Rebuilding and using CC's the right way

Anonymous · ‎05-17-2017

Hi all - This is my first post, but I have read lots of useful info here on the boards. In November 2015 our BK was discharged. We reaffirmed our mortgage and kept the lease on our vehicle. I have spoken with both companies multiple times and they no longer report positive or negative info to the CRA's. So those two things aren't helping the rebuild at all. I tried for pre approvals a couple months after the discharge and there were no offers except for Credit One, which I put on the back burner. In September 2016 I applied for the Discover It after the pre qualify said I should. Denied - the letter stated lien on record (state lien which I'm in a payment plan for and will be paid off by this October - YAY). I was discouraged and just gave up for a while. Then last week I checked credit karma (I know they aren't the real scores) and both mine and the hubbys scores dropped 50 points each. The research I found suggested that is was possibly because we hadn't established any new lines of credit since the BK. I started freaking out thinking I would have to accept the Credit One offers that kept coming in the mail. This Monday I checked the Capital One pre-qual site again thinking there wont be any since we burned them in the BK. To my surprise both of us had pre-quals for the Capital One Platinum cards and then it said "you may also like this" and it was the quicksilver one. We were both approved for the platinum, me 2K and the hubby 1K (which he doesn't understand since were in the same boat. Maybe it's the student loan on my report which is still deferred since I'm in school). We were declined for quicksilver one (waiting on the letter to see the reason), but thats ok these card will give us a great starting point to move forward. Also our lease is up January 2018 and whatever we do at that point will be a new installment loan to help out.

If anyone is still reading... lol... I have read different ways to use the cards to repair my score and improve the credit lines, but I'm still so unsure... do I always spend less than 30% of the limit and pay in full each month or do I use the card for everything and pay before the statement. I want to maximize my returns and finally be smart about this.

I havent paid for the real fico scores, but this is what I do have:

ME: Discover scorecard Experien 580, Credit Karma Equifax 556, Credit Karma Transunion 577

HUBBY: Discover scorecard Experien 573, Credit Karma Equifax 566, Credit Karma Transunion 590

Thanks for reading and all the great advice I always read on here.

rmduhon · ‎05-17-2017

You can use the card as much as you want to (without going over the limit of course) just pay it down to less than 30% before the statement date (don't forget to make at least the minimum amount due before the due date), less than 9% is preferable. You got denied for the second card because you have to wait 6 months in between opening accounts with Cap1.

rmduhon · ‎05-17-2017

And the Discover Scorecard is a true FICO score. You can call/chat with Cap1 to find out your due date or statement date. Cap1 statement dates are normally 3 days after the due date.

Anonymous · ‎05-17-2017

Ok good to know. I saw a lot of posts about people being approved for two capital one's back to back the same day so I thought it was worth a shot (maybe those were old posts and the rules changed), but thank you for the response. I never got a email confirmation from capital one, but I read thats not completely unusual. It wanted me to set my account yup right away, but then it went to a page saying "this feature is unavailable at this time, try again later" - 3 days later its still not working. Not sure if the site is down or if it's just me. I'm just gonna wait for the card and go from there.

I'm so ocd and anal about doing this the right way I will probably end up creating a spread sheet to track what I charge and so I know how much money in my bank account needs to be set aside to cover the trasnaction. It's like a game now.

rmduhon · ‎05-17-2017

I use mine like a debit card. It just adds a second step. Cap1 use to let you get 2 cards with one set of pulls but they changed that, I think earlier this year or late last year. I also have a dedicated bank account for paying credit cards and our truck note. It doesn't get used for anything else except an occasional small purchase (like a soda) just to keep the debit card attached to it active.

Anonymous · ‎05-17-2017

I use my credit cards STRICTLY to earn rewards (cashback) and nothing else. I charge something, pay it off in full that week. Typically I'll make 4 payments a month in full.

I don't use credit cards to extend myself beyond what I have in my checking account. As others said, it's like a debit card but with maybe a week grace period.

My goal in 2018 is to try to earn upwards of $1700 in cash back rewards. Not sure if it's possible but I'm going to try for sure!

Anonymous · ‎05-17-2017

I can see why they would do that. Why give someone two chances at once when they might mess up. Well hopefully by 6 months time I will have proven I'm on the right track, have a CLI on the platinum and be able to qualify and get a quicksilver. So it sounds like my idea of tracking the card and how to use it are on the same lines as what others do so thats great. I'm excited to improve.

Oh and ABC- thats a great goal. Eventually I will get the reward cards too. Baby steps. I'm just happy Cap One is giving me the chance so I didn't have to get a secured card or the Credit One card. Eventually I hope to have the coveted Discover It card too.

rmduhon · ‎05-17-2017

You can PC the Platinum into a QS within a very short time, sometimes before you've had it a month. Just periodically call/chat and ask if you have any offers available. That'll add rewards to the account with having an annual fee.

Anonymous · ‎05-17-2017

Yes I do plan on product changing when I can so I can start on the rewards track. Thanks

Anonymous · ‎05-17-2017

@rmduhon wrote:
You can PC the Platinum into a QS within a very short time, sometimes before you've had it a month. Just periodically call/chat and ask if you have any offers available. That'll add rewards to the account with having an annual fee.

People have known to get approved for another Capital One within 3 months of having a Secured. Unless something has changed you can get another card within 3 months.