Good Credit Advice - So used to having bad credit... don't want to make a mistake

[Anonymous]

Hi All -

New to the site and wanted some advice regarding next steps:

I have suffered with 580 credit scores for many years due to a voluntary surrender of my car in 2005. I kept Macys since 1997 with no balance and 2k limit and one major card, (JetBlue converted to Delta Gold AMEX) and they closed my account once I paid down my balance two years ago when they first started doing that to everyone "at risk".

UPDATE: I reapplied for the AMEX card about a year ago and was given a Delta Platinum with a 2k limit... managed it very well. At the beginning of this year my scores shot up. EQ: 803 EX: 788 TU: 712 (still shows the balance on the car).

I bought a house about a month ago and got my mortgage through Citi... 4.87% APR they asked if I wanted to get a Citi Platinum Select card and approved me for 15k, 0% APR for 12 months. I've bought so many things for the house, I now have the balance up to 12k after paying 2k this month. Going to keep paying large chunks and stop using it

Q: With 12k/15k in use on Citi and 1k/2k in use on AMEX and 113/2500 on Macy's, with a new mortgage last month and whoops forgot to say that I went out and got a new car over the weekend financed through Acura at a great APR... I am thinking that I should get a little more cushion of available credit to really use in emergencies and to keep my score up (credit utilization down) ?????

If yes, do I:

- Apply for a CLI on my Delta Amex? Thinking of asking for 10k (would they go from 2k to 10k)

- Apply for a Discover Card???? Double Cashback!

- Apply for a Continental Chase OnePass Plus? I fly Continental often

Q2: I am going to convert my Delta Platinum AMEX (hate the 150 annual). Any recommendations?

THANKS IN ADVANCE

[Anonymous]

Def want to keep util down. requesting CLI can result in a slight point drop from the inquries.

No offence but I cant believe your scores with that high of utilization and a voluntary, but still defaulted auto loan. I'm not sure what the compensating factors are but I've got 5 years AAoA, total history 10 years, two 30 days late from 2006, and 4% util and I'm only at 742 equi...

-Leon

[Anonymous]

Please take the advice that I am about to give you!  You need to slow down and be very careful with your credit.  You have worked hard to get to the point that you are today and I cannot find a reason to ruin it.  Pay down your debt and then start the credit gardening phase where you keep extremely low balances.

TheTaxMan

[thrasher865]

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@Anonymous wrote:

Please take the advice that I am about to give you!  You need to slow down and be very careful with your credit.  You have worked hard to get to the point that you are today and I cannot find a reason to ruin it.  Pay down your debt and then start the credit gardening phase where you keep extremely low balances.

TheTaxMan

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Agreed, its not about adding more credit to reduce util.  It's about paying off debt to reduce util.  This mindset is exactly how you get in the situation where you will wind up defaulting on debt.

A brand spanking new mortgage and auto loan within the same month?  I hate to break it to you, but you probably wouldn't be approved for any credit cards anyway.  I would say you should pay down the debt you have, and stop seeking new debt for a while.  Settle into your new place.