Credit is addicting,, I know it is. But you have to think to yourself. Do I need this? Will I use this????
I hang out in the garden and let MJ and Wade64 threaten to beat me if I apply. lol.....
Sometimes just knowing can be enough. When asked at a store if I want to apply for their card, I just tell them NO, I have too many to keep up with now.
July 2013 score: EQ FICO 819, TU08 778, EX "806 lender pull 07/26/2013
Goal Score: All Scores 760+, Newest goal 800+
Take the myFICO Fitness Challenge
Current scores after adding $81K in CLs and 2 new cars since July 2013
EQ:809 TU 777 EX 790 Now it's just garden time!
June 2017 update: All scores over 820, just pure gardening now.
@Shogun wrote:Credit is addicting,, I know it is. But you have to think to yourself. Do I need this? Will I use this????
I hang out in the garden and let MJ and Wade64 threaten to beat me if I apply. lol.....
Sometimes just knowing can be enough. When asked at a store if I want to apply for their card, I just tell them NO, I have too many to keep up with now.
@ shogun, buddy only you could come up with something like that 
The way I stay in the garden is, my goal was to reach the 800 club in which I have! Now I want my AAoA to grow so when I do app I will still have my AAoA around 6 years !!! You have to set goals that you want to reach and stick to them. For me gardening is easy. Also I go into the garden club to just talk and have fun ( got to pick on cold ) and I don't even think of aping. Good luck to you 
@blondy250 wrote:Basically I have all the credit I need. I'm on the opt out list so I dont get many offers. It's sort of addicting to see how long you can go without any inquires for me as well.
Great point blondy my other goal is to get the Diamond Spade! Congrats on your Diamond spade
I am on my way there too!!! OP set you some goals , it will help you
I think it helps that I don't see credit cards as status symbols but a means to an end. I need the ability to get car loans and buy a house. Credit cards allow me to show future creditors that I am a good steward of my credit.
I also have a bit of fear of credit cards. My parents have declared bankrupcy twice and still have issues with debt. I made some mistakes while I was in college that took me a long time to recover from. I have a lot more rejections than approvals in my past. Each approval is still a surprise to me and comes with the fear that I will make the same mistakes my parents made.
I've seen to fall into the habit of doing a yearly "planting" and gardening for the rest of the year. Keeps my inquries in line and allows me to plan better for big purchases. After this year's planting, I will probably be in the garden for a good long while, at least a year or two. My next step will be a house! 
@stlsme wrote:I let the last offer exprire from USAA 6 days ago. For two months every time I logged in (you have to go to the my offers tab if your a member of this site cmon) I didn't hit the apply button for the World Mastercard. I will admit it was pretty hard not to do it. I have an auto loan pre-approval in there that expires next month that I am going to take. I logged into the site today to look at cars through the car buying service and low and behold...... The Mastercard offer is back...... I don't want anymore cards just to have cards but they gave me a 7k amex in Nov. I want to wait until Oct to get two more cards which will be the Arrival and Costco Amex. Finally I have my credit back on a solid surface and want to move forward but this is hard...........
I figure anytime you are gardening, you just need to avoid any manure that others have spread in your path.
