topic I pray that my testimony encourages others in Credit Cards

I pray that my testimony encourages others

PastorH — Fri, 15 Jul 2016 21:26:24 GMT

I subscribed to myFICO in September, 2013. At that time I had a couple of old credit cards with balance, a 30yr mortgage, and a FICO score of 689. I began to review posts on this site and to ask for advice. I got some good counsel and made some good friends. Early on, I got an AMEX Green (wanted the Classic) and a Chase Freedom. (Low CL) As time went on, I applied for credit wisely, (as per myFICO) and applied what I thought was the most important advice received - Pay-in-Full every month. My Credit Scores (FICO and the 3 Bureaus) and CLs consistently increased, and my utilization decreased. i eventually applied and was approved for an AMEX BCE, Discover, a Visa and MC with my local bank. I also refinanced my mortgage down to a 15yr mortgage at half the interest and a lower payment. I went into the Garden some time ago and haven't left. I currently have $49,000 in credit limits, (may not be much for some) and my utilization is at 3%. Best of all, my quarterly myFico Score was 837 in May, but as of July, Discover and AMEX have it at 840!

I really feel that the key is not over-extending or carrying much balance, to apply for credit using good judgement, and following the advise of myFICO Forum.

I am now wondering if there is any card I may want to apply for. (Any suggestions?)

I hope that anyone needing it is encouraged, and thank the myFIFO Forum.

Many blessings to all.

Re: I pray that my testimony encourages others

Anonymous — Fri, 15 Jul 2016 21:34:17 GMT

thanks for sharing! really inspiring! I can't wait to be in the same position!

Re: I pray that my testimony encourages others

Anonymous — Fri, 15 Jul 2016 21:40:12 GMT

@PastorH wrote:
I subscribed to myFICO in September, 2013. At that time I had a couple of old credit cards with balance, a 30yr mortgage, and a FICO score of 689. I began to review posts on this site and to ask for advice. I got some good counsel and made some good friends. Early on, I got an AMEX Green (wanted the Classic) and a Chase Freedom. (Low CL) As time went on, I applied for credit wisely, (as per myFICO) and applied what I thought was the most important advice received - Pay-in-Full every month. My Credit Scores (FICO and the 3 Bureaus) and CLs consistently increased, and my utilization decreased. i eventually applied and was approved for an AMEX BCE, Discover, a Visa and MC with my local bank. I also refinanced my mortgage down to a 15yr mortgage at half the interest and a lower payment. I went into the Garden some time ago and haven't left. I currently have $49,000 in credit limits, (may not be much for some) and my utilization is at 3%. Best of all, my quarterly myFico Score was 837 in May, but as of July, Discover and AMEX have it at 840!

I really feel that the key is not over-extending or carrying much balance, to apply for credit using good judgement, and following the advise of myFICO Forum.

I am now wondering if there is any card I may want to apply for. (Any suggestions?)

I hope that anyone needing it is encouraged, and thank the myFIFO Forum.

Many blessings to all.

Congrats on your amazing success, now go for the PenFed Plat Visa Sig and get that 50K CC SL limit. For you it will not even be an issue, they even gave it to a credit bumb like me lol.

Re: I pray that my testimony encourages others

RonM21 — Fri, 15 Jul 2016 23:09:56 GMT

I started my rebuild a couple of years ago and have come far, but this still inspires me!! Excellent job!

Re: I pray that my testimony encourages others

Anonymous — Sat, 16 Jul 2016 00:54:52 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
@PastorH wrote:
I subscribed to myFICO in September, 2013. At that time I had a couple of old credit cards with balance, a 30yr mortgage, and a FICO score of 689. I began to review posts on this site and to ask for advice. I got some good counsel and made some good friends. Early on, I got an AMEX Green (wanted the Classic) and a Chase Freedom. (Low CL) As time went on, I applied for credit wisely, (as per myFICO) and applied what I thought was the most important advice received - Pay-in-Full every month. My Credit Scores (FICO and the 3 Bureaus) and CLs consistently increased, and my utilization decreased. i eventually applied and was approved for an AMEX BCE, Discover, a Visa and MC with my local bank. I also refinanced my mortgage down to a 15yr mortgage at half the interest and a lower payment. I went into the Garden some time ago and haven't left. I currently have $49,000 in credit limits, (may not be much for some) and my utilization is at 3%. Best of all, my quarterly myFico Score was 837 in May, but as of July, Discover and AMEX have it at 840!

I really feel that the key is not over-extending or carrying much balance, to apply for credit using good judgement, and following the advise of myFICO Forum.

I am now wondering if there is any card I may want to apply for. (Any suggestions?)

I hope that anyone needing it is encouraged, and thank the myFIFO Forum.

Many blessings to all.
Congrats on your amazing success, now go for the PenFed Plat Visa Sig and get that 50K CC SL limit. For you it will not even be an issue, they even gave it to a credit bumb like me lol.

LOL...50K SL.....that's the first time I have heard about this....new goal for me!!!

@OP which bank/lender did you refinance your mortgage with?

Re: I pray that my testimony encourages others

Anonymous — Sat, 16 Jul 2016 01:00:04 GMT

Nice! I just have a ton of inquiries across all my 3 reports. Once they fall off, I should be well over 800. Thanks for the motivational story.

Re: I pray that my testimony encourages others

Anonymous — Sat, 16 Jul 2016 01:09:37 GMT

Like others have said, thanks for sharing your story. It really does give other people who are in the process of trying to rebuild/build up their credit so kind of hope. I am fairly new in the rebuild process and reading stories like yours lets me know that I can get there with time and smart decisions

Re: I pray that my testimony encourages others

AverageJoesCredit — Sat, 16 Jul 2016 01:12:11 GMT

Thanks for sharing your story , it definetly inspires me. Once my bk7 falls off next year and late payments from 7 years ago fall off, my report should be clean and then i want to work on reducing my current lineup to something more suited to my profile. I hope my continually paying on time, not looking for new credit and cleaning up my reports i can achieve a nice level such as yourself and some other wonderful examples i have found here on the forum. Thanks PastorH and to all Myfico!!

Re: I pray that my testimony encourages others

Kidcat — Sun, 17 Jul 2016 00:11:20 GMT

@PastorH wrote:
I subscribed to myFICO in September, 2013. At that time I had a couple of old credit cards with balance, a 30yr mortgage, and a FICO score of 689. I began to review posts on this site and to ask for advice. I got some good counsel and made some good friends. Early on, I got an AMEX Green (wanted the Classic) and a Chase Freedom. (Low CL) As time went on, I applied for credit wisely, (as per myFICO) and applied what I thought was the most important advice received - Pay-in-Full every month. My Credit Scores (FICO and the 3 Bureaus) and CLs consistently increased, and my utilization decreased. i eventually applied and was approved for an AMEX BCE, Discover, a Visa and MC with my local bank. I also refinanced my mortgage down to a 15yr mortgage at half the interest and a lower payment. I went into the Garden some time ago and haven't left. I currently have $49,000 in credit limits, (may not be much for some) and my utilization is at 3%. Best of all, my quarterly myFico Score was 837 in May, but as of July, Discover and AMEX have it at 840!

I really feel that the key is not over-extending or carrying much balance, to apply for credit using good judgement, and following the advise of myFICO Forum.

I am now wondering if there is any card I may want to apply for. (Any suggestions?)

I hope that anyone needing it is encouraged, and thank the myFIFO Forum.

Many blessings to all.

Preach

Re: I pray that my testimony encourages others

PastorH — Sun, 17 Jul 2016 00:37:09 GMT

Thanks Monoglot

The re-fi was with my local bank here in P.R. Thanks.

Re: I pray that my testimony encourages others

PastorH — Sun, 17 Jul 2016 00:38:16 GMT

Het, paperchasers...

I'm pulling for you!

Re: I pray that my testimony encourages others

Anonymous — Sun, 17 Jul 2016 00:37:02 GMT

That's awesome!

Re: I pray that my testimony encourages others

PastorH — Fri, 16 Sep 2016 16:00:58 GMT

Really rooting for you!

Re: I pray that my testimony encourages others

Anonymous — Sat, 17 Sep 2016 04:58:40 GMT

Uhmmm....

!!!!!!!!!!😃😃<_________________NOIIICE__________________>😃😃!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Re: I pray that my testimony encourages others

greent — Sat, 17 Sep 2016 05:07:48 GMT

Thanks. Very inspiring. I hope to get to the 800 mark soon. I was at 595 last October, now at 702.So hopefully I can raise my score 100 points from October on.

Re: I pray that my testimony encourages others

PastorH — Sat, 17 Sep 2016 13:51:45 GMT

Great progress, greent!

Re: I pray that my testimony encourages others

Anonymous — Sat, 17 Sep 2016 15:58:29 GMT

@PastorH wrote:
I currently have $49,000 in credit limits, (may not be much for some)

First off, congrats on your financial successes.

Secondly, I honestly think $49k in revolving credit is an awesome amount of exposure. I think mine is around $120k or so, and it's actually embarrassing since my income is only $80k. One of my medium-term goals is to get my total exposure to around $50k-$60k, which means whittling my cards down to 3 or maybe 4.

Third, having said all of that, I'd vote that you not apply for any cards unless it strictly offers something you need. But that's just me.

Re: I pray that my testimony encourages others

Anonymous — Sat, 17 Sep 2016 16:50:04 GMT

@greent wrote:
Thanks. Very inspiring. I hope to get to the 800 mark soon. I was at 595 last October, now at 702.So hopefully I can raise my score 100 points from October on.

That's awesome!!!

Re: I pray that my testimony encourages others

Bman70 — Sat, 17 Sep 2016 20:37:00 GMT

Great job building credit. I think the mortgage account must really help in boosting those 800s. I'm finally in low 800s again with EQ and EX, TU lagging a bit. But one of the lingering factors that lowers my score is "lack of recent mortgage account."

One thing that would really help, for those who aspire to reach 800s, would be some details like how many inquiries you have, average age of your accounts, oldest and newest account, etc.