Definitely splurging on the most excellent mini-quiches still, though will be trying that bowl of wassail too 
. Sounds heavenly on a cold and wet day (for my S. Cali weakness to weather apparently).
Still firmly in the garden hoping for a mortgage next year; however, I was sort of expecting my FICO score to flatline around the 680 mark; however, it appears to be stuck now for the last 3 months at 643 for EQ Beacon 5.0. Think I'll pull my reports from here on Jan 1st just to see but playing with balances and number of reporting non-zero, doesn't seem to have affected my score at all so there must be some limitation on bucketing or what not... not sure how I got to 646 at one point; hoping come January with my auto-inquiries and some of the other accounts I have turning one year that maybe things'll be happier.
Regardless, Merry Gardening in this Christmas month to all, and to all a good night (with warm wine, yum!)
Well i got my silver spade a few days ago.
feb seems so far away for my gold.
i got a cli from ae yesterday 400-700 over the phone no backdoor number
i joked with the rep about matching my 5k limit at walmart. she denied.
i asked for 2500 but anything was better then the 400, since everytime ive used it, it looked maxed out.
feet firmly in the garden until amex comes rolling around that is.
i know i can last at least this month =)
I entered the garden mid-Nov after a successful 5-card app spree. Went from 3 to 8 open cards.
With the drastic change in the # of cards and holiday spending, my util and % cards showing balance will be all over the place. I'm expecting my score to be a rollercoaster for the next 2-3 months. But I've got my finger on the pulse of my EQ FICO (myFICO), TU FICO (Walmart Discover), TU FAKO (Credit Karma), and EX FAKO (Quizzle and Credit Sesame).
I know it's a FAKO but I really like Credit Karma's service, especially the daily monitoring. Thanks to Quizzle's Black Friday deal, I've also got daily monitoring of EX for $4.20/month (regular $7).
Looking forward to my first spade in mid-Dec.
FInally, I think the Garden Club Meeting idea really helps to stay app-free. It's like a support group for app addicts... Application Anonymous! It also helps to keep away from the Credit Cards sub-forum 
Okay some questions/clarification from a new gardener here. Since the goal here is to grow our gardens I have some questions regarding auto CLI's.
To qualify for auto CLI's is it best to use your cards sporadically and PIF? Or by making a purchase and paying it off overtime (3 to 4 months) to show a good payment history. I just can't imagine buying something every month especially from the department store cards. I do have monthly expenses that I do pay on my major CC's so those show some activity.
So which way is the most successful pattern to qualify for auto CLI's?
Still in the garden with a small CLI on one card (soft pull). Waiting to see if other CLI requests resulted in a hard pull to see if I can move on from my seedling.
Happy Gardening and Happy Holidays!
Happy Gardening and Happy Holidays!
EX 695, EQ 703, TU 681 (1/17)
In the Garden for exactly 6 months until I apply for my mortage through NFCU
I am joining you in the garden now...I just applied and was approved for two cards last month (Nov 2012) and a couple of CLI's from existing cards so I need to be here a while to let my cards age a bit. Especially since I completed my Christmas shopping before Thanksgiving - I have balances now that need to be paid
@Rhaeny wrote:Okay some questions/clarification from a new gardener here. Since the goal here is to grow our gardens I have some questions regarding auto CLI's.
To qualify for auto CLI's is it best to use your cards sporadically and PIF? Or by making a purchase and paying it off overtime (3 to 4 months) to show a good payment history. I just can't imagine buying something every month especially from the department store cards. I do have monthly expenses that I do pay on my major CC's so those show some activity.
So which way is the most successful pattern to qualify for auto CLI's?
There's no need to spread out payments over more than one billing cycle, and it's especially undesirable to do so if you're being charged interest. Like you, I put my monthly expenses on my major (as opposed to store) cards, thus showing activity and earning rewards. Since these are planned, monthly expenses, they are always PIF, thus preventing me from piling up debt. As far as department store cards, I've received increases on my JC Penney card, even though I don't use it every month. So it sounds to me like you're on a good course -- use your major cards regularly and PIF; use your store cards when doing so would be to your advantage, but not necessarily every month.
Current Scores: EQ 775 (03/04/2014), EX 756 (03/01/2014), TU 760 (03/01/2014)
Ruby Spade Garden Club Member - Last App: 03/04/2013 - No apps until 2014
Cards: Cap1 Venture 6.4k, Cap1 Quicksilver MC 1.75k, BankAmericard 1-2-3 Visa Signature - UCF Alumni Association 5k, Discover 7k, Citi Diamond Preferred MC 10.35k, Wells Fargo Rewards Visa 7k, Chase Freedom 5k, Chase Ink 7.5k, Amex Green NPSL, Dillard's Amex 7.5k, JC Penney 7.5k, Kay Jeweler's 5.1k
Staying in the garden another months, reaching my silver spade on Jan 5th ... and will loose it shortly after, for I want to got for an Amex revolver (max backdating) and Wally (TU Fico). After that I am back to the garden, have everything I want and will let those nice seedlings grow.
@tinuviel wrote:
@Rhaeny wrote:Okay some questions/clarification from a new gardener here. Since the goal here is to grow our gardens I have some questions regarding auto CLI's.
To qualify for auto CLI's is it best to use your cards sporadically and PIF? Or by making a purchase and paying it off overtime (3 to 4 months) to show a good payment history. I just can't imagine buying something every month especially from the department store cards. I do have monthly expenses that I do pay on my major CC's so those show some activity.
So which way is the most successful pattern to qualify for auto CLI's?
There's no need to spread out payments over more than one billing cycle, and it's especially undesirable to do so if you're being charged interest. Like you, I put my monthly expenses on my major (as opposed to store) cards, thus showing activity and earning rewards. Since these are planned, monthly expenses, they are always PIF, thus preventing me from piling up debt. As far as department store cards, I've received increases on my JC Penney card, even though I don't use it every month. So it sounds to me like you're on a good course -- use your major cards regularly and PIF; use your store cards when doing so would be to your advantage, but not necessarily every month.
Okay thanks! This is what I will continue to do then. I have some store cards that I am carrying a balance on, but I am doing the snowball on them to minimize the interest. That way I can choose how much interest I am willing to pay. In most cases it hasn't amounted to hardly anything....like maybe twenty dollars (they are small amount balances). But I was doing that to just show some payment history and to give me a little time to pay-over-time for some bigger purchases.