally have a Credit One With a 450 cl, indigo MC with a 300 cl... both of those really suck as everyone knows. I also have Williams Sonoma store card 1000 cl, Boscovs store card 1000 cl, Loft store card 500 cl (SCT) approvals last month. Dicks store card 400 cl and Fingerhut 500 cl. So, I have only been trying to rebuild for a few months now and am unclear as what I should do? What I wanna do is get a Major CC that will look good on my report but I keep getting declined which is why my inquires are so high. I read a lot about gardening, is that my best option? I'm just unsure what to do, so if anyone has advice I would gladly appreciate your knowledge.

Thanks in advance 🤘

[iheartwings]

Personally, I think if you're struggling to get new major credit, then I would take that as a sign to garden. Six months could get you a long way, particularly since you have several recently approved store cards. Let those acounts age a while before trying again.

While you're in the garden, I'd consider trying to get a pay for delete (PFD) on your 3 year old collection. 

I would also recommend checking out the Rebuilding Your Credit (RYC) forum for more resources and information on how to do PFDs, etc.

Also, please come visit us in the Garden Club, should you decide to go the gardening route. 

HTH. 

Edit - I should add that utilization from your wife's cards may be holding your score down too. I would recommend getting UTIL % for all but one card down to <8.99% if you can, or getting rid of the AU cards if you can't. 

[IncrsCreditScore1]

Chef Duane, iheartwings is correct.  No more applications for credit, enter and stay in the Garden, and try to get PFD.  Good, good, good advice.

[Anonymous]

I'm going to agree with you both about hitting the garden. Since in the past hour I've added a Walmart and Amazon card to my list, 500 and 600 cl's. I think now I have plenty of available credit to help me out. So I will be seeing you in the garden!!

[AverageJoesCredit]

Yes garden . But what i would do is give your self a full year in the garden . Establish good credit habits by pusing your cards and paying on time , try to establish a pif mentality so you dont rack up debt. Its amazing what a year can do . Now you have Amazon and Wally, these can grow big time and in turn those limits will help establish other big limits. Be selective on the cards you want in your portfolio and you believe will grow for you. So if you set a year plan you can start setting goals perhwps where youd like your score to be so you know uoull be spproved. Also maybe think of joining a credit union . Good luck to you , see you in the Garden Our club is ipen 24 7

[Anonymous]

A whole year?!? 😢 I've become addicted to seeing the "congratulation your approved" sign. And keeping my balances on all the store cards will be easy too, I really only shop at Williams and Sonoma for their overpriced cutlery and at Dicks for golf supplies. Will not using a card be bad for me? How long with no use do they usually close an account?

[iheartwings]

Well, you are welcome to do whatever - we are just trying to help you with your request for advice.  I concur that AJC's recommendation for a year in the garden will do you a lot of good. 

If you're finding yourself addicted to applying, go find a hobby that takes you off the boards for a bit. Or, limit your time on the boards (for a while there, I only allowed myself 30 minutes of reading threads).  It's easy to get wrapped up in the excitement of approvals.  I realize that sounds blunt, but it's easy to want to apply when you're reading about everyone else's successes. And, if you read the garden thread, you'll realize how many people are enjoying great credit scores by just doing nothing but tending to their planted lines.

Please, remember, gardening is not a means to an end, but a means to getting to your goals. 

And, while a year sounds daunting, break it up into chunks. Commit to a month, and then another. Before you know it, you'll have a year under your belt. It really does get easier. 

As for card use, I try to use each of my cards at least once every few months. If they are not useful or you're buying things just to use the cards, then get rid of cards (gardening is also about pruning too!). 

[Anonymous]

That is definitely going to be my plan. I wanna be in the 700 club. And really I don't think I have options left anyways, been denied for everything I was hoping to obtain. I want to be able to buy a house within two years.

[Anonymous]

You shouldn't set a time frame for gardening, it should be as long as it takes for your score to reach 700+, every time you app and get denied, you set yourself back a few more months.