topic Re: Garden Club Thread - August 2016 in Credit Cards

Garden Club Thread - August 2016

Kenny — Mon, 01 Aug 2016 04:48:17 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 - August 2016

darwin_wins — Mon, 01 Aug 2016 04:15:10 GMT

Yay! First page. Another month without apping ( was tempted though). May be August will bring some good news on EX front.

Re: Garden Club - August 2016

Saleen099 — Mon, 01 Aug 2016 04:17:06 GMT

Night everyone!!!! Will update later.

Re: Garden Club - August 2016

Imperfectfuture — Mon, 01 Aug 2016 04:18:17 GMT

Darwin Wins takes initiative (other thread will need to be closed.)

GOOOD MOOORRRNING or GOOOD EEVVEEENING Garden Clubbers. Still holding strong, only left because BECU offered PLOC when opened account. All is well (except employer has my profile screwed up in computer).

GOOD LUCK with this month's goals.

Re: Garden Club - August 2016

Anonymous — Mon, 01 Aug 2016 04:26:56 GMT

6 weeks left to a silver spade!

Re: Garden Club - August 2016

Anonymous — Mon, 01 Aug 2016 04:28:20 GMT

Well, made it more than three months now, just updated my sig accordingly, as well as with current scores. Just called Amex, Citi, and Discover asking for an APR decrease. Now I was really only looking to lower Citi, it's ridiculous with their 23.24% APR, by far my highest, second being 19.99% on Blispay, but they "had no offers available" for my account. Very disappointing, All of them had no offers available, but I'm really only disappointed with Citi. Especially since after initially apping for the card I got an offer in the mail for 12.99%, which of course they wouldn't give to me, now they can't even throw me a bone and lower it to 20%. Whatever, I can't complain, I've gotten over $200 cash back to date from that card and I have never actually paid interest anyway.... /rant

Re: Garden Club - August 2016

Saleen099 — Mon, 01 Aug 2016 04:29:21 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
6 weeks left to a silver spade!

Nice Sandibeach22.

Re: Garden Club - August 2016

LuckyBird — Mon, 01 Aug 2016 04:37:30 GMT

Good luck this month, Garden Clubbers! Nothing new for me, just rockin' along.

Re: Garden Club - August 2016

Imperfectfuture — Mon, 01 Aug 2016 04:38:07 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
Well, made it more than three months now, just updated my sig accordingly, as well as with current scores. Just called Amex, Citi, and Discover asking for an APR decrease. Now I was really only looking to lower Citi, it's ridiculous with their 23.24% APR, by far my highest, second being 19.99% on Blispay, but they "had no offers available" for my account. Very disappointing, All of them had no offers available, but I'm really only disappointed with Citi. Especially since after initially apping for the card I got an offer in the mail for 12.99%, which of course they wouldn't give to me, now they can't even throw me a bone and lower it to 20%. Whatever, I can't complain, I've gotten over $200 cash back to date from that card and I have never actually paid interest anyway.... /rant

Sorry to hear, the banks want some profit now (not popular with this forum).

Re: Garden Club - August 2016

805orbust — Mon, 01 Aug 2016 04:47:20 GMT

Niiiiice. I'm in!

Re: Garden Club Thread - August 2016

805orbust — Mon, 01 Aug 2016 04:53:00 GMT

Although I'm gonna have my little seedling for a few more weeks. I joined PenFed a few days ago in anticipation of a car loan in a year, and a mortgage after that... didn't app for anything, but fair is fair :-)

Re: Garden Club Thread - August 2016

Imperfectfuture — Mon, 01 Aug 2016 04:57:24 GMT

@805orbust wrote:
Although I'm gonna have my little seedling for a few more weeks. I joined PenFed a few days ago in anticipation of a car loan in a year, and a mortgage after that... didn't app for anything, but fair is fair :-)

Actually, a hard pull for credit union membership does not restart garden date. It is actual credit applied/given (as my soft pull PLOC offer with BECU, no hard pull for anything, but given new line of credit). Ergo, you can keep gardening date until you actually apply for those products.

Re: Garden Club Thread - August 2016

805orbust — Mon, 01 Aug 2016 05:34:27 GMT

REALLY!? That is awesome! Totally cool. Nah, not apping for anything with them for at least 9-12 months, just getting the ball rolling and parking some cash there in anticipation of playing nice with them. THANKS for the info!

Re: Garden Club Thread - August 2016

Anonymous — Mon, 01 Aug 2016 05:41:07 GMT

Hello Friends!!

Happy August! A brand new month!!!!!

Wishing you all a very very successful month!

Re: Garden Club Thread - August 2016

irunfromcredit — Mon, 01 Aug 2016 05:41:11 GMT

Greetings gardeners!!!! Woohoo, made it to August... Will earn my bronze spade on Thursday, and looking forward to it. I really have nothing to report on the credit front, well maybe utilization has increased a bit, I'm on vacation and used my cards but will pay off at the end of the week. I'm hoping to see if my score goes up any this month. I didn't see much movement in July, just 2 point increase on TU.

In non credit news, I ran the San Francisco marathon this morning, whoa was it difficult...never ending hills! But, I got to run the Golden Gate Bridge and saw Mark Zuckerberg running the half marathon. Very cool event!!

thats all I got, have a great week all!!!

Re: Garden Club Thread - August 2016

Anonymous — Mon, 01 Aug 2016 05:41:57 GMT

One month in and still here.

Re: Garden Club Thread - August 2016

Discover2016 — Mon, 01 Aug 2016 05:58:01 GMT

Earned my gold spade!! It's been 6mo since my United Club approval and still gardening. Two inquiries will age past 1yr this month and in September 5 more will stop affecting my score

Re: Garden Club Thread - August 2016

Anonymous — Mon, 01 Aug 2016 07:46:19 GMT

I'm just going to plant myself right here. This is where I need to be for a few months. *starts digging a hole*

EDIT: Not sure how to add the HTML seedling to my signature. Anyone wanna throw me a tip? I would appreciate it.

Re: Garden Club Thread - August 2016

Anonymous — Mon, 01 Aug 2016 08:06:32 GMT

Still here!

Re: Garden Club Thread - August 2016

Anonymous — Mon, 01 Aug 2016 08:53:37 GMT

Happy August GC!! Looking forward to getting my silver spade in a couple weeks!

Not much new in credit world...will be going for Penfed 90 CLI's within the next two weeks, and for my first 30 day Discover CLI after the 90 day bump in July.

Have fun!!