June Credit AMA [Ask Me Anything] live with user @CreditAddict - Part One.

[Anonymous]

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@CreditUnionFan wrote:

Wow, that's a really long list. Is managing that many cards a job in itself?

I passed 70 open cards recently and it's becoming more of a challenge to stay on top of them, remember which card to use at which time, etc.

On the bright side, I recently misplaced a couple of credit cards and was like "well, I have another one I can use"

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@CUF,

That is alot. Do you plan on closing any soon?

[Creditaddict]

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@Anonymous wrote:

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@Creditaddict wrote:

Mostly updated: I tried to go over it real quick but not sure if im missing a couple.

Credit Card	Banks	Opened	Limit
Navy Federal Cash (AU)	Navy	2011	$50,000
Navy Federal Cash	Navy	2013	$25,000
Citi Double Cash (AU)	Citi	2011	$32,500
Citi AA Business (AU)	Citi	2012	$34,400
Home Depot (AU)	Citi	2014	$25,000
Fidelity Private Client American Express (AU)	Bank of America	2015	$40,000
Navy Federal NAVCheck	Navy	2014	$15,000
Navy Federal NAVCheck (Joint)	Navy	2012	$15,000
USAirways World MC (AU)	Barclay	3/25/15	$25,000
Care Credit 2 (AU)	Sync	2012	$6,000
Virgin America Sigi (AU)	Comenity	2014	$23,000
Chase Freedom (AU)	Chase	2008	$32,500
American Express Costco (AU)	American Express	2011	$14,000
Chase Marriott	Chase	2014	$18,500
Macy's American Express (Joint)	Department Stores National	2012	$25,000
Discover it (Joint)	Discover	2012	$5,250
Pottery Barn	Comenity	2014	$14,400
Barclay USAir Business (AU)	Barclay	2014	$25,000
West Elm	Comenity	2014	$12,300
Navy Federal Platinum	Navy	2014	$22,000
Navy Federal Platinum MC	Navy	10/8/14	$25,000
Lowes	Sync	2014	$17,000
Care Credit 1 (AU)	Sync	2010	$5,000
Macys Store (Joint)	Department Stores National	2012	$24,000
American Express SPG	American Express	2011	$13,400
Best Buy Store (AU)	Citi	2003	$2,900
Trek	Comenity	2014	$6,500
PayPal Credit	Comenity	2013	$2,650
Capital One Spark Cash	Capital One	2013	$2,000
Motorola	Comenity	2014	$1,700
HSN	Comenity	2014	$2,600
Burbank City Visa	Burbank City FCU	2014	$5,000
Ashley Furniture	Sync	2014	$4,500
76 Gas Card	Sync	2013	$5,000
Capital One Spark Miles	Capital One		$8,000
Bloomingdales Store	Department Stores National	2014	$14,500
Nordstrom Store	Nordstrom Bank	2014	$4,500
Gettington	WebBank	2014	$1,000
Dillards American Express	Wells Fargo	10/9/14	$1,000
Von Maur	Von Maur	2010	$800
Express Next Credit Card	Comenity	2013	$1,800
Best Buy MC	Citi	Oct-12	$5,000
Pier 1 Imports	Comenity	2014	$5,250
J.Crew	Comenity	2014	$9,050
Amazon Store Card	Sync	2014	$6,000
Neiman Marcus	Caspital One	11/5/14	$700
Banana Republic Visa	Sync	11/28/14	$8,000
Ebates Visa	Sync	1/6/15	$15,000
Equality Project Business Visa (AU)	First Bank	03/019/2015	$10,000
Crate & Barrel	Comenity	4/7/15	$7,000
Restoration Hardware	Comenity	4/7/15	$10,600
American Express Simply Cash (AU)	American Express		$3,000
American Airlines (AU)	Citi	4/1/15	$13,000
USBANK Business Charge (AU)	US BANK	4/1/15	$10,000
USBANK Business Cash (AU)	US BANK	4/1/15	$18,000
Marriott Business (AU)	Chase	4/1/15	$5,000
Eddie Bauer	Comenity	4/9/15	$900
Z Gallerie	Comenity	4/21/15	$8,000
Ritz Carlton	Chase	4/22/15	$30,000
BBVA Compass NBA Amex (AU)	BBVA Compass	Apr-15	$30,000
USBank Cash+ (Joint)	US Bank	May-15	$5,000
Brooks Brothers	Citi	May 5 2015	$2,000
CareCredit	Sync	5/16/15	$9,000
Overstock	Comenity	5/18/15	$6,000
Cabela's Visa	World's Foremost Bank	5/28/15	$4,000
Osh Commercial Account	Sync?	5/27/15	$4,000
American Express Plum for	American Express	6/8/15	No Pre-Set
American Express Blue	American Express	6/8/15	$4,000
Mobile	Citi	6/17/15	$1,500
Carsons (Bon Ton)	Comenity	6/25/15	$30,000
British Airways Visa (AU)	Chase	7/1/15	$10,000
76 Gas Commercial	Sync	7/1/15	$2,000
Amazon Revolving Commercial	Sync	8/1/15	$10,000
Lowes Commercial	Sync	8/1/15	$2,000
Sams Business (no pg)	Sync	8/1/15	$5,000
Equality Business	First Bank	10/1/15	$10,000
Wayfair	Comenity	10/15/15	$5,700
Frontgate	Comenity	1/25/16	$5,500
United	Chase	1/25/16	$10,000
Living Spaces	Synchrony Financial	2/18/16	$2,500
Walmart MasterCard	Synch	2/18/16	$6,000
Penfed Secured	Penfed	2/1/16	$500
Penfed Thrifty Checking Credit Line	Penfed	2/1/16	$500
Sams Store Card	Sync	3/1/16	$7,000
Marvel MC	Sync	4/20/16	$6,000
Blispay			$5,000

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Wow... What a time to be alive to see such a list.  How many do you use in a month?  Have some been dormant for years?  Do you try to utilize the rewards on each?

If so, isn't it a daunting task to do so?

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When I first opened the Comenity cards, They were some of my first in my latest rebuild... it was a little daunting using them each month when you are actually trying not to spend any money... I mastered going to West Elm and buying a jar of Pickles of the clearance rack for $1.49 and let the bill come and pay it and then get 4 CLI and rinse and repeat!

Before I got stuck on my Marriott and Ritz Cards and being Platinum I did rotate through my store cards a LOT MORE and before the ebates card... but that sort of cleared up a lot of my other store cards being needed ( I closed Ebay MC, and a few others because of that)

I have gotten to love simplistic a lot more... I love my Ritz (Metal, people talk about it, and my Platinum status has been amazing) but Costco Visa is taking #1 on Monday!!! it hits our biggest expenses (FOOD!) Now just trying to decide if Ritz will take the "everything else category" or something that actually earns 2% (Fidelity or Citi DC) or maybe Freedom Unlimited because of the transfer.

[Creditaddict]

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@Broke_Triathlete wrote:

Do you have an aspiration to have more card than that one guy that has like 1,400 cards or something astronomical like that?

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I'm always a tad irritated that they count cards for stores that don't exist... they can't be active if the store isn't around... or the card he has for a bar!

But in the end, he is only at like 1.3 million over all those cards and I'm at like $800+ with under 100 cards... so that makes me feel better

[Creditaddict]

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@CreditUnionFan wrote:

Wow, that's a really long list. Is managing that many cards a job in itself?

I passed 70 open cards recently and it's becoming more of a challenge to stay on top of them, remember which card to use at which time, etc.

On the bright side, I recently misplaced a couple of credit cards and was like "well, I have another one I can use"

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yeah that's why I really just went to the 2 cards at a time in the wallet and if I know I'm going to the outlets or something I take Neiman Marcus, Banana Republic and Jcrew with me for that day but otherwise I don't skip around anymore and I never do the categories on Freedom or Discover and now we PC freedom to freedom unlimited.

That is to much for me now.

[Anonymous]

With so many cards, what is your AAoA if you don't mind me asking?

[CreditUnionFan]

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@Anonymous wrote:

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@CreditUnionFan wrote:

Wow, that's a really long list. Is managing that many cards a job in itself?

I passed 70 open cards recently and it's becoming more of a challenge to stay on top of them, remember which card to use at which time, etc.

On the bright side, I recently misplaced a couple of credit cards and was like "well, I have another one I can use"

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@CUF,

That is alot. Do you plan on closing any soon?

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There are some that I've been thinking about closing...  I get torn about the affect to the AAoA since some of the cards I'd like to close are 13 or more years old. 

CA - What would you do if you had a 13-year-old account? If it had a long history and no annual fee, would you use it a few times a year just for the AAoA?

[Anonymous]

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@Creditaddict wrote:

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@Anonymous wrote:

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@Creditaddict wrote:

Mostly updated: I tried to go over it real quick but not sure if im missing a couple.

Credit Card	Banks	Opened	Limit
Navy Federal Cash (AU)	Navy	2011	$50,000
Navy Federal Cash	Navy	2013	$25,000
Citi Double Cash (AU)	Citi	2011	$32,500
Citi AA Business (AU)	Citi	2012	$34,400
Home Depot (AU)	Citi	2014	$25,000
Fidelity Private Client American Express (AU)	Bank of America	2015	$40,000
Navy Federal NAVCheck	Navy	2014	$15,000
Navy Federal NAVCheck (Joint)	Navy	2012	$15,000
USAirways World MC (AU)	Barclay	3/25/15	$25,000
Care Credit 2 (AU)	Sync	2012	$6,000
Virgin America Sigi (AU)	Comenity	2014	$23,000
Chase Freedom (AU)	Chase	2008	$32,500
American Express Costco (AU)	American Express	2011	$14,000
Chase Marriott	Chase	2014	$18,500
Macy's American Express (Joint)	Department Stores National	2012	$25,000
Discover it (Joint)	Discover	2012	$5,250
Pottery Barn	Comenity	2014	$14,400
Barclay USAir Business (AU)	Barclay	2014	$25,000
West Elm	Comenity	2014	$12,300
Navy Federal Platinum	Navy	2014	$22,000
Navy Federal Platinum MC	Navy	10/8/14	$25,000
Lowes	Sync	2014	$17,000
Care Credit 1 (AU)	Sync	2010	$5,000
Macys Store (Joint)	Department Stores National	2012	$24,000
American Express SPG	American Express	2011	$13,400
Best Buy Store (AU)	Citi	2003	$2,900
Trek	Comenity	2014	$6,500
PayPal Credit	Comenity	2013	$2,650
Capital One Spark Cash	Capital One	2013	$2,000
Motorola	Comenity	2014	$1,700
HSN	Comenity	2014	$2,600
Burbank City Visa	Burbank City FCU	2014	$5,000
Ashley Furniture	Sync	2014	$4,500
76 Gas Card	Sync	2013	$5,000
Capital One Spark Miles	Capital One		$8,000
Bloomingdales Store	Department Stores National	2014	$14,500
Nordstrom Store	Nordstrom Bank	2014	$4,500
Gettington	WebBank	2014	$1,000
Dillards American Express	Wells Fargo	10/9/14	$1,000
Von Maur	Von Maur	2010	$800
Express Next Credit Card	Comenity	2013	$1,800
Best Buy MC	Citi	Oct-12	$5,000
Pier 1 Imports	Comenity	2014	$5,250
J.Crew	Comenity	2014	$9,050
Amazon Store Card	Sync	2014	$6,000
Neiman Marcus	Caspital One	11/5/14	$700
Banana Republic Visa	Sync	11/28/14	$8,000
Ebates Visa	Sync	1/6/15	$15,000
Equality Project Business Visa (AU)	First Bank	03/019/2015	$10,000
Crate & Barrel	Comenity	4/7/15	$7,000
Restoration Hardware	Comenity	4/7/15	$10,600
American Express Simply Cash (AU)	American Express		$3,000
American Airlines (AU)	Citi	4/1/15	$13,000
USBANK Business Charge (AU)	US BANK	4/1/15	$10,000
USBANK Business Cash (AU)	US BANK	4/1/15	$18,000
Marriott Business (AU)	Chase	4/1/15	$5,000
Eddie Bauer	Comenity	4/9/15	$900
Z Gallerie	Comenity	4/21/15	$8,000
Ritz Carlton	Chase	4/22/15	$30,000
BBVA Compass NBA Amex (AU)	BBVA Compass	Apr-15	$30,000
USBank Cash+ (Joint)	US Bank	May-15	$5,000
Brooks Brothers	Citi	May 5 2015	$2,000
CareCredit	Sync	5/16/15	$9,000
Overstock	Comenity	5/18/15	$6,000
Cabela's Visa	World's Foremost Bank	5/28/15	$4,000
Osh Commercial Account	Sync?	5/27/15	$4,000
American Express Plum for	American Express	6/8/15	No Pre-Set
American Express Blue	American Express	6/8/15	$4,000
Mobile	Citi	6/17/15	$1,500
Carsons (Bon Ton)	Comenity	6/25/15	$30,000
British Airways Visa (AU)	Chase	7/1/15	$10,000
76 Gas Commercial	Sync	7/1/15	$2,000
Amazon Revolving Commercial	Sync	8/1/15	$10,000
Lowes Commercial	Sync	8/1/15	$2,000
Sams Business (no pg)	Sync	8/1/15	$5,000
Equality Business	First Bank	10/1/15	$10,000
Wayfair	Comenity	10/15/15	$5,700
Frontgate	Comenity	1/25/16	$5,500
United	Chase	1/25/16	$10,000
Living Spaces	Synchrony Financial	2/18/16	$2,500
Walmart MasterCard	Synch	2/18/16	$6,000
Penfed Secured	Penfed	2/1/16	$500
Penfed Thrifty Checking Credit Line	Penfed	2/1/16	$500
Sams Store Card	Sync	3/1/16	$7,000
Marvel MC	Sync	4/20/16	$6,000
Blispay			$5,000

---

Wow... What a time to be alive to see such a list.  How many do you use in a month?  Have some been dormant for years?  Do you try to utilize the rewards on each?

If so, isn't it a daunting task to do so?

---

When I first opened the Comenity cards, They were some of my first in my latest rebuild... it was a little daunting using them each month when you are actually trying not to spend any money... I mastered going to West Elm and buying a jar of Pickles of the clearance rack for $1.49 and let the bill come and pay it and then get 4 CLI and rinse and repeat!

Before I got stuck on my Marriott and Ritz Cards and being Platinum I did rotate through my store cards a LOT MORE and before the ebates card... but that sort of cleared up a lot of my other store cards being needed ( I closed Ebay MC, and a few others because of that)

I have gotten to love simplistic a lot more... I love my Ritz (Metal, people talk about it, and my Platinum status has been amazing) but Costco Visa is taking #1 on Monday!!! it hits our biggest expenses (FOOD!) Now just trying to decide if Ritz will take the "everything else category" or something that actually earns 2% (Fidelity or Citi DC) or maybe Freedom Unlimited because of the transfer.

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Wow.. You seem to have a good strategy down. Good for you!

[CreditUnionFan]

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@Creditaddict wrote:

yeah that's why I really just went to the 2 cards at a time in the wallet and if I know I'm going to the outlets or something I take Neiman Marcus, Banana Republic and Jcrew with me for that day but otherwise I don't skip around anymore and I never do the categories on Freedom or Discover and now we PC freedom to freedom unlimited.

That is to much for me now.

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Ah, did you hear - Freedom is offering 5% on warehouses for the entire rest of the year!

Of course if your Costco sells wine, that $1500 per quarter would go really quickly. 

[Anonymous]

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@CreditUnionFan wrote:

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@Anonymous wrote:

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@CreditUnionFan wrote:

Wow, that's a really long list. Is managing that many cards a job in itself?

I passed 70 open cards recently and it's becoming more of a challenge to stay on top of them, remember which card to use at which time, etc.

On the bright side, I recently misplaced a couple of credit cards and was like "well, I have another one I can use"

---

@CUF,

That is alot. Do you plan on closing any soon?

---

There are some that I've been thinking about closing...  I get torn about the affect to the AAoA since some of the cards I'd like to close are 13 or more years old. 

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@CUF,

Understandable.. But do you know that the closed accounts still remain on your file for the next ten years and still used in calculating your AAoA?  That should give some consolation incase you decide to move forward.

[Creditaddict]

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@Ghoshida wrote:

Hi CA!

Glad that you could answer all the queries! Users on this board can't thank you enough for all the tips, especially related to recons. I personally thank you for the EQ contact. I share the pain of EQ troubles.

Happy to see one more board member joining the freeze team!

Congrats on the laundromat!

What I want to know :

(1) Did you at some point pick aggressive credit adding as a serious building strategy? I guess one philosophy is to add a lot of cards when building / rebuilding so that they age together!

(2) We know you're great at recons. But did any particular recon call make you pause / regret your pace of adding credit? If yes, how did you tackle it going forward?

(3) I read about your $1m credit goal. Any concurrent FICO goals?

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1. I have always been extreme and aggressive but in the beginning I was so fresh from fishing everything again I took what I could and figured I would groom later and I quickly found that worked well for me.

2. Barclay recons have always been a thorn in my side... they almost seem like programmed robots sometimes about how particular they are about your inquiries and new accounts and one day I got this guy and he just didn't even ask about the inquiries and he almost asked because he had to about the new accounts and my response is always pretty standard... "You offer me a discount, I'm going to open a credit card, but if you notice they are all paid off... and for probably 6 months I really pushed... guess who just got back from 9 days in Costa Rica and we Flew for free and stayed 8 of those 9 nights in a suite for free! tell me you wouldn't open some credit cards for that too!"

and it really did work a lot of times but this guy with Barclay was the one and only and he just saw the bigger picture and looked on the outside of the box that they seem so programmed for and that's when you see a better credit picture for me and my extreme side than in the box!

2a. new accounts age pretty quickly but inquiries don't go away but for a while I actually started getting hit down on new accounts for 1-2 years vs before it was always 1-3 or 1-6 months they were concerned about and then I just felt like they had already made a choice and they were just providing reasons for their choice and sometimes it felt more personal than credit... the banks that still allow credit analysts to make full decisions are the ones you have to find what the personal opinion is and try to work off that opinion... some you will NEVER CHANGE! (those are when you see me rant! but at the end of the day, I rant and then move on... I don't live my life by it)

3. No, I mean sure I would love to see an 800... but my partner has been in the 780-810 range for the last year+ since paying off debt and while sometimes he can get higher limits, he has more issues with a shorter file length then I do and sometimes I end up with better results with a much lower score.

Fifth Third is a great example: He was approved $5k with a low 10.99 after the year.

I was approved $9500 but at a 18% rate after the year.

Chase had approved me for up to 6 cards at one point before I consolidated.

Chase made him move limit from his Freedom to open his 2nd personal card

but my 6 cards were only like $10k more limit than his 1 card so it's all in how you look at it and what you want more I guess!

but score doesn't play all that much into it so often but it's almost the only thing people think they understand about credit.

People find out i love credit and help people fix credit and they say, What's your score? When I say 710, they usually go... OH, hmmm (they don't know where to go because they think that's not that great and how you going to help me when you can't even have an 820 score!)