topic Re: Garden Club - November 2022 in Personal Finance

Garden Club - November 2022

UncleB — Tue, 01 Nov 2022 04:00:18 GMT

Welcome

Garden Club Members!

Welcome all new GCers, returning GCers and

old timers to our little island of

"No Credit Applications"!

What is gardening? Quite simply, it involves refraining from applying for new credit or seeking CLIs that require hard pulls. Soft pull CLIs, however, are not only acceptable, but are encouraged. The idea is to allow one's current trade lines to grow and mature, waiting for inquiries to age or fall off, and possibly waiting for "baddies" to be removed/age off. During this time, one tends to one's current accounts and watches their AAoA (average age of accounts) grow and the new credit ding fade. Here we socialize, commiserate and support each other while waiting for baddies to fall off, new accounts and/or inquiries to age or if we just want a place to hang out to get away from the hustle and bustle of credit card talk.

So, if you're at the stage of your credit journey where you're ready to enter the garden, please come and join us. You may pick up your complimentary watering can and garden gloves by the front door - you can even choose your favorite color! We're proud to offer a well-appointed clubhouse. There is a snack table set up. You'll always find camaraderie available here as you work towards your gardening goals.

Help yourself to our drinks and appetizers. Flat-breads, sliders, pizza, buffalo wings, grilled zucchini, kale salads, pecan and apple pie à la mode. There's also a nice selection of cold beers. Once again, please feel free to bring anything you'd like to add to the festivities. And, in the corner diagonally across from the front door, there is a fully stocked bar, along with a wide selection of soft drinks. If needed, there are some anti-itch medications stocked in our supply cabinet near the door - Lanacaine, Benadryl, etc. If you need to place your reports in the deep freeze, we also have a freezer, located next to the bar, so go ahead and throw your reports in!

So come on in and make yourself comfortable. Make a gardening plan and commit to sticking with it! Are you planning to wait six months before applying for additional credit? A year? Until the last of your baddies drop off? Whatever your goal, we're here to support you. If you feel the "app-itch" coming on, let us know and we'll try to help you through it.

Now, if you happen to leave the garden prematurely, that's your decision and we respect that. You are always welcome to come back, pick up your gardening tools and start over again. But please, celebrate any approvals and the discussion of which credit card to app for on another thread. While we are happy with members’ success stories, we really do want to keep this thread's focus and tone to be consistent with gardening efforts. You are certainly welcome to celebrate SP CLIs in this thread, as they do not involve inquiries or apps for new credit.

To maintain the 'spirit' of the Garden Club, any discussion regarding credit apps and/or approvals (including approval announcements) is subject to be removed from Garden Club posts by a moderator and/or your post may be moved to a new thread on the appropriate board. Thanks for understanding!

GARDEN CLUB CHALLENGE AND RECOGNITIONS:

Garden Club Challenge: Pick a firm date for staying in the garden and post it in your siggy!

Garden Club recognition levels: To qualify, your reports must contain:

No new tradelines of any type on one's accounts
No HPs for anything that would allow for the possibility of a new tradeline being issued or increasing the CL of an existing tradeline

*The Garden Club community recognizes that certain inquiries are necessary for factors beyond those listed above. Therefore, Hard Pulls/Inquiries for the following bona fide reasons are exempt but not limited to: Opening checking/savings accounts (so long as no line of credit is being opened in addition to these accounts), employment applications, apartment rentals, utilities and other such services. These are not considered to be applications for credit per se.

Also, for those who are seeking a new mortgage or refinancing an existing one, we understand that your lender will pull your credit reports multiple times before closing. For those GC'ers, the first HP will set your clock, not the subsequent pulls. However, if you are simply rate shopping, then the normal HP rules apply.

You will be able to add the following to your siggy if you have been abiding by the above for the following time periods...

Less than 1 month - seedling
1 month - bronze spade
3 months - silver spade
6 months - gold spade
9 months - palladium spade
12 months - platinum spade
15 months - ruby
18 months - emerald
21 months - sapphire
24 months or more - diamond

Please note: recognition levels reset once you add an account or incur a HP. We recognize that there may be very good reasons for "leaving the garden," and we respect whatever thoughtful decisions members make. As stated previously, members are always welcome to come back, grab their gloves and start gardening once more.

To add the code, click 'My Settings', then 'Personal Information', then paste the code into the 'Signature' box. When you're finished, be sure to click 'Save' at the bottom of the page!

*New forum members may be unable to add/edit HTML; see note below.

To ensure that your graphic comes out properly on your siggy, please be certain that it has been added as the very first line of code.

Seedling:

<img src="https://ficoforums.myfico.com/t5/image/serverpage/image-id/62749iA47C118690AE79C4/" title="Seedling Garden Club Member" border="0" width="50" height="67" align="right">

Bronze:

<img src="https://ficoforums.myfico.com/t5/image/serverpage/image-id/33673iA9327A27227FE439/" border="0" title="Bronze Garden Club Member" width="40" height="40" align="right">

Silver:

<img src="https://ficoforums.myfico.com/t5/image/serverpage/image-id/33675i85072060A7E9ED9F/" border="0" title="Silver Garden Club Member" width="40" height="40" align="right">

Gold:

<img src="https://ficoforums.myfico.com/t5/image/serverpage/image-id/33674i6D97EA62D60FAA1E/" border="0" title="Gold Garden Club Member" width="40" height="40" align="right">

Palladium:

<img src="https://ficoforums.myfico.com/t5/image/serverpage/image-id/62750i80525A8D0134733C/" title="Palladium Garden Club Member" border="0" width="40" height="40" align="right">

Platinum:

<img src="https://ficoforums.myfico.com/t5/image/serverpage/image-id/33676i7D22867F5B8C8548/" border="0" title="Platinum Garden Club Member" width="120" height="80" align="right">

Ruby:

<img src="https://ficoforums.myfico.com/t5/image/serverpage/image-id/62751i19C20BE73EF51FCD/" border="0" title="Ruby Garden Club Member" width="40" height="40" align="right">

Emerald:

<img src="https://ficoforums.myfico.com/t5/image/serverpage/image-id/62752i0CF46A0DE3001FC9/" border="0" width="40" title="Emerald Garden Club Member" height="40" align="right">

Sapphire:

<img src="https://ficoforums.myfico.com/t5/image/serverpage/image-id/62753i2F12F03322059E19/" border="0" width="40" title="Sapphire Garden Club Member" height="40" align="right">

Diamond:

<img src="https://ficoforums.myfico.com/t5/image/serverpage/image-id/33677iDA1FD49740EB050B/" border="0" title="Diamond Garden Club Member" width="40" height="40" align="right">

So, please feel free to come on in and share your gardening progress. If you're new or returning, what are your goals? If you've been here for a while, how are things going? Let's all mingle, and support each other in our respective gardening efforts!

*Just a reminder, if you are new to the forum you may not be able to add a seedling or spade to your profile yourself; a rank of "Member" is required to add HTML to your signature. In this case send any moderator a PM (or tag in a post) and we'll add it for you.

You can also use the "Report Inappropriate Content" option on any post to notify a moderator; be sure to indicate that you need _____ spade. (seedling, bronze, etc.)

Re: Garden Club - November 2022

UncleB — Tue, 01 Nov 2022 04:01:17 GMT

Happy November, everybody!

Re: Garden Club - November 2022

coldfusion — Tue, 01 Nov 2022 04:01:48 GMT

Not first!

Re: Garden Club - November 2022

UncleB — Tue, 01 Nov 2022 04:10:40 GMT

You were first... I don't really count.

Re: Garden Club - November 2022

PapaTunde — Tue, 01 Nov 2022 04:14:17 GMT

24 days til Black Friday

I have to behave this year.

Maybe a small FICO gain coming my way today.

Happy November everyone.

Re: Garden Club - November 2022

PapaTunde — Tue, 01 Nov 2022 04:38:30 GMT

Olly olly oxen free

Re: Garden Club - November 2022

sznthescore — Tue, 01 Nov 2022 04:51:50 GMT

Hello Fellow Gardeners, I finally found my way back. The foundation on my garden took a beaten with the open/close storm of accounts that took place. 🤦🏽‍♂️ I'll admit, I got a little carried away with the “submit and apply” button. However, I’m actually happy with the pruning I’ve done. AAoA is currently at 3 years 9 months. And after pulling my credit reports from annualcreditreport(dot)com a few hours ago… a year in the garden is going to be well worth it. But I’m actually planning for two. I’ve created a budget. I have many accounts due to fall off in 2023 including a BK. So, as of now I’m all set and ready for the new year. In the meantime, I’m looking for a part-time gig to boost savings and pay down some credit card debt.

I do have some questions that I'll carry-over to the credit building category on accounts due to fall off next year and inaccurate account reporting. Anywho...

Cheers to goals and a new month! 🎉

Re: Garden Club - November 2022

FireMedic1 — Tue, 01 Nov 2022 08:38:21 GMT

Yay! Bring on the holidays!

Re: Garden Club - November 2022

tcbofade — Tue, 01 Nov 2022 10:10:08 GMT

Good morning boys and girls. Happy Tuesday! Happy November!

Coffee is brewing. Cat is attacking!

Re: Garden Club - November 2022

Anonymous — Tue, 01 Nov 2022 10:46:25 GMT

Welcome to November and snow for you nor easterners

Always nice to see a couple feet of snow even in Washington DC (land of cherry blossoms).

Otherwise good morning My Ficoer's and @Adkins and @UncleB @tcbofade ... and all you late risers ?

Feel like a rascal today! Put Leopard Sheets on one of the beds (Flannel) to remind me of warmer climes!

Re: Garden Club - November 2022

bizarrocreditworld — Tue, 01 Nov 2022 11:39:48 GMT

Hello everyone,

Checking in for November. No credit news, but I may have some employment news in the near future.

I am a finalist for three positions, one of which came from a former colleague who works at another company now who referred me to a VP. I had the final interviews (three rounds) for that position yesterday, and to be honest, based on the connections and the reactions from the people I spoke to, unless the job gets canceled, I'll be surprised if I don't have an offer in the next couple of weeks. I am waiting to hear about another one (a non-profit, so it may be a while) and I interview for the third this morning. The third job is expected to make an offer, but it wouldn't start until after Thanksgiving, and the commute would be 2 1/2 hours each way, while the other two are remote.

There's light at the end of the tunnel and I'm in a good place today. I hope you all are as well.

Re: Garden Club - November 2022

sznthescore — Tue, 01 Nov 2022 11:57:08 GMT

@bizarrocreditworld Your mindset to acquire one of the many options you have available is guaranteed to yield you great benefits and rewards. Best of luck to you on your journey and endeavors. 👊🏽🦾

Re: Garden Club - November 2022

coldfusion — Tue, 01 Nov 2022 12:24:06 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
Welcome to November and snow for you nor easterners

Always nice to see a couple feet of snow even in Washington DC (land of cherry blossoms).

Otherwise good morning My Ficoer's and @Adkins and @UncleB @tcbofade ... and all you late risers ?

Feel like a rascal today! Put Leopard Sheets on one of the beds (Flannel) to remind me of warmer climes!

Winter isn't quite ready to settle in New England just yet, it was close to 70 last week where I was near the border with Canada and they're predicting mid-70's here in Boston over the weekend. Nyah Nyah!

Good morning everybody

Re: Garden Club - November 2022

coldfusion — Tue, 01 Nov 2022 12:28:56 GMT

@bizarrocreditworld wrote:
Hello everyone,

Checking in for November. No credit news, but I may have some employment news in the near future.

I am a finalist for three positions, one of which came from a former colleague who works at another company now who referred me to a VP. I had the final interviews (three rounds) for that position yesterday, and to be honest, based on the connections and the reactions from the people I spoke to, unless the job gets canceled, I'll be surprised if I don't have an offer in the next couple of weeks. I am waiting to hear about another one (a non-profit, so it may be a while) and I interview for the third this morning. The third job is expected to make an offer, but it wouldn't start until after Thanksgiving, and the commute would be 2 1/2 hours each way, while the other two are remote.

There's light at the end of the tunnel and I'm in a good place today. I hope you all are as well.

Glad to hear you're getting some traction. One does what one has to do, but a daily 2.5 hr commute each way would be brutal even without factoring in the cost.

Re: Garden Club - November 2022

coldfusion — Tue, 01 Nov 2022 12:30:22 GMT

@UncleB wrote:
You were first... I don't really count.

Nah, you always count around these parts :-)

Re: Garden Club - November 2022

calyx — Tue, 01 Nov 2022 12:39:19 GMT

Good morning and happy Nov, Gardeners!

It's been a hot minute since my last indiscretion (worth it!), but we're back with a seedling. I mean, honestly, it seems appropriate that I have to reset my seedling a week after my garden died thanks to the entire week of below freezing temps. But now we're back to the 70s & 80s and I get to be mad about the weather (seriously, I could have been happy with a FEW figs ripening) and maybe Garden for a bit. Bear got pneumonia before I headed out to the conference, so I came back asap, and she is SO restless, but just getting to wear she can frolic without too much coughing (poor thing). Tonight is her first event in two weeks (agility, woot!)

Um... ~~still~~ Gardening. Not so much gardening. Just got back from a conference and happy to direct @Adkins over here (non-Garden friendly link).

Stay warm (or cool!) everyone.

Re: Garden Club - November 2022

Adkins — Tue, 01 Nov 2022 13:03:11 GMT

So. Tired. 😴

Re: Garden Club - November 2022

calyx — Tue, 01 Nov 2022 13:11:28 GMT

<travel expense report submitted>

GIMME ALL THE POINTS

Re: Garden Club - November 2022

RobynJ — Tue, 01 Nov 2022 13:19:09 GMT

@Adkins Sending coffee your way 🤩☕️

Well I took a 16 point loss from EX for the auto loan hitting my report. Navy is quick to add. I expected as much so I'm not upset. It will just help strengthen my file in the long run.

I wish I had U Socks in my sights but Miyagi son was told to wait at least a year.

Re: Garden Club - November 2022

Adkins — Tue, 01 Nov 2022 13:19:15 GMT

@bizarrocreditworld wrote:
Hello everyone,

Checking in for November. No credit news, but I may have some employment news in the near future.

I am a finalist for three positions, one of which came from a former colleague who works at another company now who referred me to a VP. I had the final interviews (three rounds) for that position yesterday, and to be honest, based on the connections and the reactions from the people I spoke to, unless the job gets canceled, I'll be surprised if I don't have an offer in the next couple of weeks. I am waiting to hear about another one (a non-profit, so it may be a while) and I interview for the third this morning. The third job is expected to make an offer, but it wouldn't start until after Thanksgiving, and the commute would be 2 1/2 hours each way, while the other two are remote.

There's light at the end of the tunnel and I'm in a good place today. I hope you all are as well.

Fantastic news!