3 Secured Credit Cards or 1 Secured w/ high limit?

[Anonymous]

My current credit scores are low at the 550 range. 

I am trying to get my credit score up to 720. While I'm in the middle of removals and disputes, I want to use secure lines of credit to get good karma on my report. 

Should I keep the 1 Secured card with $1225 limit alone or should I get another 2 secure cards with $300 limits? 

[takeshi74]

Let's start with the general recommendations:

• At least 2-3 cards are suggested for scoring purposes.
• To optimize utilization allow only one balance to report (others at zero) with 10% or less utilization.

To meet either of those you'd need more than one card.

[Anonymous]

okay.. and are their any particular Banks/Creditors that give the most boost?

I just want to maximize as much as possible.

I've opened with US Bank because they Cater to Tesla Buyers. Should i find 2 other banks that do the same?

[Duke84]

I would look to Capital One and a credit union if you'd like additional secured cards. The Cap1 secured can be obtained for as low as a $49 deposit for a $200 limit and the credit union will provide a limit and you need that same amount as a deposit.

[Anonymous]

Gotcha.. I will open a capital one.. 

Also, why is only charging 10% the key to success in this. So for example.. I'm getting ready to rent a luxury car (a Tesla).. That Rental will be $697.00.. And then they will hold $500 deposit.. 

When all is said and done.. I will more than likely make a $200 payment and be well beyond the 10% threshold. Am I basically hurting my credit not paying the $697 charge down to say $70 bucks? 

[Duke84]

The thinking is that in order to maximize your FICO score, you should not charge more than 10% at any time on all of your credit. Though I'm working to get utilization down for general purposes, staying within 10% keeps balances in check and should increase your scores considerably in a short amount of time. It's also key if you're planning on making a major purchase, like buying a home.

[Anonymous]

yeah and see that's thing.. Im solely doing this to Lease a Tesla in about a year.. after i up my income by $20,000 - $30,000.

I have absolutely zero interest in ever having a mortgage. I just dont see any benefit in locking myself into 15 years or 30 years.. It's just ridiculous.

Guess im going to hurt my credit by renting this car.. ahh well.. it's not like it will be past 10% forever.. I actually only need to pay down to $122.50

[Revelate]

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@Anonymous wrote:

yeah and see that's thing.. Im solely doing this to Lease a Tesla in about a year.. after i up my income by $20,000 - $30,000.

I have absolutely zero interest in ever having a mortgage. I just dont see any benefit in locking myself into 15 years or 30 years.. It's just ridiculous.

Guess im going to hurt my credit by renting this car.. ahh well.. it's not like it will be past 10% forever.. I actually only need to pay down to $122.50

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To be blunt: if your goal is to finance that Tesla and if you are possibly missing auto loan history, why not go finance a cheap car?  Would be cheaper than renting over a year.

[Anonymous]

I've actually financed 2 vehicles in the past but because its been more than 10 years those items don't show on my credit report. 

And I'm only renting this car for 3 days, just to get a feel for her.. 

[MacMan313]

See if your prequalified for a discover card. If not, they may offer you a Secured Discover card.

Discover has the best secured card on the market, with no annual fee, and great rewards. There cards also graduate to non-secured with mature use.

At first, I thought it was best to have one high limit secured card with responsible usage, but after reading everything I should have multiple cards with smaller limits as it shows you are able to handle more than one account. I opted to load the secured discover up as it will maintain the same limit when it does in fact graduate to a non secured card.