Can I join the garden? I just discovered this site a few weeks ago and LOVE all the info you can get here, but after reading various boards, I think I'm most comfortable in the garden! I really don't need any more credit at the moment and I'm not actively rebuilding - though I'm an overachiever, so I want it to be PERFECT! By way of introduction, I realized that I needed to do something to improve my credit in Jan 2011 (wish I had found this site then...). My score was 620 - the major issue was that I hadn't used CCs in a long time. I had CCs in college and they were in good standing, but I closed them when debit cards became popular, since I was using my debit card rather than my CCs. I knew that I needed to have credit to maintain a credit history, but I had SLs and a car loan, so I figured those accounts were enough credit. I also had a few late payments on my SLs from their early days in repayment. Anyway, when I saw that score in 2011, I learned a little more about credit scoring (again, wish I had found this site then...) opened a CC account and DH added me as an AU on his CC from college, so that I would have that payment history. I didn't think that there was anything I could do about the late payments on the SLs, and I didn't know enough about credit scoring to realize that my score probably jumped quite a bit just by taking those actions. As part of a series of financial goals this year, I finally summoned my courage and checked my CR in Sept and my score was 729. Then I discovered this site and learned a LOT more about credit scoring. I had four potential negatives on my CR - one was inaccurate, so I disputed it immediately and the credit bureaus owe me an answer by Oct 13th. The other three are an odd situation. I had a private SL through Citibank and had a 30-day late payment in April 2008. Citi reported two TLs for the SL, so the late was reported on both. Then the loan was sold to Discover in 2012 - they report one TL, but they report all the data that Citi reported, including the late payment in 2008. So I'm essentially getting dinged three times for one late payment. I sent a GW letter to Discover last week, explaining the situation and asking them to remove the late payment. Hopefully they can remove it from all three TLs or can refer me to someone at Citi who can help with the two old TLs. But if I can get it removed from the Discover TL this month, I'll be happy with my progress and I'll keep sending GW letters to Citi. In terms of new credit, I read a lot on these boards and decided that I can do better than the CC I opened in 2011, so I did my research to figure out what card would best meet my needs, and ended up applying for the NFCU Flagship Rewards card. I was approved for a $25K CL, which is much more useful than the $500 CL I had on the Cap One card I opened in 2011 (I never requested a CLI on the Cap One card because I was only using it once a month and didn't carry a balance). I'm going to let the Cap One card report the $20 balance that it has on it now, then I'll pay it and close the account, since there's no reason to keep it open (better rewards on the new card and it's not an old account). So I'm joining the garden because I don't want or need any new credit for a while. I'm happy with the one CC, with DH's CC as a backup just in case. I'm going to keep working on the Citi/Discover baddies. I'll be gardening until next March or April, when it's time to turn in my leased car and get a new one. After that, I'll probably be back gardening for another year while we save for a downpayment - and the next new credit will be our first mortgage. Sound like a plan?
to the credit world!