topic Re: Garden Club - April 2016 in Credit Cards

Garden Club - April 2016

_NERD — Fri, 01 Apr 2016 09:14:45 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 pulls 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 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. 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 Ala 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 threads 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 inq's 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 any backdated account, 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 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 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, you may 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 use the "Report Inappropriate Content" function on the post to notify a Moderator, but indicate that you need __________ spade. (seedling, bronze, etc.)

Re: Garden Club - April 2016

_NERD — Fri, 01 Apr 2016 19:08:18 GMT

Hello everyone,

Checking in for the month. i'm going strong without a HP since October 2015. My friends owns the car dealership I bought my car from last year, and he's having the HP's from that deal deleted for me. I also took a couple HP trying to buy a 2nd newer vehicle for wifeskee back in Oct. Glad we got stickier shock and walked away from that deal, because we anticipate purchasing a home this Spring. I'm writing the auto loan bank on Monday to ask them to delete the HP's from October. If successful, then I turn in my Gold Spade & stitch a Palladium Spade to my signature. That's the only reason I'm doing the HP deletions.

6 revolving TLs are being PIF this month, with one revolving TL balance remaining (less than 50% util). I may just borrow money from someone to PIF the last one just to squeeze every point possible out of the FICO scoring system. I really want the best mortgage rate possible.

I have no desire to app for any new accounts, whatsoever. I'm happy letting my existing accounts age and build up payment history. I'm in a really happy place right now.

Thanks for checking in. Talk to y'all next month.

Re: Garden Club - April 2016

coldnmn — Fri, 01 Apr 2016 09:14:00 GMT

Good Morning GC! Checking in for April still gardening strong after 11 months!

Re: Garden Club - April 2016

Anonymous — Fri, 01 Apr 2016 09:33:02 GMT

good morning GC! Checking in for April. Heading towards my first month after my recent app!

Re: Garden Club - April 2016

darwin_wins — Fri, 01 Apr 2016 10:03:58 GMT

6 months in garden! Woohoo!!

Re: Garden Club - April 2016

tcbofade — Fri, 01 Apr 2016 10:40:40 GMT

Good morning boys and girls!

DW and I are FIRMLY in the garden for April.

.... I don't care WHAT my credit union offers me this month.... mebbe.

We're doing fine and making progress. I've got three more CC accounts to unmax for her, and they'll all be paid and updated before 30 April.

Re: Garden Club - April 2016

tcbofade — Fri, 01 Apr 2016 10:56:34 GMT

...on an entirely unrelated note, I won't be around for a few days. We've got a long weekend and a kiddo performing on stage in Branson, MO this evening. Tomorrow night, her friends will be performing on another stage in Branson, and ANOTHER family friend will be on stage in Springfield, MO on Sunday.

Five shows in three days...plus (I hope) the Titanic museum and Silver Dollar City. Woot!

I'll catch up with y'all on Tuesday... ish...

Re: Garden Club - April 2016

Saleen099 — Fri, 01 Apr 2016 11:24:35 GMT

Good Morning Everyone!!!!

If you do not give 110% in your life, I promise your life will haunt you for the rest of your days. Time is the most valuable asset on earth, a depreciating asset. Don’t waste another moment of life where you are not at your fullest potential getting the most out of the time you have in life

Re: Garden Club - April 2016

driftless — Fri, 01 Apr 2016 11:32:24 GMT

Enjoy Branson, I have never been there. Still in the garden for a day or so ............. It sounds like there will be only one set of hp's for our mortgage app with all of the follow-up being sp's looking forward to adding my seedling back.

Re: Garden Club - April 2016

Anonymous — Fri, 01 Apr 2016 11:33:46 GMT

Good morning!

Re: Garden Club - April 2016

irunfromcredit — Fri, 01 Apr 2016 12:08:56 GMT

Good morning!! Officially gardening as of 3/25/2016.

Re: Garden Club - April 2016

nawhop — Fri, 01 Apr 2016 12:20:56 GMT

Good morning all. Checking in for April. Waiting for inquiry to age and hanging strong.

Re: Garden Club - April 2016

Anonymous — Fri, 01 Apr 2016 12:23:48 GMT

Good Morning GC!!

No apps for the entire month of March! I am excited for this month to repeat with the same thing...no HPs!

Have a nice day everyone!

Re: Garden Club - April 2016

BigBS — Fri, 01 Apr 2016 12:34:20 GMT

Good morning, everyone. 3 months without apps and a silver spade.

Re: Garden Club - April 2016

Anonymous — Fri, 01 Apr 2016 12:54:28 GMT

i still have a bronze for another 1.75 months

Re: Garden Club - April 2016

Anonymous — Fri, 01 Apr 2016 12:59:43 GMT

Checking in today 4/1 official start for me👍🏽

Re: Garden Club - April 2016

Anonymous — Fri, 01 Apr 2016 13:14:29 GMT

After 6 months in the garden with out even knowing the term I stepped out in late Feb. to get my best card to date. Took a massive hit to my score since my file has really shrunk over the years and now its thin. Oh well back in the garden until at least Aug. and more then likely Feb2017 when I need to deal with a lease expiring.

Re: Garden Club - April 2016

kdm31091 — Fri, 01 Apr 2016 13:17:08 GMT

This should be another uneventful month of no HPs and no new accounts. Luckily, nothing interesting (to me) has come along lately in the way of new products.

Re: Garden Club - April 2016

EdMan63 — Fri, 01 Apr 2016 13:20:27 GMT

Good Morning gardeners. Well another month of watering the daisies and pulling the weeds. Nothing eventful this month other than letting the accounts age and hopefully watching the score go up. Just waiting on this charge off to leave EQ and all will be good. Have a great day everyone.

Re: Garden Club - April 2016

baller4life — Fri, 01 Apr 2016 13:24:15 GMT

Morning Clubbers! Tomorrow marks 4 months in the garden for me. Longest ever since I started rebuilding almost 3 yrs ago! That's actually pretty sad! Anyhoo hope everyone has a great month of gardening!