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@Anonymous wrote:
@Broke_Triathlete wrote:SRE - What is a calming piece of advice for someone that is wanting instant results in the credit world?
@this is a very good question @Anonymous. Hope all is well with your fam..
Thank you YIM. Yes, he's doing well. Thanks for asking! I hope you're doing well!
@Anonymous wrote:1. 154 pointsin 2 years is a pretty great increase! How much time do you spend managing utilization, or other tweaks to optimize your score?
2. At what point in your rebuild did things start to smooth over and become less reactive to new accounts, inquiries, and mild util changes?
3. I had no idea you rebuilt after a BK. That is such great progress. I know that you are gardening as of 8/29/16, but what is next on your horizon? Are you shooting for 800+? Or are you waiting for anything in particular?
4. Is there anything missing from your profile now as far as cc's go, if you could have it with no repercussions, what would it be?
1. UTIL is much easier to manage once your CLs grow, so I don't put much effort into overal UTIL or even by card now. The highest UTIL on a single card now is 20% (BBR #1) and overall is ~3%. My main issue now is making sure I have enough zero balances.
2. TBH, your scores are still as affected at just about any level. However, going up/down 7 pts when you're at 640 is a different experience than when you're at 770.
3. Thank you! I don't have any specific credit goals at the moment, other than to keep all scores over 760. Joining the 800 club on all three major CRs would be nice.
4. Chase. I have no Chase cards (thanks, 5/24!). Maybe a Freedom could work well in my portfolio.
@SunriseEarth wrote:Hello everyone!
To tell you a bit about myself, I am in my mid-30s and live in Southern California. I went through a Ch 7 BK in 2004, due to tons of mistakes with CCs. I didn't really learn after that and had two COs post BK. I finally started a rebuild in 2013, which is how I came to this site. I found this site in my quest to learn more about credit, as I had just had success with a JCP CLI at that time...and I wanted to have that experience again!
You are doing a Fantastic Job rebuilding since 2013. You have have built a very nice portfolio and score.
Which cards and lenders are in your list? I am sure you have may have a card = " Golden Ticket" that you are working on
@elim wrote:Now that you have been there and back, what is the best advice you can give me to avoid debt? I'm in the middle of a life changing move (ending a relationship and moving) and it will be expensive.
Try not to live beyond your means. However, life happens and credit can help. If you do need to flex your credit, do it at the best APR possible. Ending relationships and moving are major changes, and I've definitely been there. It's good to keep positive and hopefully that changes will lead to improvement.
@Anonymous wrote:
@SunriseEarth wrote:Hello everyone!
To tell you a bit about myself, I am in my mid-30s and live in Southern California. I went through a Ch 7 BK in 2004, due to tons of mistakes with CCs. I didn't really learn after that and had two COs post BK. I finally started a rebuild in 2013, which is how I came to this site. I found this site in my quest to learn more about credit, as I had just had success with a JCP CLI at that time...and I wanted to have that experience again!
You are doing a Fantastic Job rebuilding since 2013. You have have built a very nice portfolio and score.
Which cards and lenders are in your list? I am sure you have may have a card = " Golden Ticket" that you are working on
Thank you! Maybe I could try for the elusive JCB Marukai someday, but I'm not sure how practical that would be for my spend. I really don't have a large gen spend, especially for swipes. TBH, the last holdout on cards for me seems to be Chase. A Freedom doesn't seem like much of a "Golden Ticket," but it could come in handy.
@SunriseEarth wrote:
@Broke_Triathlete wrote:SRE - What is a calming piece of advice for someone that is wanting instant results in the credit world?
The one mantra I heard a lot when I first joined myFICO was "credit is not a race; it's a journey". And I think the adage "time heals all wounds" certainly applies to credit situations, too. Just because you can't get exactly what you want know doesn't mean that you can't get it in the future.
I think that's great advice, and that too is one of the things I learned pretty quickly here at myFICO. I still live by that mantra today regarding credit or anything worthwhile in life. Except for the cotton candy blizzard from DQ. Gotta get that right here, right now! Haha
And on the subject of Store Cards.. do you feel there is a such thing as too many in a short period of time.. esp when rebuilding/new credit... Lately iv seem many newer/younger/inexperienced folks who app for a a fistful of store cards.... Understand that a few can be helpful but what do you find is a good working number to start with?
Thanks SRE for sharing your experiences. You are another example that educating yourself on credit/finances helps heal along with time of course. Another great example of a good rebuild! Very well done.
@baller4life wrote:
Good to see you Sunrise! 😃 I know you are a fan of store cards. How do you feel about SCT cards? Do you believe one should limit those when rebuilding?
Oh, but those approvals feel so good! And that's the problem. They're addictive and you can wind up with useless credit and a battered AAoA. My advice would be to make sure that the credit you get is useful to you. I once got the VS Angel Card because I could and it was useless for me. I only used it at BBW and didn't even get rewards.