A year ago after I secured my dream job as a professor and a secure income I made the decision to clean up my credit. I was careless with my student credit cards as an undergrad and didn't have the means to clean things up on my meager grad student salary, so I had some work ahead of me. This time last year I obtained copies of my credit reports and began my journey (with the help of this forum) to repair my credit. You'll note in my sig that my scores were super low! That summer I successfully PFD and GW any lates I had, I also tracked down old debts that were no longer on my CR and paid those off as well.
Last July I was able to get a Secured CapOne card ($250 limit), and later after building rapport with my CU I obtained a CC with a CL of 2.5K from them as well. I later applied for BofA Americard Cash Rewards and was approved for $500.00. My car unexpectedly broke down and I was able to purchase my first new car. I locked in an APR of 3.9% with NMAC. That December I decided to take the risk and apply for CCs with Macy's and Dillards for holiday shopping, but successes (Macy's initial limit $600.00 and Dillards 1K). I kept util below 5% and made sure all my payments were on time. in March I asked for CLI from Dillards and Macy's and was successful (1K for Macy's and 1.5K for Dillards). In April after 6mo with my BofA card I took the hard inquiry for a CLI and was approved for 1.5K. In May CU was offering a promotion on car refi's so I also applied for that and locked in a better APR of 2.75% and brought my payments down, at that time I also asked if it would be possible to get at CLI on my CC and that was approved as well (10K).
In May I went on a App Spree and was approved for the following cards (at this time my scores were above 720 across the board):
Chase Southwest Rewards: 5K (8-10 day response, approved via backdoor number)
Amex BCE: 2K (Online Instant Approval - first time ever this happens)
Discover IT: 9K (Online Instant Approval)
Citi TY Preferred: 5K
While I know some will chastise me for taking out so much credit at one time, but I felt I needed multiple rewards cards to get the maximum return on my everyday spending. I also travel frequently and often have to wait to get reimbursed so I wanted a card that was specifically for that need and didn't bring my util up while I wait to get reimbursed. I am also having a surgery that my insurance has refused to cover, so the costs of that will be split between two of my new cards that have 0% APR for 12mos. I am indefinitely in the Garden for a year or year and a half. At that time I plan to purchase a home. My score remains in the 720s despite the multiple inquiries and new accounts. I also am very vigilant about spending and meticulously keep my util between 8 and 10%.
For those of you struggling, it takes a lot of patience and research but there are so many answers and resources on this forum. To those who are regular contributors and offer sound advice or just share their experiences, thank you. Good luck folks!
In My Wallet: AZSTCU Visa (13K) I Discover It (13K) I Home Depot (8K) I Citi TYP (6.2K) I Amex BCE (6K) I Dillard's Amex (5.5K) I BOA Cash Rewards (5K) I Chase Southwest Visa (3.25K) I Chase Freedom (3.25K) I Lowe's (2.25K) I Macy's (1.3K)
Starting Score: EX 586 EQ 551 TU 583 Current Score: EX 755 (CU PULL) EQ 803 TU 725
I got my first $5k CC with 6 tax liens on my credit...2 of them (HUGE) showing as unpaid. I now am down to 3 paid which will fall off in the next 7 months or so and I was just approved for both an AMEX BCP and a CSP. My original $5k CC is now at $25k. Oh, and I got a $30k car loan at 1.79%. 