Credit newbie advice!!

[Anonymous]

Just looking for advice. Im new to credit after years of honestly being ignorant and not thinking it mattered much . Silly me. But fast forward.

 ive had my secured platinum from cap1 for 5 months ($200 limit) thats paid in full twice a month, overstock store card ($250 limit) and $13,000 still of student loan debt

I keep getting offers for credit one but ive been ignoring them. I received an offer recently for merrick for their double line visa. Limit of $900 then doubles but the apr is around 24% Says no af or set up fees etc. Seems good but ive read soooo many mixed reviews.  Is it worth it? Just to use for netflix or something?

also ive suddenly got pre-qual offers on amex site but that seems like a cruel joke (tu score is only 596) so im scared to try that. I dont get pre-quals anywhere else.

Im leaning towards waiting another month for cap1 to hit 6 month mark. My goal is to buy a house within the next 2-3yrs. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks 😊

[Anonymous]

What is your EX score? Amex uses EX, they’ve seemed to lower their expectations but 590’s might be a bit too low just yet. If I were you I’d let things keep aging and let your scores increase some more before applying for anything else. That way you’ll qualify more better cards in the near future.

[Anonymous]

Im not sure of my ex score. I tried to get my credit reports but they wanted me to call them and i just haven't had time with work. I use the discover site for the FAKO score and that says 642

[Anonymous]

If it is discover’s Scorecard then that one is a FICO score for EX. Statements with discover are TU FICO’s. I think you have a pretty good chance for AMEX, but a few more months might solidify that a little more with a better starting limit.

[Anonymous]

If i tried the amex would the inquiry hurt that much? I was going to go for the quicksilver when my 6 month hit and i don't want to risk too much. I also dont want to turn down a potential amex lol being patient was never this hard 😊

[Anonymous]

In my experience an inquiry is about 2-3 points each. I’m in the minority but I like to keep my inquires to 1 or 2 a credit bureau. They aren’t really all that bad, but I just don’t like them on my reports lol.

When I got my AMEX I was around 620 something and got the 1,000 starting limit. And I was denied the 3x CLI at 61 days. If you get approved there’s a good chance it will take longer to grow (like me). Some with lower scores seem to get something like the credit steps with Cap 1 with a 500 starting limit.

I definitely understand the impatience!!

[Anonymous]

Inquiries do not seem to do too much as far as far as killing a score from my experience. 

I too have been trying to fix my credit scores, I was pretty ignorant of the way things worked with it, so did a lot of research this past year. You seem to be getting the hang of it, making purchases and paying off in full. You want some utilization to show each month. I set up the schedule for 1 bill to show on my statement each month, then after the statement closes all the other bills hit and I PIF by due date. 

As for the AMEX, if they are sending you offers, you may have a shot at getting one. Even if it starts lower on the SL, it at least gets that "relationship" started and you can grow it over time with request for CLIs, especially if you can show that you use them a lot and can pay them. Just remember that AMEX reports about 2 months behind to CRAs.

If you are worried about the interest rates, the thing to remember is if you PIF by the due date there is no interest to pay. I have switched over to using nothing but my credit cards. All bills possible are set to be paid on a credit card and I just pay the card from my bank account, because really what difference does it make if it comes out of the same bank accounts in the end. Same with my groceries and gas for my car. I would have bought it anyway, but now my credit cards get the charges and are PIF each month, and they boost my scores and give me CLIs, plus I got the cash cards so I get points and cash back for each of my purchases, so that is a nice boost.

Congrats on taking the steps forward to improve your credit!

[Anonymous]

I did it, i but the bullet and applied. I was approved!!! Small limit but now i feel even better about sitting back and gardening for awhile

[Tim_S]

Congrats on the approval!!!  We've all been in each others shoes at one time or another and I know how good it feels to get approved!  Enjoy and welcome to the Amex family!!

[Anonymous]

Congrats on the approval. My goal is to get an AMEX and hopefully get one with a SL that I can use for everyday purchases and bills.

Can you share your score at the time of approval if they provided that info and what bureau?