cancel
Showing results for 
Search instead for 
Did you mean: 

Garden Club Meeting - January 2013

tag
tinuviel
Moderator Emeritus

Garden Club Meeting - January 2013

Greetings, fellow credit gardeners! The old year is ends and the new year begins! Let's all raise our glasses as I convene the January meeting of the myFICO Garden Club!

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. There is a snack table set up. This month I've set out an assortment of appetizers and finger foods. We have mini-quiches (enjoy, Relevate!), spring rolls, quesadillas, deviled eggs, swedish meatballs, baked brie on toasted rounds, and a crudite tray. And in honor of the new year, we have assorted bottles of champagne, sparkling wines and sparkling grape juice. 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! 

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.

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.

 

I'd like to express my appreciation to DaveSignal for coming up with some spade graphics that you can embed in your siggy in order to display your status. Thanks, DS -- great job!!!

 

 

Seedling:

<img src="http://ficoforums.myfico.com/t5/image/serverpage/image-id/2760iB9166C1A493A3CBC/" border="0" width="75"  height="100" align="right">

 

Bronze:

<img src="http://i.imgur.com/LEYWe.png" border="0" width="40"  height="40" align="right">

 

 SIlver: 

line to put at top of sig: 

<img src="http://i.imgur.com/Gfc4B.png" border="0" width="40"  height="40" align="right">

 

Gold: 

line to put at top of sig: 

<img src="http://i.imgur.com/24xvV.png" border="0" width="40"  height="40" align="right">

 

Platinum: 

line to put at top of sig:

<img src="http://i.imgur.com/vVRv5.png" border="0" alt="" title="" width="120" height="80" align="right" />

Diamond:

line to put at top of sig:

<img src="http://i.imgur.com/40nIa.png" border="0" alt="" title="" width="40" height="40" align="right" />

 

 

So now that we're beginning a new year, I'd like everyone to feel free to share their gardening goals for the coming year. How long are you planning on gardening? Are you waiting for inqs or baddies to fall off? Where do you plan on going from here -- future cards, mortgages or other loans? I've found that it really helps your gardening efforts if you have an idea of what you'd like your overall credit portfolio to look like and make plans for getting there.

 

And so, a toast to the new year! May there be much success among our members as they continue to work towards their credit and gardening goals!


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
Message 1 of 362
361 REPLIES 361
drkaje
Senior Contributor

Re: Garden Club Meeting - January 2013

Count me in!


Starting Score: 675
Current Score: EX 753 FICO, EQ 737FICO, TU 738
Goal Score: 776 FICO


Take the FICO Fitness Challenge
Message 2 of 362
tinuviel
Moderator Emeritus

Re: Garden Club Meeting - January 2013

I feel that I'm starting off the new year in good shape -- better shape than I've been in a long, long time. Currently, I'm nuturing the following cards:

 

Cap1 Venture Visa Signature - $6400 CL

Cap1 NHCR MC - $750 CL (my DD is AU on this account and is using it to build her credit and learn to manage a card)

BoA BankAmericard 1-2-3 Cash Rewards Visa Signature (UCF Alumni Association) - $5000 CL

Discover More - $2000 CL

Citi Diamond Preferred MC - $6800 CL

Wells Fargo Rewards Visa - $7000 CL

Dillard's Amex - $6000 CL

JC Penney's - $2800 CL

Kay Jewelers - $5100 CL

Amex Green - NPSL

 

I'm very, very happy with what I have and am not seeking any further cards at this point. The BoA, Discover, Citi and WF cards were acquired last Aug, so I'm waiting for these to age at least 6 months. After that -- and probably at the 9 month or longer mark -- I'll be looking at getting an auto loan for a new car. I want the best possible rate, and I should be able to get a good one if my scores (see siggy) stay on track or continue to inch up. I'd like to get to 740 or above across the board. In the meantime, I'm going to continue to tend to my cards and see if any auto CLIs come my way.

 

Happy gardening, everyone!

 


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
Message 3 of 362
bbb3601
Frequent Contributor

Re: Garden Club Meeting - January 2013

2012 has been good to me! Closed a few store cards 90 days ago and really have no true needs for a new card. Plan on hitting up chase, and USAA for increases in the spring, and maybe a airline or hotel reward card in the summer. Been thinking about knocking off Barclay's. I haven't pulled my scores in months.  I am gardening the following accounts

 

NFCU 10k

NFCU 10k

USAA  2k

USAA  2k

Cap-1  2k

Barclay's 1500

Chase  1k

HSN      750

Walmart 700

Marathon 500

VS            300

Old Navy  500

 

NFCU Cash Rewards 20,000,NFCU Plat 17,000, NavCheck 15,000, USAA Cash 4,000, USSA Rate Adv 2,000, USAA AMEX 3,500, Freedom 2,000, Capital One 2,000, Barclay's Apple 1,500, Barclay's Ring 1500, Various Store Cards.




Message 4 of 362
injustifiiable
Valued Contributor

Re: Garden Club Meeting - January 2013

I've had no HP's since September, but I do have a new account through WFNNB that I got through SP only. So, I guess I'm back to Square One.

 

Here's what I'm working with:

 

  • Capital One Secured: $500
  • Household: $400
  • 1st Savings: $500
  • Show MasterCard: $500
  • Express/WFNNB: $1,000

Planning on applying for Barclays in the Spring, and Chase, Discover and USAA later in the fall when my EQ report is looking shiny. At that point it'll be time to clean house a little....lol.

Scores 5/15/2016 (clean reports!): TU Walmart FICO: 696 | EQ FICO: 679 | EX AMEX FICO: 680

In my new wallet: American Express Green EMV: PSL $2000 | BankAmericard Cash Rewards Visa EMV: $2500 | Citi AAdvantage Platinum Select World MasterCard: $6400 | Barclaycard Arrival World MasterCard: $1000 | Discover IT: $2500 | Amazon Rewards Visa Signature: $1500 | Chase Freedom: $1500 | Capital One QuicksilverOne MasterCard: $2100 | Target: $2800 | J.Crew $21,550 | Marvel (Captain America) MasterCard: $6000
Message 5 of 362
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: Garden Club Meeting - January 2013

I'm going to join the club as well. My last hard pull was a couple days ago and I'm going to garden till at least july making that 6 months. Good luck everybody!

 

EDIT: Come to think of it my Fulton card is supposed to graduate in Febuary tho hmm?

Message 6 of 362
tinuviel
Moderator Emeritus

Re: Garden Club Meeting - January 2013


@injustifiiable wrote:

I've had no HP's since September, but I do have a new account through WFNNB that I got through SP only. So, I guess I'm back to Square One.

 

Here's what I'm working with:

 

  • Capital One Secured: $500
  • Household: $400
  • 1st Savings: $500
  • Show MasterCard: $500
  • Express/WFNNB: $1,000

Planning on applying for Barclays in the Spring, and Chase, Discover and USAA later in the fall when my EQ report is looking shiny. At that point it'll be time to clean house a little....lol.


 

Yes, a new account will bring you back to seedling level, even though it was a SP. It looks like a nice card for you, though, so congrats and take good care of it! Smiley Happy


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
Message 7 of 362
webhopper
Moderator Emeritus

Re: Garden Club Meeting - January 2013

I'm going to be in the garden tomorrow after PRG app.... then the goal is to garden for 1 year.

Ive had a lot of success this year with getting prime cards and refinancing a house; buying a house; refinancing a car; and buying a car....

2013 will be about paying down installment debt... specifically trying to pay off one of the cars and maybe the student loan. We paid off two cars last year but unfortunately one of them got wrecked and was a total loss. Thanks to gardening I was able to get a new car at 1.79% interest.

Anyways; for all of you new gardeners!!! Hang in there because you too can be successful when you stay the course and practice doing the things that lead to a secure financial house.

Best of luck and happy gardening to all! Hopefully someone will do a toast with me later on to welcome the new year!

FICO 9:
Filed Chapter 13 on 6/1/2017 after job loss. Discharged 6/1/2022.

Goal: Gardening!


Message 8 of 362
tinuviel
Moderator Emeritus

Re: Garden Club Meeting - January 2013


@webhopper wrote:

I'm going to be in the garden tomorrow after PRG app.... then the goal is to garden for 1 year.

Ive had a lot of success this year with getting prime cards and refinancing a house; buying a house; refinancing a car; and buying a car....

2013 will be about paying down installment debt... specifically trying to pay off one of the cars and maybe the student loan. We paid off two cars last year but unfortunately one of them got wrecked and was a total loss. Thanks to gardening I was able to get a new car at 1.79% interest.

Anyways; for all of you new gardeners!!! Hang in there because you too can be successful when you stay the course and practice doing the things that lead to a secure financial house.

Best of luck and happy gardening to all! Hopefully someone will do a toast with me later on to welcome the new year!


 

I'll check in here with you around midnight, right after I toast with my DH. Smiley Happy


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
Message 9 of 362
jsucool76
Super Contributor

Re: Garden Club Meeting - January 2013

I'm still here. The itch is killing me though. 

 

Edit: I'll toast with you webhopper. haha. 

Message 10 of 362
Advertiser Disclosure: The offers that appear on this site are from third party advertisers from whom FICO receives compensation.