Garden Club Meeting - May 2012

[Smug]

About 12k in CLI not showing yet and my Zync is not listed.

[LS2982]

My hands are firmly in the soil!

Still waiting for the last of the damage to pass with TU reporting Discover. Then finally my scores will see nothing but increases!!!!

[FrugalRican]

Cards are in my siggy.

DGF and I dropped the idea of the elusive Chase United MileagePlus. We found out we'll probably be using Jet Blue one way and United the other, when we travel over the next few years.

So instead, we discussed a plan involving me applying for the CSP to round out the combo of Checking/Freedom, under the condition that I'd apply if we found an apartment that would allow me to pay rent online so we could reach the 3K spending requirement for the bonus points/miles/whatever.

That won't happen til October/November, so right now, as stated before, my plan looks like this:

- Get a CLI on AMEX.

- Use BoA for next 11 months, and cancel.

- Get an apartment and hopefully a CSP.

- Garden rest of the cards and rack up cashback to the best of my cards' abilities.

[Anonymous]

I am now just a week shy of 2 app free months.  I have finally started noticing a small rise in my score since my app spree and new accounts and still waiting patiently until November to apply for Amex again.

[Anonymous]

So I stepped out of the garden last week to app for Freedom, Discover More, and Zync  - Which I have all been approved for. I have also cancelled my Wells Fargo College Card and now thinking of paying off and cancelling the Cap 1 starter card. 

I am back to Gardening for a year or so and then hopefully PC from Freedom to CSP and apping for BCP

[UFGuy2006]

---

@CS800 wrote:

Fell off the wagon. Got the NFCU cashrewards and the NavChek

---

Same here... but got the Citi TY Preferred and PSECU Visa/PSL combo. Also apped for the Penfed Plat Rewards but I withdrew the app as I didn't want to reallocate from my other Penfed card. Time to put apping on ICE until the end of the year.

[aggieguy]

I am now in the garden, after a successful April!

I'm coming from terrible financial decisions in my late teens/early twenties which led to terrible credit--go figure. I've worked fairly hard over the past couple years to clean up the mess I made, and after things that wouldn't budge finally fell off, I have decent reports. They all still have multiple 90+ day lates from 2006 on multiple trade lines added by the lovely folks at Wells Fargo Student Loans--can you tell I'm still kicking myself for that?

Anyway, on to my current garden, which is pretty big, but will be getting weeded soon:

• Kohl's Store.......$300......11/2008
• Orchard......$300......06/2009......getting axed in 08/2012, $6/mo monthly fee)
• Kay......$1400......07/2009......I keep this around for the limit really)
• Best Buy Reward Zone MC......$300......07/2009
• CapitalOne Platinum......$500......07/2009
• CapitalOne Platinum......$500......09/2009......thought I would be able to combine...nope
• Merrick......$1000......02/2011......getting axed before 12/2012...merrick just sucks but they were my highest tradeline...
• First Premier......$700......05/2011......getting axed by end of year...obnoxious fees
• First National......$300......05/2011......sock drawered, possible axe soon
• Barclays Apple......$1300......08/2011......sock drawered. they wouldn't give me a CLI this month, so SD for them
• CapitalOne Cash Rewards......$1000......04/2012......I will probably close one or both of the Platinums in favor of this card
• Amex Zync......NPSL......04/2012......woohoo! foot in the door with Amex!

Whew! Writing all of that out is scary.

I wasn't planning on apping this year, but I had a hard pull from a rental application for a house and thought I would take advantage and try to get a couple better-ish cards. The plan is to be in primeville next year. I have a couple more baddies to take care of and then I think I'll be ready.

Getting my util down, then I'm going for SP CLIs if I can get them in 6 months or so, and then I have my eye on a Chase Freedom next year-ish (just opened a chase checking and savings account in preparation. Will switch to Chase checking 100% in 07/2012 after we move. I think I'll leave my Citi savings account open for relationship sake in case I become interested in any of their CCs.

So suggestions on gardening techniques? ;-)

[tinuviel]

I've made mention of my gardening plan in previous GC threads, but I think it's a good idea to restate it. I believe that speaking it out loud, or putting it down on paper, or in this case as a post on a public forum helps to solidify one's plan and make it a more concrete goal.

What am I working towards? I would like a prime Visa and/or prime MC. I have three particular cards in mind that suit my needs and desires.

How can I get approved for these cards? Both my EX an TU reports show that my CA and 2 COs should all be gone by August; they should come off of EQ within the same time frame. Once those are gone, I will have a few scattered lates on old, closed accounts, but more than 1-1/2 to two years of spotless history on my new accounts. I will pull my scores at that time, and if I've made it over 700, I'll attempt apps on the last few cards that I want to add to my wallet. If my scores are not 700+, I'll sit back and wait until they are.

How willl I deal with the results of the decisions? If I get approved for any or all of them, wonderful! If I don't, I'll look at the reasons why and see if there is anything further that I can do about it. For both my attempts last October, the denial reason was the CA/COs, so I'm hoping that once they're gone my barriers to approval will be lifted.

So, that's my plan, and for my situation, I believe that it's a good one. Unless something earth-shattering happens, I'm sticking with it and staying firmly planted in the garden.

[tinuviel]

---

@aggieguy wrote:

I am now in the garden, after a successful April!

I'm coming from terrible financial decisions in my late teens/early twenties which led to terrible credit--go figure. I've worked fairly hard over the past couple years to clean up the mess I made, and after things that wouldn't budge finally fell off, I have decent reports. They all still have multiple 90+ day lates from 2006 on multiple trade lines added by the lovely folks at Wells Fargo Student Loans--can you tell I'm still kicking myself for that?

Anyway, on to my current garden, which is pretty big, but will be getting weeded soon:

• Kohl's Store.......$300......11/2008
• Orchard......$300......06/2009......getting axed in 08/2012, $6/mo monthly fee)
• Kay......$1400......07/2009......I keep this around for the limit really)
• Best Buy Reward Zone MC......$300......07/2009
• CapitalOne Platinum......$500......07/2009
• CapitalOne Platinum......$500......09/2009......thought I would be able to combine...nope
• Merrick......$1000......02/2011......getting axed before 12/2012...merrick just sucks but they were my highest tradeline...
• First Premier......$700......05/2011......getting axed by end of year...obnoxious fees
• First National......$300......05/2011......sock drawered, possible axe soon
• Barclays Apple......$1300......08/2011......sock drawered. they wouldn't give me a CLI this month, so SD for them
• CapitalOne Cash Rewards......$1000......04/2012......I will probably close one or both of the Platinums in favor of this card
• Amex Zync......NPSL......04/2012......woohoo! foot in the door with Amex!

Whew! Writing all of that out is scary.

I wasn't planning on apping this year, but I had a hard pull from a rental application for a house and thought I would take advantage and try to get a couple better-ish cards. The plan is to be in primeville next year. I have a couple more baddies to take care of and then I think I'll be ready.

Getting my util down, then I'm going for SP CLIs if I can get them in 6 months or so, and then I have my eye on a Chase Freedom next year-ish (just opened a chase checking and savings account in preparation. Will switch to Chase checking 100% in 07/2012 after we move. I think I'll leave my Citi savings account open for relationship sake in case I become interested in any of their CCs.

So suggestions on gardening techniques? ;-)

---

Congrats on working to rebuild your credit! I trashed mine when I was young, so I can relate. I think that it's wonderful that you've started taking charge of your credit and are working to improve it.

You have some good cards to garden. Like you, I have the Kay card strictly for the limit; I consider it my util padding card. And it makes sense to prune the cards that you've targeted and concentrate on keeping the ones that have fewer fees and/or are not redundant, like the multiple Cap1 accounts. And major congrats on the Zync!

I like your idea of waiting 6 months and seeing if you can get any soft CLIs. I would suggest letting everything age for another year, especially to get a solid history on your Zync, before you apply for any of the prime cards. You should see some score increases over that time, especially as your 90+ lates continue to age and eventually drop off, which will help you a lot.

Best wishes, and may your garden prosper!

[jla84]

I apped last month for the Citi Forward - said I'd wait until this month, but I just couldn't wait and when my EQ score jumped a bit, I seized the opportunity. I was instantly approved for $6,500, my biggest CL so far! My EQ score dipped a bit when it started reporting yesterday, but it should go back up in a few months. Right after that, I tried a million times to app for the AmEx BCE, but the website was just not cooperating and I took that as my sign to wait. I have plans to app for that in October now. I'm also going to "weed" my Cap One before the AF hits in July. I wish I had the BCE to replace the groceries rewards, but I decided it wasn't worth it to keep it for another year.

My garden:

Capital One No Hassles Rewards card $750 CL

WFNNB Lane Bryant $100 CL

AmEx Zync NPSL

Discover Miles $3000 CL

PenFed Premium Travel Rewards with AmEx $5000 CL

WFNNB Avenue $750 CL

Citi Forward $6500 CL

By the time I app for the BCE in October, I'll have paid down my balances (I'm going from NYC-> Hawaii in July. I can't wait!!! But the plane ticket I just bought also temporarily messed up my utilization and I'll need a few months to pay it off) and kicked out Cap One for good. I have $16,100 in credit right now! It's a good feeling, along with the "pre-selected" and "pre-approval" mail I've been getting for various prime cards lately (not apping for those; still following my plan. But I'm allowed to bask in the knowledge that credit companies are actively seeking me out and want me!)