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fellow fico addicts:
i'm in the 660s overall, with my eye on being in good financial shape in general within the next 5 years. i have ONE CC...after years of avoiding credit altogether because of horrible baddies, MBNA closed my (paid, not delinquent account) in 2004, and i just signed off the credit world.
i'm back to planet reality, now that i'm a single mom, and i know i need to be in good FICO shape to avoid having doors slammed in my and my baby's face long term. so, i'm rebuilding. i got a cap one with a $300 CL in april. it's now up to $500. i pay it in full, and keep util low, blah blah. it's enough credit to buy a pack of gum every month---not hard to manage.
i know i need more credit (and a mix of creditors), but the credit market is in horrible shape---it's no time to ask for CLIs or try to open new cards if you're in subprime condition, as i am.
what to do? i don't want to be dealing with crappy credit in 2 years, so i'm thinking of trying to open a store card or another MC or VISA now, so it will age nicely in time. any suggestions? i know my score will take a hit now, but i'm not really worried about it, since i'm not actually trying to buy anything just now.
i just don't want to apply where i KNOW i won't be approved. i have 2 or 3 collections (1 is medical, and 2 are in dispute). i have a student loan. i have one CC, as mentioned above. i have a few paid tax liens from the state, and one from the feds that's as yet not totally paid, and one civil judgement, paid.
where to apply? when? i should add, i'm not into getting cards i won't use (like crown jewelers). i'm thinking clothing or dept store card. macy's or old navy? or, another MC if i can find a bank that's likely to take me.
since B of A bought MBNA, i can't go there. i owe them money. it's the one legit chargeoff on my file.
I am moving this post to the Credit Card thread. You will get much better information there. The forum members are more up to dat on which CCC are accepting what scores.
Store CC that report cary the same weight with FICO scoring. You might also want to get a secured CC which also carries the same weight with FICO
Thanks to all who responded. I would have gone for the HSBC...but it's probably best that I stay with one MC and one store card for a while. I got a Macy's last week with a $400 CL. I mean, it's not great, but it's OK. Time will rebuild the rest. We can only do so much ourselves here.