Ahhhh, the air is so fresh in this garden. I have a couple tempermental flower pots that need to be tamed, but the air is moving. Not stuffy anymore.
So glad the app itch left. Can't wait to get CLI on what I currently have. Truth is, I want to manage well what I already have.
2 baddies are scheduled to fall off next year. One was when I was young and green and bought more car than I could afford, and the other was for late payments due to death in the family.
So I'm getting my patio set, the grill and some lemonade, and I'm getting ready to put my feet up for a while while I watch what I already have come into full bloom. My husbands FICO is excellent and both his mom and my mom have scores over 800 - not vantage scores, the real FICO! WOW! - That's our goal one day. Of course, they've put their time in.
I am finally gardening!
Here are the cards I have
US Bank $300
Capital One $750
Capital One $1500
Victorias Secret $500
Buckle $350
Express $250
WalMart $600
Amazon $600
USAA Amex $1000
First Tech CU Visa $2000
Installment loans
2012 Hyundai Sonata $22000
I really want to hold all apps off for another two years... At that point we plan to refinance the house and I want a USAA card with a higher limit. Maybe a AMEX SPG card too. 
Yay...I love this.
I'm probably not going to bother apping for anything for quite awhile...my focus at this point is building positive payment history and dealing with the baddies. I got a decent raise at work and plan on PFD'ing a couple things.
Here's what I'm working with now:
- Household Bank...now Capital One Platinum Mastercard - $225 reported balance/$400 CL
- Capital One "Partially" Secured Platinum Mastercard - $91 reported balance/$300 CL
- 4 inquires, 2 from Feb (when I got the Household Bank card and attempted to apply for the "pre-selected" Orchard Bank card, and 2 from a Capital One denial in February and Secured card approval in March)
I was tempted to apply for a second Capital One Secured card since they softed my EQ and emailed me telling me I could get another one putting down the same deposit amount I did for the first one ($49), but I'm sure they would pull a fast one on me and HP all 3 reports again...don't want to risk it. If I could be assured of no HP, I'd get it and SD it immediately.
What I'm hoping to accomplish this month:
- Pay FPB and get the charge off removed; it's due to fall off November 2012.
- Find out what the deal is with Plains Commerce...would pay and try to GW for removal.
- Trident has failed to respond to a DV...it's been 33 days. What should I do now???
Probably the most frustrating thing is when you run out of things to do to help your credit. The last couple months were a lot of fun, getting my credit report to finally report accurately, getting rid of collections for discharged debt, finally getting a credit card again after 3 years without one. But, now there's pretty much nothing for me to do, which I find frustrating. I guess I need a hobby now.. lol
Still gardening...
Really doing nothing other than S L O W L Y paying down my revolving utilization and waiting for lots of inquiries (about 15 each on EQ/EX, and 7 on TU) to age off. Last app was in 12/11, so I've hit 5 months app-free.
I'm on-track with my gardening plans, and hope to have all my revolving debt paid off by 12/12. Then, once my reports reflect the decreased utilization in 1/13, I plan to app for a couple of Amex products (maybe do the charge card/revolver combo on the same day) for the backdating benefit (cardmember in 2006). I am also going to apply for a PenFed card that month - hopefully I will be approved and can take advantage of that 11/11 inquiry I got when I became a member.
Other than that, not a whole lot going on. I will work on continued soft CLI attempts on my GE cards, and maybe try for a CLI on my Citi Diamond Preferred - will have that one for one year in August (will only do this if a SP, though).
Oh yeah, I'm bringing the chimichangas - love those...
Starting Score: 08/29/2011 TU 671 EQ 674Current Score (myFico + Amex): April 2013 TU 754 EQ 694 EX 694
Wallet: NFCU Visa Sig 25k, Amex Lowes 22k, NavCheck 15k, Amex PRG, Amex Zync, Discover It 13.5k, Amazon Visa 5k
Silver Spade Garden Club Member: App Free since 1/1/13. No more apps til 2014
MyFICO Fitness Goal: 800s Club!
Take the myFICO Fitness Challenge
I've been in the Garden since July 2011 and I'm still going strong! I finally paid off my last credit card balance this past month, so I'm currently 100% CC debt-free for the first time in years! I'm enjoying my financial discipline. It is giving me a real sense of accomplishment. No CLIs this month, which kind of surprises me because I've had my Discover More for 9 months now and they increased my CL at 3 and 6 months, so I was expecting a little something. Ah, well.
I have to decide what to do about my BBRZ MC. The AF is coming due in June and I really don't feel like paying $59, especially since I have better cards with better CLs and no AFs. I'm considering asking HSBC to change my tier or waive the AF and if they won't, I can really justify keeping the card.
My Cards:
BoA Platinum Plus 123 Cash Rewards: $2000 CL
Walmart Discover: $2000 CL
Capital One Platinum: $1800 CL
Discover More: $1700 CL
Target RedCard: $1000 CL
BBRZ MC: $900 CL
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