Totally lost

[Anonymous]

I'm pretty young and very new to caring about FICO scores. I am basically trying to rebuild my credit because I ruined it before I even had a score. Before fully understanding the importance of paying bills off, I dug myself in a hole and racked up 7 medical collections. Before I knew about secured cards, I took bad advice and racked up several inquiries by being denied for store cards.

I got a $300 secured card in April '14 and have been working pretty diligently since then. I still have that secured card, but the limit has been raised to $1000. I have a CreditOne card (I know how horrible these are, but I took what I could get) at a $600 limit. Last month I got an Old Navy store card for $300. I also have a $2250 student loan. I've PIF every month on time, kept below 30% utilization, got 2 collections removed, and paid off the remaining 5.

Checked my scores on myFICO and they're in my sig. Should I be looking for new credit? One of my dings is that I only have 4 accounts. Another ding is that my AAoA is 7 months and my oldest is 14 months. Not to mention I obviously have pretty low limits. I just don't know if I should be trying to snag a better card with the better scores or if I should just stand back and let my accounts age before I go for anything else. Any advice would be appreciated. I've been working hard on bumping up my scores and would hate to see them crash due to the wrong decision.

[Anonymous]

I would suggest applying for a Capital One QS card. Go to their prequal page.

[InvincibleSummer3]

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@Anonymous wrote:

I'm pretty young and very new to caring about FICO scores. I am basically trying to rebuild my credit because I ruined it before I even had a score. Before fully understanding the importance of paying bills off, I dug myself in a hole and racked up 7 medical collections. Before I knew about secured cards, I took bad advice and racked up several inquiries by being denied for store cards.

I got a $300 secured card in April '14 and have been working pretty diligently since then. I still have that secured card, but the limit has been raised to $1000. I have a CreditOne card (I know how horrible these are, but I took what I could get) at a $600 limit. Last month I got an Old Navy store card for $300. I also have a $2250 student loan. I've PIF every month on time, kept below 30% utilization, got 2 collections removed, and paid off the remaining 5.

Checked my scores on myFICO and they're in my sig. Should I be looking for new credit? One of my dings is that I only have 4 accounts. Another ding is that my AAoA is 7 months and my oldest is 14 months. Not to mention I obviously have pretty low limits. I just don't know if I should be trying to snag a better card with the better scores or if I should just stand back and let my accounts age before I go for anything else. Any advice would be appreciated. I've been working hard on bumping up my scores and would hate to see them crash due to the wrong decision.

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Your scores aren't bad. Are you planning to apply for anything else (car, that kind of thing) or is your focus merely building a better portfolio? If it's the latter, and if it was me, I'd probably work toward A, getting that secured card unsecured if it hasn't already been and B, getting away from any cards with annual fees and/or high interest. If I recall from the stories of others, Credit One is one of these with a walloping annual fee. You could try the pre-qualifier websites and get an idea of what you might be able to get. I would think Capital One might be able to get you something better than what you have.

If possible, maybe try to move away from more store cards. There's some theories floating around this site that says they can maybe not be as great a builder as a good, all-purpose card. 

[Anonymous]

My fiance and I would like to purchase a home within the next year or two. He has great scores, but its all due to being an AU on his mother's card when he was younger. He has no other history other than some student loans he hasn't even started paying on. My understanding is we both have less than ideal history to be approved for a mortgage.

The secured card is First Bankcard through FNBO. I've heard rumors that they do not unsecure. Not sure how true this is, but I'll make a call. Does it being secured impact my score at all? Credit One has an annual fee of $75 and super ridiculous APR, but I always PIF so I've been using it as a tool for rebuilding. I'd like to be done with it before the next yearly charge comes up.

Capital One sounds like a plan. I'll check it out. It sounds like everyone's in agreement in opening up a better card? Do I shut down Credit One?

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

My fiance and I would like to purchase a home within the next year or two. He has great scores, but its all due to being an AU on his mother's card when he was younger. He has no other history other than some student loans he hasn't even started paying on. My understanding is we both have less than ideal history to be approved for a mortgage.

The secured card is First Bankcard through FNBO. I've heard rumors that they do not unsecure. Not sure how true this is, but I'll make a call. Does it being secured impact my score at all? Credit One has an annual fee of $75 and super ridiculous APR, but I always PIF so I've been using it as a tool for rebuilding. I'd like to be done with it before the next yearly charge comes up.

Capital One sounds like a plan. I'll check it out. It sounds like everyone's in agreement in opening up a better card? Do I shut down Credit One?

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Absolutely! kick those vultures to the curb.

[Pway]

You have some nice scores.  I agree with Norman, go and check out capital one pre qual

[bstone]

The pre-qual tool is nice, but don't rely too heavily on it.  My wife and I both tried a handful of times to get a pre-qual, and were always told "sorry, we have nothing for you".  I just decided to hard app and we were both approved for Cap 1 Platinum and Cap 1 QS cards, with scores in the high 500s and low 600s.  Small limits, but approved.

With your scores I'd be very surprised if you weren't approved for both cards.  If you apply for the Platinum card and are approved, apply for the QS card at the same time, very good chance you will get both.

Good luck!

[Anonymous]

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@bstone wrote:

The pre-qual tool is nice, but don't rely too heavily on it.  My wife and I both tried a handful of times to get a pre-qual, and were always told "sorry, we have nothing for you".  I just decided to hard app and we were both approved for Cap 1 Platinum and Cap 1 QS cards, with scores in the high 500s and low 600s.  Small limits, but approved.

With your scores I'd be very surprised if you weren't approved for both cards.  If you apply for the Platinum card and are approved, apply for the QS card at the same time, very good chance you will get both.

Good luck!

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Agreed. I had the same experience with wifey - Cap One prequal gave no luv, but CK recommended the QS1 card, so we apped and she was approved instantly.

[Anonymous]

I pre-qualified for both the QS1 Rewards and the Platinum. I'll probably go for it.

One more question: We're going to go through a credit check for an apartment in the next week or two. Should I wait to app until after the credit check since I'll probably drop a few points?

[Anonymous]

You have great scores.  I would definitely look into Cap One.  Maybe BofA secured or they can start you with a low limit?  They will both grow with you.