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Here's a good one for everyone:
A couple years ago I had two Judgements, one to Target and the other was to Capital One. If I remember correctly, right around the time I paid them off (Credit Score approx 530) I applied for a Capital One Credit Card. I was approved for $500. Warp ahead to about six months ago and i received a letter from Capital One saying that they've given me a Credit Limit Increase......... of $5,000.
I went from $500 to $5,500 within a year and a half and all of this right after not paying them for months, getting my former card Charged-Off and going to Collections/Judgement. WOW Now that's some faith on their part!!!!!
Hmm, why would anyone even want credit cards with high limits? I "had" two with Capital one. One for $8,000 and another for $7,500. Now I am trying to pay them down. Never again!
@Anonymous wrote:Hmm, why would anyone even want credit cards with high limits? I "had" two with Capital one. One for $8,000 and another for $7,500. Now I am trying to pay them down. Never again!
just because you have high limits doesn't mean you have to use the whole thing. it's nice to have that cushion if something unexpected should happen.
@laz98 wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:Hmm, why would anyone even want credit cards with high limits? I "had" two with Capital one. One for $8,000 and another for $7,500. Now I am trying to pay them down. Never again!
just because you have high limits doesn't mean you have to use the whole thing. it's nice to have that cushion if something unexpected should happen.
+1
This is why the presence of healthy revolving credit is helpful to FICO scores. CC's can tempt people into a lot of foolishness, so showing self-control and proper usage of credit is rewarded by the scoring formula.
From my EQ full report:
Open Accounts | Total Number | Balance | Available | Credit Limit | Debt to Credit Ratio | Monthly Payment Amount | Accounts with a Balance |
Revolving | 12 | $400 | $142,800 | $143,200 | 0% | $20 | 2 |
And believe me, I had my stuck-on-credit-stupid days in the past.
One is $4100. The other is $850.
Yes, I understand. I was irrisponsible and charged up my credit cards. In addition to the Cap Ones I had a Bank of America with a $4,000 limit, which i paid off and closed and a Citibank with $7,200 which I pay off each month now. But there was a time when ALL my credit cards were maxed out! My plan for emergencies is just to have savings.
@Anonymous wrote:Yes, I understand. I was irrisponsible and charged up my credit cards. In addition to the Cap Ones I had a Bank of America with a $4,000 limit, which i paid off and closed and a Citibank with $7,200 which I pay off each month now. But there was a time when ALL my credit cards were maxed out! My plan for emergencies is just to have savings.
It's very wise to know what you're good at, and where things might get a little shaky. In the end, all that matters is how things work out for you personally.
Good for you for figuring out what works for you!
In the middle of the pack here, I guess. CL $9,700, account opened 12 years ago.
Nevertheless, I have to say Capital One isn't my favorite CCC. I used to get frequent false warnings that their "Your statement is ready" e-mails could not be delivered (they were, in fact). When I finally called CS to complain about it, the vindictive rep I talked to kicked me out of online statements entirely. Couldn't get it reinstated. "Our records show your card is already enrolled". Or "that experimental program has been discontinued". Didn't use the card for 2.5 years (except $10 every three months) until one of my many letters reached a VP who could actually make something happen to fix this. Was just warming up to them again when they left me hanging without any statement at all for January 2010; finally got a 61-day statement in February, been very cautious again with them since.
@haulingthescoreup wrote:
@laz98 wrote:just because you have high limits doesn't mean you have to use the whole thing. it's nice to have that cushion if something unexpected should happen.
+1
This is why the presence of healthy revolving credit is helpful to FICO scores. CC's can tempt people into a lot of foolishness, so showing self-control and proper usage of credit is rewarded by the scoring formula.
.
I respectfully disagree with laz98 about having a cushion if something unexpected should happen. Seems to me that cushion is mostly an illusion, and will vanish as soon as you need it. If you're lucky, you may be able to tap it once before it goes flat.
I agree more with haulingthescoreup about demonstrating self-control.
But I value a high CL for a third reason, maybe better to call it a quirk of the system that's supposed to reward #2. Since any significant utilization is anti-rewarded in the scoring algorithm, you need a high CL in order to use your CC at all without inviting disaster. I know the orthodoxy on this forum is 9% util is OK, but I've had negative impacts in going from 1% to 2%, so I try to keep my util below 5%. For the $9,700 CL on my Cap 1 card, I don't want any balance reported above $485. Not much.
And while I'm multi-posting here, I'll take the opportunity to ask a dumb question. Translation request: what exactly does " +1 " mean? Something like "right on" or "thumbs up", apparently from the usage, but why the +1? Brings "one-up" to my mind, which doesn't fit the way it's used, nor the philosophy of this board.