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I'm a sophomore in college and I have what I think is a pretty solid portfolio for my age:
First Financial Bank Platinum Visa (Dec 2012) - $1,500 limit
Discover It Student (Jun 2013) - $2,100 limit
Citi Forward (Jun 2013) - $2,900 limit
Macy's American Express (Dec 2013) - $1,000 limit
American Express Blue Cash Everyday (Feb 2014) - $3,000 limit
TOTAL CL: $10,500
AAOA: 9 months
I also have student loans, all federal, that total about $12,000, that are deferred.
I also have a $200 personal line of credit through my credit union that I never use, but reports.
I have a taxable income of approximately $5,000, as well as $7,000 in parental support, gifts, and other money, for a total income of about $12,000.
I of course always pay my cards in full every month, and generally keep utilization under 10%.
The First Financial Card has been SD'd since June when I got the Discover It, and the Macy's card has been SD'd since I opened it and paid it in full.
I know that I should be gardening, and I'm quite content to do that now that I'm in with Amex. I still want to add a Mastercard to complete the portfolio, but I know that that should wait.
Of course the garden will treat me well, but is there anything else I should be doing in the short-term and long-term?
Should I use the Macy's and First Financial every once in a while to keep them active, or should I just SD them and let them close? Is it even worth bothering to apply for a Chase Freedom or Sallie Mae MC later this summer, or will I be denied because my CLs are so close to my income? Should I try to get a CLI on my personal line of credit?
You guys have been very helpful and I wouldn't be where I am now without your help and guidance. Any advice is appreciated!
I'd say go for Chase Freedom, Sallie Mae has higher requirement for excellent credit so you may want to try Barclaycard Rewards (there's an average credit version).
You just apped in Feb (there should be a score on the approval letter) and you have Discover free FICO - what's your latest FICO score?
You can use macy's and first financial once a year if you want to keep it active, think they're good for just building AAoA, prob won't get closed for inactivity anytime so but otherwise not useful in the long run.
If you get rejected for too high existing credit in relation to current income, no problem since the inquiries will go away in 2 years (after 6 months won't be "recent" anymore) and you'll have that time to garden + increase your income level. Since you apped in Feb, might as well complete that app spree!
first, try the pre-qualified for chase...
Since you have more than 6mo history. for chase i say you are good as far as approval. Though your income is low, with other credit lines exisiting, chase might give you a baby CL. AND Since you applied for amex (and 2 other cards in december), i say either app now before amex show up or wait another 6mos.
sallie mae is new account/inquiry sensitive so garden at least a year.... (last time i apped, i got approved for csp but not sallie mae... shame.. btw i am a 1st year grad student, financial situiation is similar as yours, though i have my dad use my csp to get me some points
OH, and don't worry too much about credit line being close to your income (see my CLs below).. last night i just apped for sallie, and i put only 10k as income and got approved isntantly for 3.8k
Wow! I just applied and got instantly approved for a $2,000 line at 18.99% APR!
Thank you so much for your support! Now I'm happily off to the garden!
EDIT: WOW! I just called Chase to see if the card could be shipped to my college address, and the CSR was incredibly helpful! She even rushed it for no additional fee!