topic Garden Thread - April 2015 in Credit Cards

Garden Thread - April 2015

Kenny — Sun, 12 Apr 2015 15:26:56 GMT

Welcome, Garden Clubbers!

Aww, Spring! I like to use this season to do a little cleaning; that includes reassessing my credit profile. Take a look at your credit goals and decide how long you want to garden. Some drop by for a few weeks and others like the party atmosphere so much they hang around longer than expected. Whatever your personal reasons are, you are welcomed here with open arms!

What is gardening? Quite simply, it involves refraining from applying for new credit or seeking CLIs that require hard pulls. Soft pulls CLIs, however, are not only acceptable, but are encouraged. The idea is to allow one's current TLs to grow and mature, waiting for inqs to age or fall off, and possibly waiting for "baddies" to be removed or age off. During this time, one tends to one's current accounts and watches their AAoA 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 inq's age or 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. The shorter nights of winter has put a chill in the air but everyone is nice and toasty here on our island!

Help yourself to our drinks and appetizers.Flatbreads, sliders, pizza, buffalo wings, grilled zucchini, kale salads, pecan and apple pie ala mode. There's also a nice selection of cold beers and my new favorite, Lemon Drop Martini's. Once again, please feel free to bring and add anything that 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!

Our club features a Friday night social. This will now be hosted by Irish80 who has recently assumed the role from myjourney who had done a wonderful job with managing the buffet and bar. He will present a mouthwatering dinner menu (with graphics!) and announce a discussion topic. Everyone is welcome to hang out and either discuss the topic or anything else that comes to mind. Feel free to let kick up your heels for the evening! The goal of the Friday night social is to enjoy getting to know each other and share in some fun. You'll always find camaraderie available here as you work towards your gardening goals.

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. We even have and Emergency Response Team (ERT) available to step in and help keep you on track!

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 soft CLIs on this thread, though, as they do not involve inqs or apps for new credit.

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 (this includes backdated Amex accounts, as they are STILL new "seedlings").
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 CRs 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 abided 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 spade
18 months - emerald spade
21 months - sapphire spade
24 months or more - diamond spade

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 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="http://ficoforums.myfico.com/t5/image/serverpage/image-id/2760iB9166C1A493A3CBC" title="Seedling Garden Club Member" border="0" width="50" height="67" align="right">

Bronze:

<img src="http://i.imgur.com/LEYWe.png" border="0" title="Bronze Garden Club Member" width="40" height="40" align="right">

SIlver:

<img src="http://i.imgur.com/Gfc4B.png" border="0" title="Silver Garden Club Member" width="40" height="40" align="right">

Gold:

<img src="http://i.imgur.com/24xvV.png" border="0" title="Gold Garden Club Member" width="40" height="40" align="right">

Palladium:

<img src="http://ficoforums.myfico.com/t5/image/serverpage/image-id/5761iE36E284CEECEA414" title="Palladium Garden Club Member" border="0" width="40" height="40" align="right">

Platinum:

<img src="http://i.imgur.com/vVRv5.png" border="0" alt="" title="Platinum Garden Club Member" width="120" height="80" align="right" />

Ruby:

<img src="http://ficoforums.myfico.com/t5/image/serverpage/image-id/5625i09098E9833D7A4B2" border="0" title="Ruby Garden Club Member" width="40" height="40" align="right">

Emerald:

<img src="http://ficoforums.myfico.com/t5/image/serverpage/image-id/5623i698C4BF1F9D77284" border="0" width="40" title="Emerald Garden Club Member" height="40" align="right">

Sapphire:

<img src="http://ficoforums.myfico.com/t5/image/serverpage/image-id/5627iA714E0C3C98AD3FD" border="0" width="40" title="Sapphire Garden Club Member" height="40" align="right">

Diamond:

<img src="http://i.imgur.com/40nIa.png" border="0" alt="" 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 chances are you will not be able to add your seedling to your profile. Send any mod a PM and we'll add it for you You can also report any post inappropriate in the GC and just state that you need __________ spade. (Be that seedling, bronze, etc.)

Re: Garden Thread - April 2015

Anonymous — Wed, 01 Apr 2015 05:22:54 GMT

Hi.

Re: Garden Thread - April 2015

CreditMagic7 — Wed, 01 Apr 2015 05:23:35 GMT

Good Morning

Re: Garden Thread - April 2015

Anonymous — Wed, 01 Apr 2015 05:25:10 GMT

@CreditMagic7 wrote:
Good Morning

How's the ficus?

Re: Garden Thread - April 2015

CreditMagic7 — Wed, 01 Apr 2015 05:30:20 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
@CreditMagic7 wrote:
Good Morning
How's the ficus?

Same as always

Happy April Everyone

Re: Garden Thread - April 2015

Anonymous — Wed, 01 Apr 2015 05:30:45 GMT

Woot woot! Late night/early morning check in! First time I'm ever this early on a garden thread.

Re: Garden Thread - April 2015

Anonymous — Wed, 01 Apr 2015 05:37:18 GMT

Checking in. Can't wait to see how my scores react to last month's app spree. Now, I need to learn some patience.

Re: Garden Thread - April 2015

Anonymous — Wed, 01 Apr 2015 05:38:42 GMT

Can't believe I made it over a week gardening. This forum makes it so tempting LOL.

Re: Garden Thread - April 2015

pizza1 — Wed, 01 Apr 2015 05:43:13 GMT

HELLOOOOOO!!!! IM HERE!! For sure this time...

Re: Garden Thread - April 2015

Anonymous — Wed, 01 Apr 2015 05:45:57 GMT

Im here too! Taking it one day at a time

Re: Garden Thread - April 2015

pizza1 — Wed, 01 Apr 2015 05:48:24 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
@CreditMagic7 wrote:
Good Morning
How's the ficus?

Mine is a Bonsai tree. You know how long it takes to prune those and grow them?? Like 20 freaking years!! LOL

Re: Garden Thread - April 2015

Anonymous — Wed, 01 Apr 2015 05:53:28 GMT

Morning everyone! So I just stepped out of the garden & applied for a Venture Card. Got a 50k instant approval!!! Nah, just kidding! "April Fools". Just couldn't resist!

Re: Garden Thread - April 2015

Anonymous — Wed, 01 Apr 2015 05:56:08 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
Morning everyone! So I just stepped out of the garden & applied for a Venture Card. Got a 50k instant approval!!! Nah, just kidding! "April Fools". Just couldn't resist!

It's been done...

Re: Garden Thread - April 2015

Anomalous — Wed, 01 Apr 2015 05:57:52 GMT

Check-in before bed......

Re: Garden Thread - April 2015

Imperfectfuture — Wed, 01 Apr 2015 06:52:07 GMT

@CreditMagic7 wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:
@CreditMagic7 wrote:
Good Morning
How's the ficus?
Same as always
Happy April Everyone

Um, it's still March here, and that's not April fool's.

See Nixon stayed up to make first post.

Re: Garden Thread - April 2015

WLRK11 — Wed, 01 Apr 2015 06:54:21 GMT

I haven't been active in the garden threads, but April marks nine (9) months.

Re: Garden Thread - April 2015

Imperfectfuture — Wed, 01 Apr 2015 07:03:12 GMT

@WLRK11 wrote:
I haven't been active in the garden threads, but April marks nine (9) months.

Congrats, looking for two myself.

Re: Garden Thread - April 2015

Anonymous — Wed, 01 Apr 2015 07:54:13 GMT

This security freeze on EX can't come through fast enough. Gonna get myself in trouble if it stays open any longer.

Re: Garden Thread - April 2015

Anonymous — Wed, 01 Apr 2015 08:04:52 GMT

Happy April 1st everyone! Gardening for a week now. I am here for the month. I want my spade.

Re: Garden Thread - April 2015

Kostya1992 — Wed, 01 Apr 2015 08:39:14 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
This security freeze on EX can't come through fast enough. Gonna get myself in trouble if it stays open any longer.

How did you manage 12 inq on EX? Oh wow