Hey all, and my apologies in advance for the massive post!
I'm a 23 year old from Colorado, about to graduate college, and didn't really know a whole lot about credit cards or building credit until very recently.
First got added to my mother's CapOne Best Buy store card with a 4k limit back in August 2011 so I could buy a tablet for school with interest free financing. Current balance on this is around $1,000, still interest free, and will be paid off within two months (most of it is my mother's stuff).
After a while, I applied for the GECRB Amazon Store card to buy a computer and pay for some textbooks interest free, in January 2012. Started with low limit (maybe $300?) but it was automatically increased to $1,900 not too long after. Current balance on this is about $1600, but still interest free for a while. This will hopefully be paid off by the end of this summer, which will be before the no interest promotion ends.
Those were my only two experiences with credit cards until recently. I started learning a little about credit scores, and felt the need to try to open some more accounts to build history with different lenders. Also, I got a job in Houston next year and wanted to make sure my credit would be okay to get approved for renting an apartment, utilities, etc., so I (perhaps foolishly) decided to go on an application spree.
1/25/13
Applied for Chase Slate, immediately approved with $300 CL, activated February 27th
3/7/13
Applied Cap One Platinum, immediately approved with $300 CL
Applied Citi Forward (student version), immediately approved with $2,000 CL
3/9/13
Applied Discover It, immediately approved with ? CL
Applied AMEX BCE and Blue, BCE denied, blue unsure (weird things happening with their application status site)
Applied Barclaycard Arrival (No AF version) and Barclaycard rewards, arrival immediately denied, rewards 7-10 days decision
3/10/13
Applied Citi TY Preferred, immediately denied
Applied BoA Travel Rewards, given 30 days message, checked status 30 minutes later and changed to approved with ? CL
Requested CLI for Amazon card online, immediately approved for new limit of $2350 (increase of $450)
I wasn't really aware of how multiple inquiries could be damaging to a credit score until doing more reading around here this afternoon, and now realized I may have made a mistake in applying for as many lines as I did. I was mainly trying to establish a relationship with all the major lenders, but that probably wasn't the wisest choice.
I use Mint Credit Monitor to check my credit scores and reports, so I'm not really sure if these are FICO or FAKO scores, but according to Mint my scores are:
Ex: 668 as of 3/5/13, Eq: 643 as of 2/4/13, TU: 693 as of 2/4/13
So, I suppose I am here to approach you lords and ladies of credit knowledge to ask, how much did I screw myself? Also, any general advice for me? I've read a lot about 'gardening' on here, which I think means to stop applying for new lines and attend to existing lines. Is that correct?
Cheers and thanks in advance!
In the garden as of 3/18/13 Best Buy Capital One - $4k (08/2011) | GECRB Amazon Store Card - $2.35k (01/2012) | Chase Slate - $300 (02/2013) | Capital One Platinum - $300 (03/2013) | Citi Forward (EMV) - $2k (03/2013) | Discover it - $1k (03/2013) | BoA Travel Rewards (EMV) - $900 (03/2013) | Walmart - $500 (03/2013)
Starting Score:Eq: 650, TU: 708 (March 2013) Current Score: Eq: 669, TU: 708 (April 2013) Goal Score: 720 for all
Welcome to forums and congrats on your approvals! Since you are headed in the right direction so take a stop in the garden to let your cards grow! Too much apps in a short period is not good.
@whackattack wrote:Hey all, and my apologies in advance for the massive post!
I'm a 23 year old from Colorado, about to graduate college, and didn't really know a whole lot about credit cards or building credit until very recently.
First got added to my mother's CapOne Best Buy store card with a 4k limit back in August 2011 so I could buy a tablet for school with interest free financing. Current balance on this is around $1,000, still interest free, and will be paid off within two months (most of it is my mother's stuff).
After a while, I applied for the GECRB Amazon Store card to buy a computer and pay for some textbooks interest free, in January 2012. Started with low limit (maybe $300?) but it was automatically increased to $1,900 not too long after. Current balance on this is about $1600, but still interest free for a while. This will hopefully be paid off by the end of this summer, which will be before the no interest promotion ends.
Those were my only two experiences with credit cards until recently. I started learning a little about credit scores, and felt the need to try to open some more accounts to build history with different lenders. Also, I got a job in Houston next year and wanted to make sure my credit would be okay to get approved for renting an apartment, utilities, etc., so I (perhaps foolishly) decided to go on an application spree.
1/25/13
Applied for Chase Slate, immediately approved with $300 CL, activated February 27th
3/7/13
Applied Cap One Platinum, immediately approved with $300 CL
Applied Citi Forward (student version), immediately approved with $2,000 CL
3/9/13
Applied Discover It, immediately approved with ? CL
Applied AMEX BCE and Blue, BCE denied, blue unsure (weird things happening with their application status site)
Applied Barclaycard Arrival (No AF version) and Barclaycard rewards, arrival immediately denied, rewards 7-10 days decision
3/10/13
Applied Citi TY Preferred, immediately denied
Applied BoA Travel Rewards, given 30 days message, checked status 30 minutes later and changed to approved with ? CL
Requested CLI for Amazon card online, immediately approved for new limit of $2350 (increase of $450)
I wasn't really aware of how multiple inquiries could be damaging to a credit score until doing more reading around here this afternoon, and now realized I may have made a mistake in applying for as many lines as I did. I was mainly trying to establish a relationship with all the major lenders, but that probably wasn't the wisest choice.
I use Mint Credit Monitor to check my credit scores and reports, so I'm not really sure if these are FICO or FAKO scores, but according to Mint my scores are:
Ex: 668 as of 3/5/13, Eq: 643 as of 2/4/13, TU: 693 as of 2/4/13
So, I suppose I am here to approach you lords and ladies of credit knowledge to ask, how much did I screw myself? Also, any general advice for me? I've read a lot about 'gardening' on here, which I think means to stop applying for new lines and attend to existing lines. Is that correct?
Cheers and thanks in advance!
Welcome to the forums!!!
The Mint scores are FAKO. You can get your FICO EQ / TU scores here. EX FICO's are not available for purchase.
I would suggest joining the Garden Club here and not applying for anything else for 1 year. Let your new cards gain positive history and your recent INQ's age.
STOP!!!!!!!!!
i made the big mistake of continuing apping after i got rejected, the result, 18 inqs, that will not go away til 18 23 more months.
you got a really good starting point array of cards, keep them and let them grow. your credit is very good for rent an apt.
So take away message so far is I haven't totally buggered myself just yet, and no new applications for twelve months or so? Better than expected! Thanks for the help. Looks like I'll be hanging around here more often!
@whackattack wrote:So take away message so far is I haven't totally buggered myself just yet, and no new applications for twelve months or so? Better than expected! Thanks for the help. Looks like I'll be hanging around here more often!
You haven't totally screwed yourself, just let your new accounts age, also try to pay down or pay off those things that you got with 0% interest... and just keep in mind that just because you have credit cards, you're still making the same amount of money so be careful and don't overspend.
Join the garden club!
FICO 9: 
Filed Chapter 13 on 6/1/2017 after job loss. Discharged 6/1/2022.
Goal: Gardening!
Filed Chapter 13 on 6/1/2017 after job loss. Discharged 6/1/2022.
Goal: Gardening!
@webhopper wrote:
@whackattack wrote:So take away message so far is I haven't totally buggered myself just yet, and no new applications for twelve months or so? Better than expected! Thanks for the help. Looks like I'll be hanging around here more often!
You haven't totally screwed yourself, just let your new accounts age, also try to pay down or pay off those things that you got with 0% interest... and just keep in mind that just because you have credit cards, you're still making the same amount of money so be careful and don't overspend.
Join the garden club!
Thanks for the advice! I'll definitely get amazon paid off before the interest hits, and will keep your other point in mind as well. Cheers!
@myjourney wrote:
@whackattack wrote:So take away message so far is I haven't totally buggered myself just yet, and no new applications for twelve months or so? Better than expected! Thanks for the help. Looks like I'll be hanging around here more often!
Welcome to the forum
Congrats on your up coming graduation!
You haven't done so bad
Pay off as you have planned the cards with balances
Keep your utilization reporting low <10%
Head over to the garden to age those tradelines you now have and congrats on the new Cards
Last but not least when the denial letters come see why you were rejected and ask questions here you just may be able to recon some since you have taken the HP already... Recon never hurts you
Good luck
Thank you!
I plan on calling Barclay's tomorrow to recon, but I'm guessing Amex is probably a lost cause. May try to call anyway if I have some extra free time. I'll update if anything happens either way.