Credit Card Lessons Learned at End of Year 2016

[Anonymous]

Good afternooon everyone,

I created a thread at end of 2015 entitled " credit card lessons learned at end of year", and everyone had such nice contributions to that thread, that I thought it might be helpful to do it again in 2016, since we are learning and growing all of the time.

I included my original thread post below, but added a few new lessons I learned for this year:

1) The myfico community is wonderful. Thus far, that is my most meaningful lesson that I have learned. I hope when I post on the board that I'm able to help, share, and give back to many of our members, but also know that I would not be at the point I am currently at in my journey without your helpful threads, encouragement, and wisdom. We all do such a nice job encouraging and helping our fellow members, and I am thankful for my fellow myfico members.

2) Be open to learning about new credit directions, but don't necessarily be swayed by all that you learn. This is a challenging one for many of us. There is great information here on myfico and on the internet, but it is prudent to contemplate our learning and think carefully before translating learning into action. Sometimes the best learning results in modifying our profile, streamlining it, and growing what we currently have.

3) Remember to always help others along the journey. Life can be so busy and fast, esecially at this time of year, but it's helpful to remember that there is always someone who may benefit from our encouragement or ideas, even when we are most busy.

4) Consider outside possibilities.  I remember when I first considered applying for the Citi Prestige that I thought the annual fee of $450 to be outrageous. After careful planning and reviewing the benefits, I decided that the $250 airline credit per year plus the free 4th hotel night would easily pay for the cost of the annual fee (and that is not including any other benefits). I've already used the $250 airline credit once and was quickly reimbursed for it, and will be getting ready to use it a second time in January. So the card has more than paid for itself and I've only had it since October!

5) Investigate unconventional and flexible options.  One example of this is the Discover it Miles card, which offers double miles at the end of the first year. Another less well known option is that you can opt to receive double cash back on the Miles card at end of first year instead of miles. This is a nice benefit and I'm looking forward to the end of the first year with the Miles card!

Another example of flexible options occurs with the Alaska Airlines card. This card has 17 airline partners and offers a great deal of flexibility for mileage redemption, and it also offers the best mile return rate for spend of any airline credit card (per the Points Guy and several others). So, don't be thrown by the name - Alaska Airlines - and remember that you can redeem your miles on American and any of 16 other airline partners. Large numbers of partners offer increased redemption flexibility.

Keep a similar outlook in mind when investigating other card options - there may be unconventional or flexible benefits that require a bit of digging to be aware of.

Please share your lessons learned with others here on the board as well.

I wish you and your families all a blessed and beautiful Christmas. I will most likely not be on the board for the next month because my help and assistance is needed with a serious family issue, but I will be thinking of all of you and will be back soon. Keep making good credit choices and I'm really proud of myfico friends here and all the wonderful progress you have made.

2015 post: 

Hi everyone,

I thought it might be helpful for us to post on the board some of the credit card lessons we have learned during the course of the year in the hope that these may help others, both those new to the board and seasoned members as well  (we are all always learning, are we not?)

I'll start the thread with a few:

1) Reduction can be a good thing. I've added credit and am now culling the herd to further refine my profile into the profile I want. I'm reducing down from 230k in credit and may even decide to get down to 170k over the next 9 months in order to not show "too much credit" to creditors. It's great to both add with a purpose and to downsize when needed.

2) Adding with a purpose. I planned in advance which cards I wanted to add when I went on my spree in July. Now that I have those cards, I'm culling some from the herd that will be less helpful to me going forward.

3) Needs change. A card that may have been helpful to me one year ago may not be as helpful to me now, and it's important to have the flexibility to realize that.

4) Utilization is key. When I started reading posts on myfico early this year, I didn't understand utilization as well as I do now. I never maxed out a card, but I often kept cards at 50% of credit limit. Reading and learning about utilization has helped me keep my overall utilization to between 4%-6%. I even get very watchful in a good way if an individual card exceeds 20%, just so I don't repeat prior utilization mistakes.

5) Be aware of what is going on in the credit world, and keep your knowledge current. I've learned a lot from fellow myfico members and that knowledge has helped me in my approach to lenders. For example, I've always had a great relationship with Barclay; however, seeing some of the posts on here about certain trends others have experienced has helped me to treat certain lenders even more conservatively.

6) Dramatic moves in the credit world are probably not a good idea. I have read situations on my fico where members have made dramatic moves in terms of utilization spikes, adding 15 cards all at once, opening and closing cards rapidly, or other moves that can spook lenders, and I am careful to keep that knowledge in mind when considering decisions of my own.

7) Learn from mistakes. Learning is a process and is ongoing for all of us. We've all added cards that we question ourselves about later and say, "what was I thinking?", even when we have a plan. Different things happen and learning is key.

8) Share knowledge with others in a friendly way. We all have something to share, but none of us has all of the answers and being humble is important. Treat others as fellow learners in the journey, not as if any of us are an expert and the other person is not quite where we are at in terms of knowledge. 

9) Credit is a journey, not a race. It's exciting to see others adding credit yet important to do so in a measured, planful way. I'm not new to credit, but when I see people who are new to credit trying to add too quickly, I hope they will learn valuable information from others on the board that there isn't any rush to build, especially if your profile does not support adding many cards at once.

10) Diversification is important. It's best not to put all or most of your eggs in one basket with a particular lender, or with too many of the same types of lenders. A diversified mix of lenders is really helpful given the ups and downs of the financial world today.

11) Respect the difficult journeys of others. We all have our individual challenges. I feel fortunate that I've never had negatives in my credit history, and when I see others who have built their way back from some really challenging negatives into a success story, I have a great deal of admiration and respect for that. Well done!

[Anonymous]

Hi everyone,

I thought it might be helpful for us to post on the board some of the credit card lessons we have learned during the course of the year in the hope that these may help others, both those new to the board and seasoned members as well  (we are all always learning, are we not?)

I'll start the thread with a few:

1) Reduction can be a good thing. I've added credit and am now culling the herd to further refine my profile into the profile I want. I'm reducing down from 230k in credit and may even decide to get down to 170k over the next 9 months in order to not show "too much credit" to creditors. It's great to both add with a purpose and to downsize when needed.

2) Adding with a purpose. I planned in advance which cards I wanted to add when I went on my spree in July. Now that I have those cards, I'm culling some from the herd that will be less helpful to me going forward.

3) Needs change. A card that may have been helpful to me one year ago may not be as helpful to me now, and it's important to have the flexibility to realize that.

4) Utilization is key. When I started reading posts on myfico early this year, I didn't understand utilization as well as I do now. I never maxed out a card, but I often kept cards at 50% of credit limit. Reading and learning about utilization has helped me keep my overall utilization to between 4%-6%. I even get very watchful in a good way if an individual card exceeds 20%, just so I don't repeat prior utilization mistakes.

5) Be aware of what is going on in the credit world, and keep your knowledge current. I've learned a lot from fellow myfico members and that knowledge has helped me in my approach to lenders. For example, I've always had a great relationship with Barclay; however, seeing some of the posts on here about certain trends others have experienced has helped me to treat certain lenders even more conservatively.

6) Dramatic moves in the credit world are probably not a good idea. I have read situations on my fico where members have made dramatic moves in terms of utilization spikes, adding 15 cards all at once, opening and closing cards rapidly, or other moves that can spook lenders, and I am careful to keep that knowledge in mind when considering decisions of my own.

7) Learn from mistakes. Learning is a process and is ongoing for all of us. We've all added cards that we question ourselves about later and say, "what was I thinking?", even when we have a plan. Different things happen and learning is key.

8) Share knowledge with others in a friendly way. We all have something to share, but none of us has all of the answers and being humble is important. Treat others as fellow learners in the journey, not as if any of us are an expert and the other person is not quite where we are at in terms of knowledge. 

9) Credit is a journey, not a race. It's exciting to see others adding credit yet important to do so in a measured, planful way. I'm not new to credit, but when I see people who are new to credit trying to add too quickly, I hope they will learn valuable information from others on the board that there isn't any rush to build, especially if your profile does not support adding many cards at once.

10) Diversification is important. It's best not to put all or most of your eggs in one basket with a particular lender, or with too many of the same types of lenders. A diversified mix of lenders is really helpful given the ups and downs of the financial world today.

11) Respect the difficult journeys of others. We all have our individual challenges. I feel fortunate that I've never had negatives in my credit history, and when I see others who have built their way back from some really challenging negatives into a success story, I have a great deal of admiration and respect for that. Well done!

[Anonymous]

Great thread! I will add:

What is best for one may not be best for another.  People frequently ask vaguely which card they should app for. And people frequently throw out their favorite cards as the answer. But (example) although I love my 3% back on groceries with the Amex BCE, it makes no sense for a college student who survives mainly on fast food. So when thinking about what card to app for next, think about your spend, your needs and what you want for your rewards. Or when asking for advice on which card to app for give some of this information so we know where to lead you.

[wasCB14]

1. Until/unless I get into MS, earning rates don't mean much for me. I get more value from travel perks, bonuses, price protection, and extended warranties.

2. Big annual fee cards can be great bargains with enough use the perks.

3. Citi price rewind can produce savings far beyond what I find through manual searches.

4. It's good when we share information and point out each other's factual misconceptions, but giving advice and having debates about some more subjective matters can often be unproductive. We each have our own priorities, are in different situations, and usually have a limited knowledge of the finances and spending habits of others. It's inevitable that some of us will think others act foolishly.

[AverageJoesCredit]

Thanks Humu, your presence will be missed and im sure i speak for all of us in that we hope all will be well with regards to your family issuesi

Those are some very nice and valid points. My credit knowledge has exploded a million times since finding my home away from home here at MFF. Rebuilding isnt easy but with the knowledge ive gained here, it has become easier. Just a couple lessons i have learned this year, whether the easy way or the hard way

1) Dont app just to app. If i could erase half of what i applied for in hopes of gaining credit i would. With time, you will eventually get what you are looking for and with proper research, save yourself a great deal of hearache make sure your app will benefit you your spending and your goals!

2) If there is a flavor of the month, dont jump on it until you consider all aspects of its benefits etc otherwise may end up with an account you dont need or a have to deal with unexpected consequences, lol FBA&T was a real headshaker

3) Dont give up hope iin getting a card you truely want. I finally landed my Discover this year, hopefully one day get back my Amex . It took me quite a few hps, which also kind of ties into #1 , ( time can only improve your profile and therefore perhaps give you a better shot at your dreamcard).

These are just a few ive picked up this year. 2017 i want to be the year of patience and time for my cards to age. Future goals new car( 2018 want to get with best interest rate lol) , perhaps Navy Fed, and to get out of my $500 basement with Penfed Promise haha!.

All my best to my fellow Myfico family and wish all your credit goals come true

[elim]

huge kudos humu

[Anonymous]

1. It's never too late to start over. And that we must choose to do so. I went from super bad credit to having a spotless one. Took years to work it out but here I am. A credit score of 771.

2. Maintaining credit and credit cards requires work, but it must be work we're willing to do. We cannot be passive. Watch your spend, budget for your spend, and pay off card on time.

3. Having credit cards requires some responsibitlies. Unlike debit cards, where I checked my balance and know how much I can spend.. On credit cards, I have to think about which cards give me more rewards and perks, how can I take advantage of these perks the best way possible and coming out ahead, etc. But to me it's so much fun! I enjoy it.

[Anonymous]

Humu, saying "thank you" doesn't seem quite enough this morning.  I have learned some valuable credit lessons from you, this is true.  You are undoubtedly one of the kindest, most helpful, and sincerest person on these forums.  Never a harsh word to anyone.  

Please take care this next month.  We will miss you, but right now, you're needed somewhere else.  I wish the best for you and your family.  A beautiful Christmas to you, my friend.

[wasCB14]

Another lesson has been to limit the number of reward currencies and loyalty programs in which I can realistically keep points active.