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In September it will be three years since I opened my last credit card account, in the last year and a half I have been really good about paying down debt, not applying for any car loans and I am seeing the rewards with my credit scores going up from 630's a year ago to about 703 & 709 today.
Now I have this itch of applying for a credit card just to see if I get approved and get a 0% BT offer. I know this is not a good reason and I don't want to throw away 3 years down the drain. I want to pay off the remainder of my CC debt down to 0 and I have about a year to a year and a half before I can do that at the current interests (praying they don't change them on me to something out of this world). What I really want is to qualify for a mortgage, and to do that I am going to have to trade my car in but I have to wait until I pay off some of the negative equity.
I keep thinking of my long term financial health but every time I come to the forums I see paying saying I got approved for this or that and I want to take my chances to see if I my hard work has paid off. How do you keep your self from applying for credit? What do you use as motivation? BTW I am 29 and this is the long I have ever gone without applying for a new cc.
BTW I think all the cc's I have open would be considered "prime" with the exception of one..
Amex - 2001
BofA Amex - 2006
Chase x 3 - 2006
HSBC - 2006 ? what was I thinking? lol this was before I knew
Best Buy - 2006 to take advantage of a 0% 3 year offer that expires next month (I already set up a payment to pay it off before it expires) If not it would rollover 1400 in deffered finance charges) whew.
You have a good mix of revovling plus auto. You don't actually need anything else to improve your score.
Adding another low APR card would probably not hurt you much. It would pull your AAoA down a few months, but FICO rounds down anyway, which means it would merely delay your 4 year AAoA a few more months.
Unless you are going to apply for the home mortgage in the next 6 months, adding a new account won't hurt it UNLESS you just run up more CC debt.
But if you can get a 0% BT or maybe 3-5% BT for life of transfer, this could help in several ways.
1. It would improve your utilization percentages (more available credit in relation to current balances)
2. It would reduce the amount of interest you pay, letting you pay more toward principle
3. Eventually this would become another good TL credit reference.
4. It provides some protection and backup in case of an APR rate hike by one or more of current CC's.
5. It would scratch that itch you got. LOL
If used to reduce interest, improve utilization and thus pay down debt faster, then adding another good card may not be a bad thing. I recommend a good CU card so that you can have more long term stability in the APR rate.
If you qualify in any way for NFCU, this is where you want to go for the highest CL and 7.9% fixed.
PenFed has a 2.99% BT for life of transfer, though standard rate is 13.99. Addison Avenue has CC's as low as 5.24% standard rate, not promo.
Just pick one good one which will give you a good CL, good rate.
Good luck
How do you keep your self from applying for credit?
I just tell myself I have enough credit. That's not to say I won't apply sometime in the future especially if more CCC's start closing down accounts but for now I'm satisfied. Does that make sense?
7/09 (myfico)
TU-742
EQ-779
Time can heal all wounds and a low FICO.
"Hello my name is Sandy and I'm a recovering crediholic".
I think that OP might benefit cause he has higher balances and may help the utilization and maybe get a better BT rate. If so, then debt is paid faster, cause OP said can't pay off for a while.
Re: Credit Card addiction - how do you stop your self?
There are two types of addictions (or inappropriate behaviors) described here
1- Aquiring/Apping the credit cards (which is a personal badge of honor self worth thing)
Thats actually NOT so bad as long as you can control your use of the card and you do not APP so much that you are tanked for getting other credit you do need when that time comes up. But again- you can app so much you have a negative impact on your file.
2- Actually spending money/Charging.
You can have a stable of cards that if you use judiciously you are ok.
It is the spending/charging issue that is a problem.
If you think you have a problem, you probably have a problem.
You could easily have hit a wall in the past and that has caused you to back off and be good, but one falling off the wagon moment can KILL all the inroads you have made in your balances. (much like a weekly "Cheat Day" if not done under control can cause you to consume more calories then you limited yourself from all week)
Most people with compulsive shopping/spending issues have aother addictive behaviors married with them such as alcohol, food, drugs, hoarding, or gambling.
If you think you have a problem 12 step and some type of addiction behavior programs can help.
if you think you have a problem I do NOT recommend a BT to a new account as that will open up an unused card and make you want to use it.
if you think you have a problem only you can get help. Many people do not as in the case of any bad behavior we do not like to admit we have a problem.
Hauling's advice, as usual, is right on. Credit cards and applications are hopefully a part of a bigger plan.
It is difficult to think that you have what you need and then see something out there. I thought that I was done for 3+ years because I did a similar thing with a plan and list. My low interest cards (4.25% and 7.25%) in back-to-back days changed their terms and I needed to fill in (Addison).
In the end it's important to follow the good guidance about only applying for credit you need and ensuring that your major plans are not compromised. Patience can be tough to learn, but will be the ultimate advantage when building great credit scores and keeping them.
BTW, you having gone 3 years without applying for any new credit shows that you are not an addict. Temptation is human nature. Controlling that is the defining characteristic....and you have shown restraint.
I still think that you could possibly benefit by a good CU card with a nice rate and CL to build a relationship in this new credit era.
This is subject to you not applying for a home loan in the next 6-8months so that any new account is beyond 6 months and preferable a year old.
The cards you have, the CCC's have been erratic, hiking rates, CLD and closing accounts. So you can't really count on these even if your credit has been perfect.
CU's are more stable and I recommend diversification into at least 1 good CU, even if you don't apply for credit, at least open a checking/savings.
Addison Avenue and NFCU only SOFT pull your credit for membership/savings, etc. and only hard for credit. Addison pulls EX and NFCU pulls EQ.
Alliant and PenFed are possibilities too, but they hard pull EQ for membership.