Welcome, fellow credit gardeners! I'm taking over hosting duties while Tinuviel is out of town - as soon as she returns it's all hers!
As this is the last month of the year, lets use this month as a reflection of 2013's credit goals. Were you successful, anything you regret and plans for the New Year. So, I call this meeting to order and will gladly pass the gavel to my friend upon her return.
For those who are new to the concept of gardening, 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.
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. As always, there is a snack table set up. This month we have an appetizer selection consisting of puffed pastries, mini crab cakes, assortment of warm breads, sweet potato spinach stuffed triangles, and as always, an assortment of mini-quichese. For your beverages, you may choose from hot apple cider, gingerbread and pumpkin lattes.. 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, Benedryl, 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.
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.
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 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: Employment Applications, Apartment Rentals, Utilities and other such services. These are not considered to be applications for credit per se.
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
12 months - platinum 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">
Platinum:
<img src="http://i.imgur.com/vVRv5.png" border="0" alt="" title="" width="120" height="80" 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!
YAY!!!!
DCU Platinum: 4000 - Discover IT: 11000 - Walmart: 5000 - AMEX BCP: 18000 - Chase Freedom VS: 5000
I'm here too
@ irisa welcome home how was the cruise?
We missed you 
Checking in for December now.. One month away from Gold!
@Irisa wrote:Checking in for December now.. One month away from Gold!
Welcome back!! How was the cruise?
@Irisa wrote:Checking in for December now.. One month away from Gold!
Glad to see you retuned safe and sound Irisa!
Discover IT $17k / US Bank Ace (VSig) $13.5K / US Bank Cash+ (VSig) $13.5k
yayyyyy! count me in, checking in for december, getting my bronze spade on
Good luck everyone!