New Member, First Steps to Gardening?

[jrmsmlbg]

Hello everyone,

Been lurking the forums the last month or so, and all I can say is I'm hooked! You guys are all great!

Anyways, I'm looking to see if there is any other advice on my first steps to gardening...

I just got apprived for the Chase Sapphire Preferred 2 weeks ago with a $5K CLI...

I recently just paid down my Total UTIL from 54% (This was the biggest reason for my score of 672, alongside multiple cards having balances) to $780 left on 1 Card (Amazon Rewards Visa)

My question is...once I finish off the last $780 on the Amazon Rewards Card, shall I go ahead and close it? This December will be it's one year, and I do not seeing myself using it no longer. About to graduate with my Bachelors degree, and will no longer need to use Amazon to purchase textbooks. 

If I close it, what's the process of moving the CLI to my CSP? And what's the best way to handle this to improve my credit score?

Any other cards you guys would recommend closing? And/or are there any other credit cards you would recommend applying for before I stay in the garden until September 2015? 

My Stats:

Age: 22

FICO Scores: 672EQ (9/8/13)

AAoA: 3 Years

4 Inquiries in the past year

UTIL at time of Last FICO Update: 54%

INCOME: ~ $30K (Working PT at Best Buy, will probably increase after graduation and find a FT job.)

In My Wallet:

Chase Sapphire Preferred Visa Signature $5K (9/13)

TrueEarnings Costco American Express $7K (8/11)

In My Sock Drawer:

BECU Credit Line $1K (5/13)

Amazon Rewards Visa $1.5K (12/12) 52% UTIL

Blue Sky American Express $5K AU (6/11)

Wells Fargo Rewards Visa $1.2K (12/10)

Nordstrom Visa Signature $6K (7/10)

Best Buy Store Card $2.4K (4/10)

US Bank FlexPerks Cash Rewards Visa $5K JOINT (3/09)

Chevron Gas Card $3K AU (7/99)

Thanks again everyone! Sorry for the long post, but any input would be greatly appreciated!

[azguy13]

Welcome to the forum!

Closing cards is a personal choice that none of us can talk you into or out of. My basic philosphy is if it does not have an AF, I will not close it. Now, there are extenuating circumstances. For example, I just closed my BB card because they would not give me a decent CL and I did not want a new TL on my report that would lover my AAoA if not backdated.

I count 8 Cards that are yours and not just an AU. If you would like new cards, you can always try and PC your current sock drawered cards to bigger and better cards. I am not sure about the CL move from one chase card to another. I know it is easily done, but I am not sure if you can transfer all the CL from one card to the other one and then close it.

Now, as you may know, even when you close accounts they are still calculated into your AAoA for 10 years. If you close multiple at the same time though, it may affect you in 10 years when you look at your report and try to figure out what happened, lol.

If you do end up closing accounts, keep in mind that sites like CK will not factor in closed accounts into your AAoA

[09Lexie]

Welcome to the forum! You have amassed a nice line up of cc's that will grow with you. If you want to move the Amazon CL just send a secure message. BB will close and a new TL with Citi should be on your CR's shortly. I am unfamiliar with BECU -is their an AF?

[jrmsmlbg]

Thanks Lexie!

I feel very welcomed. Will moving the Amazon CL to my CSP and closing that card have any negative affects to my score as I try to work my way back up out of the High 600s? 

BECU is the Boeing Employee Credit Union, opened up a Checking/Savings/Line of Credit when banks were going through the phase of wanting to charge their customers for every little product they offered. Line of Credit is really just there for emergencies if/when I ever need fast cash at a low interest rate. 

I'm still debating if I should start gardening now, or go ahead and apply for the Chase Freedom card now, and garden for the next 2 years until I look at moving out and mortgages.

The reason I'm on the fence is I keep reading about people that have the "ULTIMATE" lineup for cards to maximize points, I think I've been seeing most with the CSP,Freedom, and BCP...

Thanks again all for the input!

[azguy13]

If I would add any card to my lineup right now it would be the BCE. I would love to drop Cap1 but it would be pointless and its my oldest card. Plus, I just went through the process of PC'ing it to the quicksilver so I will keep it for awhile. As long as there is no AF I will SD it.

[mikey78]

Crap one just recently converted my card to quicksilverone with the freaking af but cap one is now the oldest card i have active

i should reconsider and reopen my bofa credit card which was opened 01/2003

but comparing bofa 10 years 500 CL 25.00 AF vs Crap one 6 years 3500 CL 39.00 AF i think.. hmmm

[azguy13]

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@mikey78 wrote:

Crap one just recently converted my card to quicksilverone with the freaking af but cap one is now the oldest card i have active

i should reconsider and reopen my bofa credit card which was opened 01/2003

but comparing bofa 10 years 500 CL 25.00 AF vs Crap one 6 years 3500 CL 39.00 AF i think.. hmmm

---

Is there any way for the bofa to get the AF removed and backdated? You can always work on the CLI at a later time but that 10 years would be nice to get back.

[mikey78]

they can't or won't backdate my card, i fought like crazy to convert my old history to my new card
the all the reps i spoke to are contradicting themselves saying yes they can do it when i go ahead to do it the next guy says i can't do it and argued

with the supervisor so she gave 4,000 CLI to 5000 to make up for it i guess lol

and the old card i don't know if they can or will give me CLI on it, i think judging my past inquiries i've seen couple of bofa inquiries last year which is probably about my old card i might've called or applied online for a CLI but always were declined

wonder if it'll require another HP to reopen and sorry they will not remove the AF

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@azguy13 wrote:

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@mikey78 wrote:

Crap one just recently converted my card to quicksilverone with the freaking af but cap one is now the oldest card i have active

i should reconsider and reopen my bofa credit card which was opened 01/2003

but comparing bofa 10 years 500 CL 25.00 AF vs Crap one 6 years 3500 CL 39.00 AF i think.. hmmm

---

Is there any way for the bofa to get the AF removed and backdated? You can always work on the CLI at a later time but that 10 years would be nice to get back.

---

[azguy13]

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@mikey78 wrote:

they can't or won't backdate my card, i fought like crazy to convert my old history to my new card
the all the reps i spoke to are contradicting themselves saying yes they can do it when i go ahead to do it the next guy says i can't do it and argued

with the supervisor so she gave 4,000 CLI to 5000 to make up for it i guess lol

and the old card i don't know if they can or will give me CLI on it, i think judging my past inquiries i've seen couple of bofa inquiries last year which is probably about my old card i might've called or applied online for a CLI but always were declined

wonder if it'll require another HP to reopen and sorry they will not remove the AF

---

@azguy13 wrote:

---

@mikey78 wrote:

Crap one just recently converted my card to quicksilverone with the freaking af but cap one is now the oldest card i have active

i should reconsider and reopen my bofa credit card which was opened 01/2003

but comparing bofa 10 years 500 CL 25.00 AF vs Crap one 6 years 3500 CL 39.00 AF i think.. hmmm

---

Is there any way for the bofa to get the AF removed and backdated? You can always work on the CLI at a later time but that 10 years would be nice to get back.

---

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I am not a fan of BofA for political reasons and would never open an account with them anyways. I do not hear much about CLIs from them on this forum though. I am surprised that their EO will not remove the AF at least. Even Cap1 will do that.

That is one of the best things about AMEX. Their backdating will be fantastic when I get back in with them.

I would assume it will be another HP to reopen an old account. Other than store cards, I haven't heard of a major lender approving for a revolver without a HP