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New to site and credit! Any advice?

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Anonymous
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New to site and credit! Any advice?

Hey! I've been checking out the forum for about the last month and I've finally decided to join!  

 

I was hoping that I can get any advice or recommendations on my financial situation. First of let me say that I am an 18 year old student that works full time. I gross about $1400 per month after taxes. I currently have an auto loan for $26,000 @ 13% interest for 72 mos w/ monthly payments of $540(Pretty bad rate but I am hoping to refinance after 6 months). I just made my first payment so I'm not sure when that will relect on my credit report. As far as revolving accounts go, I currently have: Kay Jewelers -$300 limit balance of $16.39, Capital One Platinum - $300 limit balance of $239.00, CIti Forward Student Card $500 limit balance of $460.00, Amazon Credit- $500 limit no balance, and CareCredit- $800 limit no balance. I have no late payments or anything like that, I do have a significant amount of inquiries, 7+. 

 

If anyone has any advice for me, I.e. cards I should apply for in the future, which cards should I pay off first, how to improve my credit, tips for my auto refinance etc., it would be greatly appreciated! 

 

All in all, I hope to be a valuable contribution to this site! Thanks again! 

Message 1 of 12
11 REPLIES 11
RyVision
Valued Contributor

Re: New to site and credit! Any advice?


@Anonymous wrote:

Hey! I've been checking out the forum for about the last month and I've finally decided to join!  

 

@I was hoping that I can get any advice or recommendations on my financial situation. First of let me say that I am an 18 year old student that works full time. I gross about $1400 per month after taxes. I currently have an auto loan for $26,000 @ 13% interest for 72 mos w/ monthly payments of $540(Pretty bad rate but I am hoping to refinance after 6 months). I just made my first payment so I'm not sure when that will relect on my credit report. As far as revolving accounts go, I currently have: Kay Jewelers -$300 limit balance of $16.39, Capital One Platinum - $300 limit balance of $239.00, CIti Forward Student Card $500 limit balance of $460.00, Amazon Credit- $500 limit no balance, and CareCredit- $800 limit no balance. I have no late payments or anything like that, I do have a significant amount of inquiries, 7+. 

 

If anyone has any advice for me, I.e. cards I should apply for in the future, which cards should I pay off first, how to improve my credit, tips for my auto refinance etc., it would be greatly appreciated! 

 

All in all, I hope to be a valuable contribution to this site! Thanks again! 


 

Pay down your current accounts (not the auto loan obviously), it will make it easier for you to refinance the car loan. 

 

Try to set aside money for emergencies, as much as you can (I know that's not easy, esp these days and with a car and it's gas and insurance).

 

After doing the above (and at least 6 months of car payments under your belt), check AMEX's site to see if you show up in their system (offers they might have for you or or could), you'd want Zync, easiest to get and you'll understand by reading around about it on the forum.  You should be able to check here:

https://www304.americanexpress.com/credit-card/28000?linknav=us-CCSG-ProspectNav-SpecialOffers#!view-your-special-offers


AKA 840flippedto480
Message 2 of 12
SnackTrader
Valued Contributor

Re: New to site and credit! Any advice?

You are doing well on your credit journey, but the big thing hurting you is the young age of your credit profile. I think you should hop on over to the Garden (I would link you but I am on a smartphone) and let your accounts age like the other poster mentioned. I wouldn't add anymore credit in the short term. Keep reading around this site, especially the information about how credit scoring works. It should help you understand more about why young trade lines damage your score, and the only way to fix that is by letting the accounts age (or as we call it, Gardening).

The second part of Gardening that will help you is to get out of low limit hell. You want to show creditors that you can behave using your current credit lines, and give them a reason to give you larger ones. If you continue adding accounts, it may discourage lenders from giving you credit limit increases. A credit limit increase will help get you out of low limit hell, and additionally show other lenders (when the time is right) that you are worthy of higher limits. Over time, you could end up in baller status.

For more on Gardening successes see Tinuviel's success story!

As always, make sure you pay everything on time, and if possible pay all cards in full. This will reduce your interest charges and leave more money in your pocket for the fun parts of life.

Welcome to the forums!

In My Wallet: Amex BCP (12/12) $50,000, Chase Freedom (12/12) $16,500, Cap1 Quicksilver (6/12) $14,000, Barclaycard Rewards (5/13) $10,500, Citi Prestige (4/16) $30,000

Last App: June 27, 2015
Message 3 of 12
LS2982
Mega Contributor

Re: New to site and credit! Any advice?

Welcome to the forums!!!

IMO your best option is to garden for a year and get some positive history and let those INQs age.



EQ FICO 548 3/3/16
Message 4 of 12
jsucool76
Super Contributor

Re: New to site and credit! Any advice?

+1 to the gardening. Pay off those balances and chill out with the rest of us in the Garden Thread. Which will actually be replaced by a new one tomorrow, so you've got perfect timing! Smiley Very Happy 

 

 

Message 5 of 12
TheConductor
Established Contributor

Re: New to site and credit! Any advice?

Yep...garden, garden, garden.

 

SIgn up for Upromise and/or iDine, to get some cashback rewards on the cards you already have.

 

Pay down your balances, highest APR first.

 

Start a savings account and put a little in it every month, however small. Consider getting the high-yield savings account Upromise offers, since that will increase your cashback rewards AND pays a high (for savings) interest rate.

 

After those inquiries age and those balances are paid down, go for the refinance BEFORE you app any more cards. Very important to get the best possible refi, and that will save you more in the long run than even the world's greatest rewards card.

 

After - and ONLY after - that, here are a few cards I'd recommend for you:

 

WalMart - Even if you get a toy limit like the one I have, this card is worth it for the gas discounts alone. 5 cents off per gallon regularly, but they do promotions where it's as much as 15 cents off (like I am getting right now).  Since the Wal-Mart near me has some of the lowest gas prices in town already, I am getting an excellent deal at 15 cents off of that.  Bonus: If you do electronic statements you get a free TU FICO score every month so you can monitor your credit health.

 

Amex Zync - Easiest Amex to qualify for,  it's more or less their "young adult" card.  And once you have 1 year of clean history on all those accounts you have now, you're a solid bet to get it.

 

Chase Freedom - The rewards are really only worthwhile if you pay down the balance every month - that's a truth to keep in mind about all rewards cards. The nice thing about the Freedom is it's reasonably easy to get with the short credit history of a young student, and the rewards categories are reasonably complementary to the ones you get from the Citi Forward.

Starting: EQ 622 (myFICO 7/7/12), EX 696 (TU FAKO 8/14/12), TU 621 (CK TransRisk 7/24/12), Total CL $1k on 2 TLs
Current: EQ 709 (CCT 2/4/15), EX 704 (CCT 2/4/15) , TU 702 (CCT 2/4/15), Total CL $110.3k on 14 TLs Goal: 740+ x3
My Wallet: Amex BCP $30k, Chase United Explorer $16k, Amex SPG $13.5k, Barclaycard Ring MC $12.5k, Chase CSP VS $12.2k, Discover it $10.5k, C1 Venture VS $6.5k, Chase Slate $3.5k, Amex Hilton Surpass $2k, Barclaycard Apple V $2k, Chase Freedom V $1100, BoA Cash Rewards V $500, Citi BestBuy $500
My Loans: Prosper $25k/36mo, Prosper $17k/36mo
My Business: Chase Ink VS $5k, Amex BRG NPSL (> 10k),
Message 6 of 12
Wolf3
Senior Contributor

Re: New to site and credit! Any advice?

IMO, You don't need any more CC's.  

 

The most important thing to do is to PIF all your CC by the due date.   Paying interest on credit cards is very expensive, and a dangerous credit risk.   It should only be done when necessary and for short periods.

Message 7 of 12
nuggets321
Frequent Contributor

Re: New to site and credit! Any advice?

+ 1 on the gardening...   THE MOST IMPORTANT piece of ADVICE I can give you is : Dont EVER EVER be late ! When $ gets  tight make sure you pay at least the minimum on your accounts ! Cash in aluminum cans , mow your grandmas lawn , sell your bicycle, or whatever ! Just dont be late !

TU-721 (MortgagePull) EQ- 697(MortgagePull ) EXP 693(MortgagePull) FWEB 24,2015
My Wallet : Dicover More 35,500 CL -Amex Zync NPSL -WellsFargoRewards4800 - -CapOne 3000CL -GEMBWalMart 5000CL - Zales 4000CL-Kays 2900--Macys 5000CL /SSFCU 5000CL / CitiBank Diamond Pref 15000CL - CHASE Freedom 13500CL -Lowes 10,000 CL - BBuyStoreCard 10,000CL Sears Store Card (Citi) 3000 - Firestone CFNB 1400 Toyota Financial $35,000 Auto -2200DiscountTire(GECRB) Citi TY Preferred 8100CL - Chase Slate$4000-BofA15000-ToyotaRewardsVisa$10,700 -BofA$8500 AMEX BCE 9,500
Message 8 of 12
LS2982
Mega Contributor

Re: New to site and credit! Any advice?

Totally agree on never being late, can haunt your credit for years!



EQ FICO 548 3/3/16
Message 9 of 12
gettnthere
Established Contributor

Re: New to site and credit! Any advice?


@Wolf3 wrote:

IMO, You don't need any more CC's.  

 

The most important thing to do is to PIF all your CC by the due date.   Paying interest on credit cards is very expensive, and a dangerous credit risk.   It should only be done when necessary and for short periods.


I agree with wolf, You don't need any more cards right now. You need to let those inq's age because you DEFINITELY need to get that Car loan refinanced. Right now, its eating up roughly MORE than 1/3 of your monthly income. That's way too much IMO, and in a creditors view its gonna throw off your DTI big time. With 13% on 25,000 your going to be paying a boat load in interest and not so much on the principal. AFTER the car refi, you can start looking at better cards with better rewards, interest, etc. I think you'd definitely have a much better shot at more sought after cards.



Starting Score: EQ 609, EX 633(Fako), TU 700
Current Score: EQ 699, EX 758, TU 733
Goal Score: 720 across the board
Garden Club Member-GC Challenge: App free since 10/31/12 Smiley Wink
Message 10 of 12
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