Should I be gardening at this point?

[NJ_Patriot]

So I just recently added a Barclaycard Rewards MC to my small list of CC's. I have a very OLD Littman Jewelers CC (That's essentially just not used at all), a Cap1 Secure Card and now this. Should I now sit in the garden for a few months? I'm working on rebuilding my credit and within the last 2 years (including this new barclaycard) would have 4 NEW accounts reported. Just looking on tips on whether I should sit back and wisely use my cards to allow some growth on my AAoA or should I be trying to add another card? Even if it's a retail card.. Any advice for a newbie?

[Anonymous]

Gardening is never a bad idea....especially with a lender like Barclay who likes to be your "one and only" (even when they know they aren't).  

But I might do a little switching before then, if it was me.

Your Capital One, unfortunately, will not grow much, if at all.  Typically a Capital One secured gets one CLI in its lifetime.  So I'd probably try to see if I could get an unsecured from them, one of their rebuilder cards, and close the secured one.  Then get into the garden with the two unsecured cards and work with them to build a payment history and hopefully larger credit limits for a year or so before trying to get anything else.  Not that you couldn't get more, just that best practice is to only ever take what you need, and you won't need anything else for a whle.

[MrsCHX]

Unless you have a ton of other bad stuff, you should definitely be able to get an unsecured card.

Do the capital one prequalify tool...

ONLY apply for a store card if it's a store you frequently shop -AND- it has rewards/discounts that mean something to you. (e.g. for me I live and work within 10 minutes of a total of 7 Target stores. I always shop there, my Target card and 5% discount makes sense for me)

[NJ_Patriot]

Thank you both for your feedback! I have a lot of inquiries right now too (27 on transunion, I know, insane lol I went app crazy back late last year.) A lot will be removed between Jan. and Feb. of 2017. I also recently applied for a Discover IT and was Denied by them on July 1st. Sorry to leave these details out. Am at work lol I def. would like a 2nd unsecured card but I have really bad history with Cap1 (Going back to 2006). The typical 20 year old running around maxxing out cards wrecklessly and not knowing or understanding the importance of credit at the time. So with these new details, would your recommendation change or stay the same?

[RonM21]

After you mentioned the inquiries, I think I would say garden a bit. At least until they age. The Discover denial is a potential sign that the inquiries may hurt any potential application. For that reason, I'd garden and grow for a while imho.

[NJ_Patriot]

That's why I wasn't sure about gardening yet. So maybe I'll garden for say...6 months or so?

[Anonymous]

I'd say that's a safe bet.  No applications for you unless the date is x/x/2017...

It gets addictive to try and get new accounts every time you think your profile supports it, but really the best way to grow long-term,  healthy credit is time and pacing.

You've got some new accounts now, so they need to have birthdays before you go looking again.  And as you wait, you can push lots of purchasing and bill paying through the Barclay card, and encourage growth there.  Usage and payment are the ways to get CLIs, and it's not like you're going to double your spending in a month just because you have another card in your wallet... at least, hopefully not.  So push it all through  Barclay and just hang on for a while.

[NJ_Patriot]

Yea I'm def. going to push certain items over to Barclay now! I can certainly run my EZ Pass payments to it and pay it off, every single time.

[Anonymous]

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@NJ_Patriot wrote:

Thank you both for your feedback! I have a lot of inquiries right now too (27 on transunion, I know, insane lol I went app crazy back late last year.) A lot will be removed between Jan. and Feb. of 2017. I also recently applied for a Discover IT and was Denied by them on July 1st. Sorry to leave these details out. Am at work lol I def. would like a 2nd unsecured card but I have really bad history with Cap1 (Going back to 2006). The typical 20 year old running around maxxing out cards wrecklessly and not knowing or understanding the importance of credit at the time. So with these new details, would your recommendation change or stay the same?

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Yes, apply for Cap One unsecured. They are one lender that does not hold a grudge. As long as you do not have a recent charge off with them, less than 12 months old, you should be approved. 

[NJ_Patriot]

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@Anonymous wrote:

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@NJ_Patriot wrote:

Thank you both for your feedback! I have a lot of inquiries right now too (27 on transunion, I know, insane lol I went app crazy back late last year.) A lot will be removed between Jan. and Feb. of 2017. I also recently applied for a Discover IT and was Denied by them on July 1st. Sorry to leave these details out. Am at work lol I def. would like a 2nd unsecured card but I have really bad history with Cap1 (Going back to 2006). The typical 20 year old running around maxxing out cards wrecklessly and not knowing or understanding the importance of credit at the time. So with these new details, would your recommendation change or stay the same?

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Yes, apply for Cap One unsecured. They are one lender that does not hold a grudge. As long as you do not have a recent charge off with them, less than 12 months old, you should be approved. 

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So If I get approved for the unsecured card, what should I do about my secured card? Close it? (it's 8 months old) My previous charge off for Cap1 was back from 2010

***Update - Was just approved for a $500 CL on a Cap1 QS1 Mastercard ****