@Anonymous wrote:
Ok, I am in a ton of debt, I know that. But I am a senior in college and working a not so great job till I graduate, so I do need credit, at least for now, and I am not planning on using more, but I want to improve my credit and thus am looking for higher limits. So, my question is, should I even bother trying to get a cli or would it be a waste of an inquiry? I have almost 5 years credit history and have never missed any payments or had a late. No collections or anything on my credit. Here are my cards: Wells Fargo 5,600, 7 k limit Cap 1 0 balance 1200 limit Cap 1 2,500 balance, 3 k limit Discover 2 k balance, 3k limit Citi, 0 balance, 500 limit. Side note on my citi, it used to be a 2500 limit, but a year ago the did a cld. No reason. I was last declined for an increase 8 months ago.
Welcome to the forums Leah!
CLI's don't improve credit directly; the biggest thing you can do (besides never being late or under the minimum payment on a card) to help your credit score is to begin to pay down the balances. I know that's difficult as a student with a crummy job, but you have more than enough credit cards for your report to produce a solid score, and you have fairly good limits compared to many people who stumble across this forum. That's doubly true as a student.
In any event, I'd put any future credit applications / CLI's / etc on hold until graduation and a better job is obtained with hopefully better income. As long as you continue to make on-time payments, your payment history will improve, and once you get your balances paid down, you'll be in a pretty eviable position. 
