No credit card required
Browse credit cards from a variety of issuers to see if there's a better card for you.
Ready to trade in for my bronze spade here shortly! Strange to think by the end of the week it'll be February!
My goal is to stay in the garden until the end of 2013. I'm trying to improve my credit scores and am working on getting my credit utilization down to about 10% and waiting for baddies to drop off (a couple of collections) and also waiting for inquiries to drop off as well. There are several inquiries that should drop off in the first six months. The long term goal is to be able to get a home loan come June 2014. My husband and I are currently saving money for a down payment and I'm putting some extra money towards credit cards to make sure those are paid down. Husband is building credit right now as he just became a permanent resident last year. He was able to transfer his AMEX over to a US Starwood AMEX and he added me as an AU. We are looking to add a card for him next month by using our credit union...no AU for me...this one is all his! We have to build his up a little and I need to stay in the garden for a while. I'm confident that we can reach our goal come next year and get our home loan.
@Familywantsahouse wrote:I guess I'm officially "in the garden" with a couple questions. Cleaned up the credit, bought a house in July...no apps until Dec when on a whim I went on a spree. I wish I had been more strategic but I as so excited to be getting approvals I went a little nuts on store cards. Plus we had some "needs" for the new house we wanted to take care of with our tax return money that I was able to get interest free financing for and get started on the projects early....long story short, now I've taken a hit on the score and have about 7 new accounts. The utilization is on the high side right now, but plan to mostly pay everything down to zero when my tax return comes back in a couple of weeks.
How long will the "too many recent accounts" hit take to fade?
I'd like to pay off all the cards, but got interest free financing on new wood floors and I'm considering letting this one sit for the two years and making the monthly payments. I've got 2k of 3k used...does the % of credit used go off of ALL the cards combined? or because 66% of that card is used I'll never hit the sweet spot for utilization? I can pay this off too but I might like to sit on that money for some added peace of mind.
I was sort of a dummy and never went for a "prime card". Since the "need" was for the house, all in all it's fine...but at some point 6 months or a year down the road, I want to go for a prime card. The score was right at 700 before the apping and charging, I think I've taken about a 40 or 50 point hit. How quickly will it bounce back?
Can't wait to pay everything off in the next couple of weeks and really start gardening!!
Hi, and welcome to the garden!
Congratulations on the house. I don't blame you for getting interest free financing for projects related to your new home. They can be expensive and the interest free financing can be a big help.
As for the points hit, you should recover pretty quickly, especially as balances get paid down. You should start to see some sort of score recovery at about six months, and the new credit ding will fade completely in a year. However, the inqs will stay on your reports for two years.
Now, how does this affect new apps? It all depends on the lender. Some lenders only care about how many new accounts you've opened in the last six months, some in the last year, some in the last two years. Even so, you may still be able to get a card with a prime lender in about six months, or better yet, a year. My DH is rebuilding and most of his accounts are still under two years old. He was just approved for a Chase Freedom. They did include the number of accounts that were less than two years old as a factor that counted against his application score, but he was approved nonetheless.
Right now, time is your friend. Sit back and allow your accounts to age and then see where your scores are in a year. At that point, you may have a very good chance at bring approved for some nice cards. Best wishes to you as you continue on your credit journey -- and enjoy your new home.
In the Garden now, as of today 01/27/2013
After getting CLI and new cards earlier this month, it is definitely time to hit the GARDEN! I've got over $100K in credit availability now, there's really no other cards that I NEED (there's only one that I want, a Chase Slate, but I don't NEED it!) So, time to let it all ride and see how long it takes me to get all my reports over 800. That's now my goal, to try to get over 800 by the end of the year. At that point, I should only have 2 INQ on my EX report (the one most damaged by 8 INQ) and zero on TU. EQ is currently at zero INQ.
welp its almost febuary!
im excited since i have 4 inquries aging over a year! two on eq and 2 on ex.
it was for a chase, citi card, and a cabelas card which were all denied btw. due to not enough revolving accounts and or not enough history.
so another card reported 0! macys according to ck, that brought my eq score 5 points to 661! with 3 cards reporting (will be 4 since walmart was used for once) and now 14% reporting.
staying in the garden until after my birthday, is my goal. (so a gold spade is in sight) (this would put me at 208 days app free!) if i wait till my inqs are all over a year, which would put me at 268 days!) and then i might as well wait till new years since that was my plan this year before i got a 5k card on a soft pull
by then i hope to have my scores in the 720's!
After feb 8th, inquries under a year will be eq-6 ex-5 tu-5
excuse the book just pondering my thoughts until next month.
Current: Fico ScoresEQ~706 TU~719 EX 709 4/28/23 Inquiries (24 Months): EQ 0 TU 0 EX 0| Most Recent: A LONG WHILE | Buy A Home Earn Cash Back | Amex Zync(Unicorn) Chase Freedom$1500 Discover IT$7,400 Citi DC $10,000 Citizens Mastercard$7,000 |
Back to the garden. Lost my silver spade, but it was more then worth it. Garden for the time being. Let those seedlings grow by themself.
20 days in the garden and going strong! 10 more days and I will get my bronze spade!!
I find it helpful getting these emails everday in my box. It reminds me why I am here and what I am trying to accomplish. Since I can't even use all the credit I have and am also not tempted by it, then I focus instead not on wanting the best cards too soon, but instead the fact that with time I will be more likely to get them! I think having this new focus is a positive thing and will help me more than trying too hard too quickly! I think I like this new way of thinking! Yeah, I was happy with the new cards, but I must say it was a bit of an effort to recon the 2 best ones and maybe I would have started out with higher limits if I had waited. So the best thing that I can do now is simply tend to them and reflect on what my main goals are. I certainly can't spend all the credit I have, well I could, but not in a realistic sense!
Keep posting everyone! This will help me overcome any urges. I am shooting for an Amex card next year! Probably the Blue Cash or maybe an even better one without a fee! My wallet doesn't seem complete without it.
Keep up the good work everyone! Tend to those seedlings and do the right thing!
I've almost made it through the month, just a few more days. I think it was harder for me this month, as opposed to the prevous 5 because I didn't spend as much time on the forums, lol.
I've been thinking about maybe apping next month for 1 of 2 cards AMEX PRG (or Green) or a card from CITI, forget about waiting a year, lol. Even my mom's encouraging me (she's proud of my success, especially since my bro's currently taking his credit--he had his car repoed this year because he never changed over the title when he "sold" it and the new owner, a "friend" stopped paying the car note and got a ton of tickets, add that to the fact that he stopped paying his credit cards 2 years ago. He moved to Japan 2 years ago and says he'll never come back, especially since he's ruined his credit).
I think more than anything, I just want to know if I CAN get the cards, as opposed to having/keeping them. I wish it was possible to app for any card, get an approval, and then decide if you want it (in which case the HP doesn't happen until you accept the approval).
But I'm going to try to be strong and NOT app for the year.
Well I have only been a registered member here and seriously reading the forums for a couple of weeks, but I have to say that this has probably been some of the most valuable reading I have done online in a while. This month I had a couple of baddies removed from my CR, increased my CL/rewards and lowered my APR on my CapOne CC, and added a Chase Amazon.com Rewards card. I would eventually like to have an Am Ex Blue (haven't decided which one yet), and the Discover IT. Since I am at the magic number 3 for credit cards, I am hoping that a little time in the garden will help my scores to grow enough that I can pick up the other two cards that I want (for now) without hassle. Here's to hoping for no apps until late spring/summer, and maybe the 700 club?
Current cards:
Capital One Platinum with cashRewards features/no AF (07/2006): $7,500
NFCU Visa Signature cashRewards (09/2012): $25,000
Chase Amazon.com Rewards (01/2013): $1,000