Welcome GC'ers!
Let me be the first to welcome all new GCers, returning GCers and old timers to our little island of "No Credit Applications". The month of December can bring all sorts of challenges for us. Do we fall for the 0% promos while we tell ourselves, 'will pay it off before the period ends'? Do we bite our lip and ask for that hardpull for a CLI because we really want that 70" flat screen? Or do we sit back and work with what we got? 
What is gardening? Quite simply, it involves refraining from applying for new credit or seeking CLIs that require hard pulls. Soft pulls CLIs, however, are not only acceptable, but are encouraged. The idea is to allow one's current TLs to grow and mature, waiting for inqs to age or fall off, and possibly waiting for "baddies" to be removed or age off. During this time, one tends to one's current accounts and watches their AAoA grow and the new credit ding fade. Here we socialize, commiserate and support each other while waiting for baddies to fall off, new accounts and/or inq's age or just want a place to hang out to get away from the hustle and bustle of credit card talk.
So, if you're at the stage of your credit journey where you're ready to enter the garden, please come and join us. You may pick up your complimentary watering can and garden gloves by the front door -- you can even choose your favorite color! We're proud to offer a well appointed clubhouse. There is a snack table set up. The shorter nights of winter has put a chill in the air but everyone is nice and toasty here on our island!
We have a wide variety of snack and appetizers for everyone. Flatbreads, sliders, pizza, buffalo wings, grilled zucchini, kale salads, pecan and apple pie ala mode. There's also a nice selection of cold beers and my new favorite, Lemon Drop Martini's. Once again, please feel free to bring and add anything that you'd like to add to the festivities. And, in the corner diagonally across from the front door, there is a fully stocked bar, along with a wide selection of soft drinks. If needed, there are some anti-itch medications stocked in our supply cabinet near the door -- Lanacaine, Benadryl, etc. If you need to place your reports in the deep freeze, we also have a freezer, located next to the bar, so go ahead and throw your reports in!
Our club features a Friday night social. This will be hosted by myjourney, who has done such a wonderful job with managing the buffet and bar. He will present a mouthwatering dinner menu (with graphics!) and announce a discussion topic. Everyone is welcome to hang out and either discuss the topic or anything else that comes to mind. Feel free to let kick up your heels for the evening! The goal of the Friday night social is to enjoy getting to know each other and share in some fun. I'd also like to give thanks to coldmn for providing hospitality and help to members both old and new. You'll always find comraderie available here as you work towards your gardening goals.
So come on in and make yourself comfortable. Make a gardening plan and commit to sticking with it! Are you planning to wait six months before applying for additional credit? A year? Until the last of your baddies drop off? Whatever your goal, we're here to support you. If you feel the "app-itch" coming on, let us know and we'll try to help you through it. We even have and Emergency Response Team (ERT) available to step in and help keep you on track!
Now, if you happen to leave the garden prematurely, that’s your decision and we respect that. You are always welcome to come back, pick up your gardening tools and start over again. But please, celebrate any approvals and the discussion of which credit card to app for on another thread. While we are happy with members’ success stories, we really do want to keep this thread’s focus and tone to be consistent with gardening efforts. You are certainly welcome to celebrate soft CLIs on this thread, though, as they do not involve inqs or apps for new credit.
GARDEN CLUB CHALLENGE AND RECOGNITIONS:
Garden Club Challenge: Pick a firm date for staying in the garden and post it in your siggy!
Garden Club recognition levels: To qualify, your reports must contain:
No new tradelines of any type on one's accounts (this includes backdated Amex accounts, as they are STILL new "seedlings").
No HPs for anything that would allow for the possibility of a new tradeline being issued or increasing the CL of an existing tradeline.
*The Garden Club community recognizes that certain inquiries are necessary for factors beyond those listed above. Therefore, Hard Pulls/Inquiries for the following bona fide reasons are exempt but not limited to: Opening checking/savings accounts (so long as no line of credit is being opened in addition to these accounts), Employment Applications, Apartment Rentals, Utilities and other such services. These are not considered to be applications for credit per se. Also, for those who are seeking a new mortgage or refinancing an existing one, we understand that your lender will pull your CRs multiple times before closing. For those GC'ers, the first hp will set your clock, not the subsequent pulls. However, if you are simply rate shopping, then the normal hp rules apply.
You will be able to add the following to your siggy if you have abided by the above for the following time periods...
Less than 1 month - seedling
1 month - bronze spade
3 months - silver spade
6 months - gold spade
9 months - palladium spade
12 months - platinum spade
15 months - ruby spade
18 months - emerald spade
21 months - sapphire spade
24 months or more - diamond spade
Please note: recognition levels reset once you add an account or incur a HP. We recognize that there may be very good reasons for "leaving the garden," and we respect whatever thoughtful decisions members make. As stated previously, members are always welcome to come back, grab their gloves and start gardening once more.
To ensure that your graphic comes out properly on your siggy, please be certain that it has been added as the very first line of code.
Seedling:
<img src="http://ficoforums.myfico.com/t5/image/serverpage/image-id/2760iB9166C1A493A3CBC" border="0" width="50" height="67" align="right">
Bronze:
<img src="http://i.imgur.com/LEYWe.png" border="0" width="40" height="40" align="right">
SIlver:
<img src="http://i.imgur.com/Gfc4B.png" border="0" width="40" height="40" align="right">
Gold:
<img src="http://i.imgur.com/24xvV.png" border="0" width="40" height="40" align="right">
Palladium:
<img src="http://ficoforums.myfico.com/t5/image/serverpage/image-id/5761iE36E284CEECEA414" border="0" width="40" height="40" align="right">
Platinum:
<img src="http://i.imgur.com/vVRv5.png" border="0" alt="" title="" width="120" height="80" align="right" />
Ruby:
<img src="http://ficoforums.myfico.com/t5/image/serverpage/image-id/5625i09098E9833D7A4B2" border="0" width="40" height="40" align="right">
Emerald:
<img src="http://ficoforums.myfico.com/t5/image/serverpage/image-id/5623i698C4BF1F9D77284" border="0" width="40" height="40" align="right">
Sapphire:
<img src="http://ficoforums.myfico.com/t5/image/serverpage/image-id/5627iA714E0C3C98AD3FD" border="0" width="40" height="40" align="right">
Diamond:
<img src="http://i.imgur.com/40nIa.png" border="0" alt="" title="" width="40" height="40" align="right" />
So, please feel free to come on in and share your gardening progress. If you're new or returning, what are your goals? If you've been here for a while, how are things going? Let's all mingle, and support each other in our respective gardening efforts!
Just a reminder, if you are new to the forum chances are you will not be able to add your seedling to your profile. Send me a PM and I'll add it for you 
Alriiiiiiight!!!!!!!! Let us finish off 2014 folks!!!
I am going to make it one of these months. Hello my name is Kellan and I am a creditolic. My last app was three days ago. I am going to continue to try to garden. I hope this month will be easier to start as I cant think of any card I want. I think I have them all. I will try to stay strong.
I had a lot of succes the last months with approvals from NFCU and Chase - AARP. I do want the freedom, but I understand that I must be a good seedling. I must not come to the dark side, I don't care if they have cookies. 
Closing out 2014 in the garden.
Okay... Here I am. Less than 6 hours after someone ever so kindly explained what gardening is, I'm committing. I probably need to be in here for a minimum of 6 months. Wish me luck as I am prone to chronic bad luck. Oh, and hello all. I'm new and learning so please feel free to tell me luck is necessary.
