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I need some advice –
I’ve been rebuilding for a while and have quite a few accounts that are open and reporting now but have fairly low limits. Some of them I plan to combine with others, and I just want to make sure that I’m heading down the right path. Below are my accounts with limits and what I plan to do with them. I'm open to any suggestions. I put what I plan to do, but I realize some of you may have better advice.
Current Stats :
FICO8 ex 624, TU 626, EQ 606
Discover It Secured - $600 – Plan to close it after the 1 year in April when the cash back match happens. I can get better rewards with other cards and wouldn't mind getting my security deposit back
USAA- Secured - $1100 – Doesn’t graduate. Will close after it has been open for 2 years (it is secured with a 2 year CD so I’m assuming I can’t close it until that 2 years is up)
Boscovs - $750 – was going to close because it only had a $250 limit. Applied for CLI today and was raised to $750. I do buy household stuff there every now and then and the coupons are decent, so I’m going to keep it until some of the better cards get higher limits
Overstock - $700 – went from $500 to $700 today. I plan on keeping this account. I actually use it somewhat regularly. Will consider closing after other cards limits go up
Fingerhut - $900- I actually have no plans for this. It just sits there. I haven’t used it in months. IF the close it for inactivity it won’t bother me
Credit One - $300 – CLOSED TODAY (They are relentless on the phone when trying to close an account
Victoria’s secret – $350 - My girlfriend uses this and says that the coupons alone make it worth it, keeping it for now
Capital One Quicksilver - $750 – This was a PC from Platinum – Keeping this
Capital One Platinum - $500 – got this after the Quicksilver PC with the plans of combining with the Quicksilver eventually. This card is in the Credit Steps and will get CLI in a couple months.
Apple Federal Credit Union - $500 – I just got this card… it’s the only bank card I’ve actually been approved for. I play on riding this credit union card as far as I can.
AMEX Blue Cash Everyday - $1000 – Plan to try for 3x CLI at 60 days
AMEX Delta Sky Miles - $1000 – I reached the threshold for the 30,000 miles this month. This one I’m not sure of. I thought about eventually just combining it with the BCE but kind of thinking I should keep them separate. I know AMEX will only increase one card every 180 days so growing 2 cards might take a while.
Dicks Sporting Goods - $700 – I actually use this way more than I should! HA. But the rewards are really good. Keeping it
Amazon - $800 – Keeping this. 5% back is great and I use Amazon a lot
Discover It Secured - $600 – Plan to close it after the 1 year in April when the cash back match happens. I can get better rewards with other cards and wouldn't mind getting my security deposit back IMO Discover is worth keeping. It will convert is my understanding and then will start growing for you.
USAA- Secured - $1100 – Doesn’t graduate. Will close after it has been open for 2 years (it is secured with a 2 year CD so I’m assuming I can’t close it until that 2 years is up)
Boscovs - $750 – was going to close because it only had a $250 limit. Applied for CLI today and was raised to $750. I do buy household stuff there every now and then and the coupons are decent, so I’m going to keep it until some of the better cards get higher limits
Overstock - $700 – went from $500 to $700 today. I plan on keeping this account. I actually use it somewhat regularly. Will consider closing after other cards limits go up
Fingerhut - $900- I actually have no plans for this. It just sits there. I haven’t used it in months. IF the close it for inactivity it won’t bother me Recommend being proactive and closing this on your own.
Credit One - $300 – CLOSED TODAY (They are relentless on the phone when trying to close an account Very good call on closing this one.
Victoria’s secret – $350 - My girlfriend uses this and says that the coupons alone make it worth it, keeping it for now Recommend closing and advising girlfriend to apply for her own card.
Capital One Quicksilver - $750 – This was a PC from Platinum – Keeping this
Capital One Platinum - $500 – got this after the Quicksilver PC with the plans of combining with the Quicksilver eventually. This card is in the Credit Steps and will get CLI in a couple months.
Apple Federal Credit Union - $500 – I just got this card… it’s the only bank card I’ve actually been approved for. I play on riding this credit union card as far as I can.
AMEX Blue Cash Everyday - $1000 – Plan to try for 3x CLI at 60 days
AMEX Delta Sky Miles - $1000 – I reached the threshold for the 30,000 miles this month. This one I’m not sure of. I thought about eventually just combining it with the BCE but kind of thinking I should keep them separate. I know AMEX will only increase one card every 180 days so growing 2 cards might take a while.
Dicks Sporting Goods - $700 – I actually use this way more than I should! HA. But the rewards are really good. Keeping it
Amazon - $800 – Keeping this. 5% back is great and I use Amazon a lot Is this the Amazon Store Card or the Chase Amazon Prime Card?
You have good starts with your AMEX cards and the Discover when it converts. Have also heard of people who like the Capital One cards – I have no experience with them. You might consider eventually going for a good MasterCard and a good Visa. Seriously recommend closing the store cards as soon as you can.
Thank you for your response -
Amazon is the Store card. I haven't applied for the Chase amazon card. I tried for their Southwest card a few weeks ago and was denied, so figured I'd wait a bit, then try for it, and close the store card if approved.
You're right, I will proactively close Fingerhut. no need for it to just sit there, and I'll close Victoria's Secret as well.
Apple Fed is a MyRewards Visa so that will hopefully grow into a great card
If the Discover unsecures soon I'll hold onto it, instead of closing it at the 1 year mark. I know they start reviewing the accounts at the 7 month mark, so it could possibly unsecure any time now.
With closing some of the others, I'll probably close Boscov's as well with in the next couple of months.
Do you think I should combine the AMEX cards or leave tehm separate?
Thanks!
The Blue Cash Everyday is a shopping card and the Delta Sky Miles is a travel card, so I would not combine them since they serve two different purposes. However, if you do not plan to use the travel card after you use the points for miles you have already achieved, you might consider transferring the $1,000 limit to your BCE - that is if AMEX allows it. I do not have any travel cards so am not sure exactly how they work. Someone who has experience with travel cards can more appropriately answer this.
What credit scores did you folks have when applying for the Apple FCU MyRewards Visa? I'm considering joining Apple (as well as Justice FCU, due to my eligibility as a federal DOJ employee) so that I can set up for applying for one of their cards later on.
Apple Fed pulled TU and I probably had about a 620 or so. THey allow a comment to be added to the application and I added a comment about how I knew my score wasn't great but that I had raised it nearly 100 pts in the last year and I was really working to keep headed in the right direction. When I got the approval email there was a personal note in it from them congratulating me on my progress and a few tips on how to keep going higher. I love this bank