topic Re: The Garden is an evil place.... in Credit Cards

The Garden is an evil place....

pizza1 — Mon, 12 Sep 2016 14:21:19 GMT

So, here I am, rocking along in my 3rd month in garden, and feeling proud of myself with no desire for anything and BAM!

While checking all my accts this morning, Out of the blue BOFA decides that I'm eligible for a CLI on my Cash Rewards card. This is the first time that the CLI button popped up on my acct since I've had it. Ugh!! I've had No INQ on TU since May!

I will remain strong, but have come to the community for encouragement lol!! 😔

just a a little info for those curious.....I run about $275-$300 per month thru it, PIF before statement cuts.

Also...received my 1st ever BT offer from Cap1 on my Venture card! 0% / 18mo 3%fee. They are also PIF monthly but after statements cuts, and run about $1500-$2800 thru it monthly.

Re: The Garden is an evil place....

Anonymous — Mon, 12 Sep 2016 14:26:13 GMT

Of course it is your choice, but it is really not worth it, imho. It will still be there when you are ready to leave the garden.

Re: The Garden is an evil place....

Discover2016 — Mon, 12 Sep 2016 14:30:21 GMT

@pizza1 wrote:
So, here I am, rocking along in my 3rd month in garden, and feeling proud of myself with no desire for anything and BAM!

While checking all my accts this morning, Out of the blue BOFA decides that I'm eligible for a CLI on my Cash Rewards card. This is the first time that the CLI button popped up on my acct since I've had it. Ugh!! I've had No INQ on TU since May!

I will remain strong, but have come to the community for encouragement lol!! 😔

just a a little info for those curious.....I run about $275-$300 per month thru it, PIF before statement cuts.

Also...received my 1st ever BT offer from Cap1 on my Venture card! 0% / 18mo 3%fee. They are also PIF monthly but after statements cuts, and run about $1500-$2800 thru it monthly.

I can confirm from experience with BofA that they seem to relax after you garden for 3-6 months, you'll see CLI link appear and card prequals start to show up. Gardening is healthy!

Re: The Garden is an evil place....

Vegas4Play — Mon, 12 Sep 2016 14:37:26 GMT

Stay strong don't do it...you don't need it.

Re: The Garden is an evil place....

Discover2016 — Mon, 12 Sep 2016 14:46:27 GMT

Nobody beats BofA when it comes to HP CLI's, they are the most generous. That being said, I think you should wait and garden, maybe 6mo+, that will increase the size of the CLI's. In no time at all your Cashrewards will be a Visa Signature with a generous limit

Re: The Garden is an evil place....

Anonymous — Mon, 12 Sep 2016 16:53:51 GMT

Sorry, I am new. what is gardening?? I am guessing when you sit on your CC's and let your score rise?? Tips on gardening??

Also, Off topic (maybe not): My credit score dropped 6 points because I actually used one my CC's and reached 31% UTL (I think that's the word I am looking for, lol) Once i lower it next month will I recover?? I have to ALWAYS have it under 30%??? HELP!!!! Can you can see i am a newbie. I just want the basics I'm not sure where I went wrong. Well minus the over 30% part.

I have 3 credit cards: Navy Federal Rewards Card $500

Finger Hut: $200.00

Credit One: $300.00

CREDIT ONE: (I KNOW, I already paid the annual fee before coming to this forum. My plan was to close it at the 1 year point. I am scared closing it now will lower my credit or should i just bite the bullet and close it NOW??) *covers eyes*

Thank you for any advice you have!!!

Re: The Garden is an evil place....

Anonymous — Tue, 13 Sep 2016 17:35:13 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
Sorry, I am new. what is gardening?? I am guessing when you sit on your CC's and let your score rise?? Tips on gardening??

Also, Off topic (maybe not): My credit score dropped 6 points because I actually used one my CC's and reached 31% UTL (I think that's the word I am looking for, lol) Once i lower it next month will I recover?? I have to ALWAYS have it under 30%??? HELP!!!! Can you can see i am a newbie. I just want the basics I'm not sure where I went wrong. Well minus the over 30% part.

I have 3 credit cards: Navy Federal Rewards Card $500
Finger Hut: $200.00
Credit One: $300.00

CREDIT ONE: (I KNOW, I already paid the annual fee before coming to this forum. My plan was to close it at the 1 year point. I am scared closing it now will lower my credit or should i just bite the bullet and close it NOW??) *covers eyes*

Thank you for any advice you have!!!

Welcome to the board! Close Credit One now and no need to feel embarrassed.

Have you tried to apply to Capital One? That would seem to be a good card given your above lineup and limits.

Ideally you want 1 card reporting at under 10%. Realistically, that can be difficult when your cards have low limits. There is good information in the FICO scoring section related to your question.

pizza, agree with the other advice provided here and I would suggest to wait.

Re: The Garden is an evil place....

Anonymous — Mon, 12 Sep 2016 17:34:26 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:
Sorry, I am new. what is gardening?? I am guessing when you sit on your CC's and let your score rise?? Tips on gardening??

Also, Off topic (maybe not): My credit score dropped 6 points because I actually used one my CC's and reached 31% UTL (I think that's the word I am looking for, lol) Once i lower it next month will I recover?? I have to ALWAYS have it under 30%??? HELP!!!! Can you can see i am a newbie. I just want the basics I'm not sure where I went wrong. Well minus the over 30% part.

I have 3 credit cards: Navy Federal Rewards Card $500
Finger Hut: $200.00
Credit One: $300.00

CREDIT ONE: (I KNOW, I already paid the annual fee before coming to this forum. My plan was to close it at the 1 year point. I am scared closing it now will lower my credit or should i just bite the bullet and close it NOW??) *covers eyes*

Thank you for any advice you have!!!

Welcome to the board! Close Credit One now and no need to feel embarassed.

Have you tried to apply to Capital One? That would seem to be a good card given your above lineup and limits.

Ideally you want 1 card reporting at under 10%. Realistically, that can be difficult when your cards have low limits. There is good information in the FICO scoring section related to your question.

pizza, agree with the other advice provided here and I would suggest to wait.

Thank you so much for your response. I will pay my balance Friday and CLOSE Credit One!!! Thank you!!!

Re: The Garden is an evil place....

Beckhsrules — Mon, 12 Sep 2016 17:50:12 GMT

Stay strong bro. BofA CLI is definitely not worth a HP when you can get 400+ bonus with other creditors easily.

Re: The Garden is an evil place....

AverageJoesCredit — Mon, 12 Sep 2016 18:05:51 GMT

Haha Pizza is a bra! Bro! Garden harden Pizza! Like everyones saying, your cli will be there in a couple months and it will be even sweeter Cheers

Re: The Garden is an evil place....

baller4life — Mon, 12 Sep 2016 18:23:01 GMT

Lmao @ AverageJoes....What the?

Re: The Garden is an evil place....

Anonymous — Mon, 12 Sep 2016 18:20:13 GMT

"Stay strong bro. BofA CLI is definitely not worth a HP when you can get 400+ bonus with other creditors easily. "
_____________________________________________________

I feel like BOA is really good with cli requests and is typically worth it, if you're at a point where your profile supports it. My cash rewards started at $2500. Around 6 months the link appeared and I requested 10k. They counter offered with 6700. Was with the pull on TU for me. Only had one inquiry there.

But OP, if you're committed to the garden , then it's your choice. The opportunity will arise again at some point and you may get a better increase than what's waiting for you now. If I had waited, maybe I would have the full 10k. Will never know.

Re: The Garden is an evil place....

Anonymous — Mon, 12 Sep 2016 19:05:02 GMT

Unless you NEED the increase right now for something you can wait. I can FARM crops in real life but i cant garden on here go figure.
Stay strong and only hit that LUV button when it feels right.

Re: The Garden is an evil place....

Anonymous — Mon, 12 Sep 2016 20:16:15 GMT

Don't do it Pizza!

Re: The Garden is an evil place....

NRB525 — Mon, 12 Sep 2016 20:48:32 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:
Sorry, I am new. what is gardening?? I am guessing when you sit on your CC's and let your score rise?? Tips on gardening??

Also, Off topic (maybe not): My credit score dropped 6 points because I actually used one my CC's and reached 31% UTL (I think that's the word I am looking for, lol) Once i lower it next month will I recover?? I have to ALWAYS have it under 30%??? HELP!!!! Can you can see i am a newbie. I just want the basics I'm not sure where I went wrong. Well minus the over 30% part.

I have 3 credit cards: Navy Federal Rewards Card $500
Finger Hut: $200.00
Credit One: $300.00

CREDIT ONE: (I KNOW, I already paid the annual fee before coming to this forum. My plan was to close it at the 1 year point. I am scared closing it now will lower my credit or should i just bite the bullet and close it NOW??) *covers eyes*

Thank you for any advice you have!!!

Welcome to the board! Close Credit One now and no need to feel embarassed.

Have you tried to apply to Capital One? That would seem to be a good card given your above lineup and limits.

Ideally you want 1 card reporting at under 10%. Realistically, that can be difficult when your cards have low limits. There is good information in the FICO scoring section related to your question.

pizza, agree with the other advice provided here and I would suggest to wait.
Thank you so much for your response. I will pay my balance Friday and CLOSE Credit One!!! Thank you!!!

Not so fast. Recy, as a new member, please take your time in making choices about opening and closing cards. Yes, all else being equal, one would not choose to have Credit One, but there are several aspects to your file where it makes sense.

You only have 3 low limit cards.

You already paid the AF, so until the next AF gets close, you are benefitting from having the card. It helps your overall utilization, while building your file.

You will indeed want to figure out how to minimize any monthly or transaction or payment fees from Credit One, but take the time to think through the real options. Credit One is not inherently evil, it is just a way to build credit from a shaky foundation, which you have to pay fees to get.

As to the 30% utilization question, on your cards, utilization is going to be very difficult to keep low, so I'd suggest not worrying about it except when you are looking ahead to possible apps. Use the Navy Fed card as your main card, always pay the statement balance by the statement due date, and keep thinking and reading about what cards will make sense later on. After a few months, you will have learned more, and your decisions will be more educated, personalized to your circumstances.

Good luck!

Re: The Garden is an evil place....

Anonymous — Mon, 12 Sep 2016 20:54:21 GMT

@Discover2016 wrote:
Nobody beats BofA when it comes to HP CLI's, they are the most generous. That being said, I think you should wait and garden, maybe 6mo+, that will increase the size of the CLI's. In no time at all your Cashrewards will be a Visa Signature with a generous limit

Do you have to call BOA for the signature? My CL with my BOA Cash Rewards is 9500 and I don't have the signature...

I also noticed BOA doesn't give out platimum, gold cards etc

Re: The Garden is an evil place....

Anonymous — Mon, 12 Sep 2016 20:59:33 GMT

That is your opinion only about Credit One. Here's mine. Close Credit One as you have better cards you can focus on, between applying for Capital One and working with the cards you have now. Members on here have reported many hassles in dealing with Credit One and you're better off not having to deal with them at all. 😀

Re: The Garden is an evil place....

Aahz — Mon, 12 Sep 2016 21:16:50 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
Of course it is your choice, but it is really not worth it, imho. It will still be there when you are ready to leave the garden.

This is one of the aspects of gsardening that I simply don't understand.

If you intend to take the hard pull anyway, I'd prefer to take it sooner rathern than later. Taking the pull and getting the CLI now instead of whatever predertimned time you've set to leave the garden means this inquiry will be that much older when you're ready to app again. Additionally, you'll have a higher Credit Line on this card for that fresh app and that generally leads to higher starting lines on new cards.

Waiting just means you have a fresh inquiry when doing those post-garden apps and have to wait even longer for this inquiry to age off.

Re: The Garden is an evil place....

elim — Mon, 12 Sep 2016 21:21:51 GMT

CLI button... yummy... mwahahahaha

Re: The Garden is an evil place....

Anonymous — Tue, 13 Sep 2016 00:22:22 GMT

@Aahz wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:
Of course it is your choice, but it is really not worth it, imho. It will still be there when you are ready to leave the garden.
This is one of the aspects of gsardening that I simply don't understand.

If you intend to take the hard pull anyway, I'd prefer to take it sooner rathern than later. Taking the pull and getting the CLI now instead of whatever predertimned time you've set to leave the garden means this inquiry will be that much older when you're ready to app again. Additionally, you'll have a higher Credit Line on this card for that fresh app and that generally leads to higher starting lines on new cards.

Waiting just means you have a fresh inquiry when doing those post-garden apps and have to wait even longer for this inquiry to age off.

amen, and an easy way to make that 1500cl become 15k....