topic Re: UPDATE: Girl with 17 credit cards in Credit Cards

UPDATE: Girl with 17 credit cards

Anonymous — Tue, 27 Sep 2016 03:20:48 GMT

Hey everyone,

It's been a little while since I've been on. I still have all 17 of my credit cards and it has been 2 ish months since I've applied to any credit cards. Lately, I've been busy with school so I don't feel the need to app but when I go on the approval forum, I just want to apply!! Anyways, my credit score has stayed the same, I've been paying my credit cards on time and sometimes I've struggled with realizing that credit card isn't free money! But don't worry, I've always held a balance that I can pay. Anyways, I'm hoping to get a best buy visa and american express card by the end of year once some of my inquiries have fallen off. But I guess my only question is, will my credit score continue to increase? My score ranges from 688-713 across all three scores and they are increasing oh so SLOWLY. I remember 5 months ago when I had no credit and my score jumped by a hundred and some points after I applied for my first few cards.

Re: UPDATE: Girl with 17 credit cards

Pway — Tue, 27 Sep 2016 03:37:59 GMT

I understand the urge to app but Citi and Amex will not like all the accounts you have opened in such a short time frame. If you continue to open accounts your scores will not be that high, they will decrease. Your scores are increasing so slowly becaus you have opened so many accounts in such a short time frame. If it was me I would not open any more accounts this year. The creditors you have are watching you very closely, you want to stay off their radar to avoid AA, or even account closure.

Remember inquiries remain on your reports for two years.

Re: UPDATE: Girl with 17 credit cards

Anonymous — Tue, 27 Sep 2016 05:54:08 GMT

You're going to need to garden for more than 2 months.. Lenders get scared from too many accounts in such a short period of time.

Re: UPDATE: Girl with 17 credit cards

Anonymous — Tue, 27 Sep 2016 11:53:23 GMT

As was mentioned to you over in the "Understanding FICO scoring" section where you posted this as well, you are confusing the correlation between opening up so many credit cards and your score increasing. For a new credit profile such as yours, opening up 3-5 cards max is all you need to start building history and a score. Any more than that is unnecessary. The reason your score has been rising since opening up cards is that you started with a very low score as everyone does that's just getting their profile going, so it's natural for it to increase and often quite a bit in the first year or year and a half. You have been mistakingly assuming that since you've been opening up so many cards and your score has been rising during this time that opening all of the cards has been the reason your score has continued to rise. This isn't true; your score has continued to rise because you're establishing more credit history, and good history with your accounts being in good standing.

A couple of basic facts here:

1 - If you had only opened 3-5 credit cards rather than 17, your score would actually be higher now than it is as you'd have a 12-14 less inquiries.

2 - Your AAoA would also be higher today if you originally had only opened say 3-5 cards; by opening 17 chances are you're at < 1 year AAoA today when you could be > 1 year AAoA which would positively impact your scores.

3 - If you closed half of your cards today, outside of the utilization change, your score wouldn't change at all based on the accounts being closed. Again, the number of accounts you have is not helping your scores and based on the other 2 points above they are actually hurting your scores to some degree.

I would strongly suggest not applying for any new credit any time soon. I'd even go further and suggest closing any of the accounts opened in the last couple of months if they were sort of impulse apps that you honestly can't see yourself using the card very much going forward. After closing them you could request that all reported information be deleted, so the account could be removed from your credit reports and positively impact your AAoA.

Re: UPDATE: Girl with 17 credit cards

sarge12 — Tue, 27 Sep 2016 12:47:33 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
Hey everyone,

It's been a little while since I've been on. I still have all 17 of my credit cards and it has been 2 ish months since I've applied to any credit cards. Lately, I've been busy with school so I don't feel the need to app but when I go on the approval forum, I just want to apply!! Anyways, my credit score has stayed the same, I've been paying my credit cards on time and sometimes I've struggled with realizing that credit card isn't free money! But don't worry, I've always held a balance that I can pay. Anyways, I'm hoping to get a best buy visa and american express card by the end of year once some of my inquiries have fallen off. But I guess my only question is, will my credit score continue to increase? My score ranges from 688-713 across all three scores and they are increasing oh so SLOWLY. I remember 5 months ago when I had no credit and my score jumped by a hundred and some points after I applied for my first few cards.

You need to think of credit cards as the gas pedal on a dragster....given the right amount gas the car races down the strip quickly. To much gas pedal, the tires just spin, and the car slows down. Go way too far, and it blows the engine. Your score is stalled because you are spinning the wheels. Keep pushing that pedal, and you risk blowing the engine...you are young, slow down!

Re: UPDATE: Girl with 17 credit cards

grillandwinemaster — Tue, 27 Sep 2016 13:26:21 GMT

@sarge12 wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:
Hey everyone,

It's been a little while since I've been on. I still have all 17 of my credit cards and it has been 2 ish months since I've applied to any credit cards. Lately, I've been busy with school so I don't feel the need to app but when I go on the approval forum, I just want to apply!! Anyways, my credit score has stayed the same, I've been paying my credit cards on time and sometimes I've struggled with realizing that credit card isn't free money! But don't worry, I've always held a balance that I can pay. Anyways, I'm hoping to get a best buy visa and american express card by the end of year once some of my inquiries have fallen off. But I guess my only question is, will my credit score continue to increase? My score ranges from 688-713 across all three scores and they are increasing oh so SLOWLY. I remember 5 months ago when I had no credit and my score jumped by a hundred and some points after I applied for my first few cards.
You need to think of credit cards as the gas pedal on a dragster....given the right amount gas the car races down the strip quickly. To much gas pedal, the tires just spin, and the car slows down. Go way too far, and it blows the engine. Your score is stalled because you are spinning the wheels. Keep pushing that pedal, and you risk blowing the engine...you are young, slow down!

Nice race car analogy! Here's another one for you. It's time to do some "drafting," aka gardening.

Btw, 2 months is not really gardening. After an app spree like yours, you should be gardening for at least 1 to 2 YEARS!

If it was me, I would be looking to close some if not most of those cards before you get in trouble.

Just my 2 cents...

Re: UPDATE: Girl with 17 credit cards

Anonymous — Tue, 27 Sep 2016 14:39:31 GMT

@grillandwinemaster wrote:
@sarge12 wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:
Hey everyone,

It's been a little while since I've been on. I still have all 17 of my credit cards and it has been 2 ish months since I've applied to any credit cards. Lately, I've been busy with school so I don't feel the need to app but when I go on the approval forum, I just want to apply!! Anyways, my credit score has stayed the same, I've been paying my credit cards on time and sometimes I've struggled with realizing that credit card isn't free money! But don't worry, I've always held a balance that I can pay. Anyways, I'm hoping to get a best buy visa and american express card by the end of year once some of my inquiries have fallen off. But I guess my only question is, will my credit score continue to increase? My score ranges from 688-713 across all three scores and they are increasing oh so SLOWLY. I remember 5 months ago when I had no credit and my score jumped by a hundred and some points after I applied for my first few cards.
You need to think of credit cards as the gas pedal on a dragster....given the right amount gas the car races down the strip quickly. To much gas pedal, the tires just spin, and the car slows down. Go way too far, and it blows the engine. Your score is stalled because you are spinning the wheels. Keep pushing that pedal, and you risk blowing the engine...you are young, slow down!
Nice race car analogy! Here's another one for you. It's time to do some "drafting," aka gardening.

Btw, 2 months is not really gardening. After an app spree like yours, you should be gardening for at least 1 to 2 YEARS!

If it was me, I would be looking to close some if not most of those cards before you get in trouble.

Just my 2 cents...

I always tell everyone, two months is start to a new beginning for me because I was Apping on a weekly basis. I'll just wait for my inquiries to fall off and apply some more. I'll update you on my scores in the next few months and whether I've apped some more. Hopefully not, I want to wait till at least February or even august 2017.

Re: UPDATE: Girl with 17 credit cards

Anonymous — Tue, 27 Sep 2016 14:41:40 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
As was mentioned to you over in the "Understanding FICO scoring" section where you posted this as well, you are confusing the correlation between opening up so many credit cards and your score increasing. For a new credit profile such as yours, opening up 3-5 cards max is all you need to start building history and a score. Any more than that is unnecessary. The reason your score has been rising since opening up cards is that you started with a very low score as everyone does that's just getting their profile going, so it's natural for it to increase and often quite a bit in the first year or year and a half. You have been mistakingly assuming that since you've been opening up so many cards and your score has been rising during this time that opening all of the cards has been the reason your score has continued to rise. This isn't true; your score has continued to rise because you're establishing more credit history, and good history with your accounts being in good standing.

A couple of basic facts here:

1 - If you had only opened 3-5 credit cards rather than 17, your score would actually be higher now than it is as you'd have a 12-14 less inquiries.

2 - Your AAoA would also be higher today if you originally had only opened say 3-5 cards; by opening 17 chances are you're at < 1 year AAoA today when you could be > 1 year AAoA which would positively impact your scores.

3 - If you closed half of your cards today, outside of the utilization change, your score wouldn't change at all based on the accounts being closed. Again, the number of accounts you have is not helping your scores and based on the other 2 points above they are actually hurting your scores to some degree.

I would strongly suggest not applying for any new credit any time soon. I'd even go further and suggest closing any of the accounts opened in the last couple of months if they were sort of impulse apps that you honestly can't see yourself using the card very much going forward. After closing them you could request that all reported information be deleted, so the account could be removed from your credit reports and positively impact your AAoA.

I would not close any of my accounts. Id rather wait for my inquiries to fall off or a few months down the road when they stop affecting my scores. Afterall, I do plan on applying for more ONCE MY INQUIRIES FALL OFF. Anyways, thanks for the advice. I was confused as to why my score weren't budging.

Re: UPDATE: Girl with 17 credit cards

Teo — Tue, 27 Sep 2016 14:51:22 GMT

You received really good advice on this question in the other thread you posted. Your score is not budging because you have opened too many accounts. The way to improve your score is to close the most recent accounts and NOT get more. Or you can keep doing the same thing over again hoping for different results.

Re: UPDATE: Girl with 17 credit cards

Anonymous — Tue, 27 Sep 2016 14:54:03 GMT

@Teo wrote:
You received really good advice on this question in the other thread you posted. Your score is not budging because you have opened too many accounts. The way to improve your score is to close the most recent accounts and NOT get more. Or you can keep doing the same thing over again hoping for different results.

Why do you say that? Closing certainly won't improve score, and depending on utilization, may decrease them

Re: UPDATE: Girl with 17 credit cards

Anonymous — Tue, 27 Sep 2016 15:09:04 GMT

Has anyone had success getting an account removed that was opened and then closed, not used?

Re: UPDATE: Girl with 17 credit cards

Anonymous — Tue, 27 Sep 2016 16:28:05 GMT

Teo wrote:

** I opened 17 accounts for a reason. I wouldn't be wasting my inquiries for nothing and only to close the cards I have. As someone already pointed out, if I close up, my utilization ratio goes up. I first handedly know how much my score can drop when I max out a card and my utilization ratio is 100%. In fact, it dropped by 60 points. I paid off my balance immediately and it bounced back up. My score will continue to rise as soon as my inquiries quit affecting my scores and as I develop a history with all of my cards. I will be getting more cards because why not? I like them, they improve my credit score and I enjoy having them in my wallet. As for if I'll ever get 17 cards again? Probably not. I'll probably only max out at 3-7 cards every 2 years after this. That being said, I'm sick of people wanting to get rid of my cards. It's great and dandy if you enjoy having your 3 measely cards in your wallet. I'd like to own more than that. Thank you and have a wonderful day !

Re: UPDATE: Girl with 17 credit cards

Anonymous — Tue, 27 Sep 2016 17:23:46 GMT

"I will be getting more cards because why not? I like them, they improve my credit score and I enjoy having them in my wallet."

Getting more cards will not improve your credit score from where it is now. You are not listening to what people are telling you, I wonder why you even made this thread. You are being irresponsible with your credit but you're too young and cocky to understand that. You're in that "know-it-all" phase of your life but you don't realize it. Hard to watch

Re: UPDATE: Girl with 17 credit cards

Anonymous — Tue, 27 Sep 2016 17:29:35 GMT

Also lol @ "max out at 3-7 cards every 2 years after this." That is ludicrous. You want 10 different 1.5% cash back cards? You're going to face so much AA and denials before you're even halfway there.

Re: UPDATE: Girl with 17 credit cards

Anonymous — Tue, 27 Sep 2016 17:32:13 GMT

You want your score to go up? Stop applyng for cards....simple as that. Give it 2 years, your score will improve and more importantly- take the advice you are receiving on this post and your other post rather than becoming defensive.

Re: UPDATE: Girl with 17 credit cards

Anonymous — Tue, 27 Sep 2016 17:36:35 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
"I will be getting more cards because why not? I like them, they improve my credit score and I enjoy having them in my wallet."

Getting more cards will not improve your credit score from where it is now. You are not listening to what people are telling you, I wonder why you even made this thread. You are being irresponsible with your credit but you're too young and cocky to understand that. You're in that "know-it-all" phase of your life but you don't realize it. Hard to watch

Right. You are certainly in good company here for "enjoying having them in my wallet" (which can certainly lead to over-apping) but the point that you are NOT getting is that they don't lead to an increasing score.

Early on they do as you establish lines and start getting some history.

READ THIS BIT IF NOTHING ELSE:

Adding a new line of credit has three score impacting factors (usually)

1) New inquiry. This DECREASES score to some extent

2) New account, reducing average age of account. This DECREASES score

3) Additional credit. This CAN increase score if you have a reporting balance and the new line reduces % utilization. But in general, you can control what reports anyway, so this may have no impact. The other two will.

Understand this and you can see why people are saying don't project from your early experience. Yes, your first ccs increased your score, adding more WON'T.

Re: UPDATE: Girl with 17 credit cards

Teo — Tue, 27 Sep 2016 19:29:35 GMT

Then There's the always-popular "Hey ya'll, give me advice, answer my questions - no not that advice, not those answers - you're wrong!"

@Anonymous wrote:

Getting more cards will not improve your credit score from where it is now. You are not listening to what people are telling you, I wonder why you even made this thread. You are being irresponsible with your credit but you're too young and cocky to understand that. You're in that "know-it-all" phase of your life but you don't realize it. Hard to watch

Re: UPDATE: Girl with 17 credit cards

Anonymous — Tue, 27 Sep 2016 17:47:40 GMT

@Teo wrote:
Then There's the always-popular "Hey ya'll, give me advice, answer my questions - no not that advice, not those answers - you're wrong!"
@Anonymous wrote:

Getting more cards will not improve your credit score from where it is now. You are not listening to what people are telling you, I wonder why you even made this thread. You are being irresponsible with your credit but you're too young and cocky to understand that. You're in that "know-it-all" phase of your life but you don't realize it. Hard to watch

Well, yes, except YOUR advice, close cards to improve score, doesn't seem quite right!

Re: UPDATE: Girl with 17 credit cards

Anonymous — Tue, 27 Sep 2016 17:58:44 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:

Why do you say that? Closing certainly won't improve score, and depending on utilization, may decrease them

It could if she were to request from the creditors that due to the very short age of the account(s) that the trade lines get deleted completely. Doing this could raise her AAoA which could go from < 1 year to > 1 year, for example.

Re: UPDATE: Girl with 17 credit cards

noobody — Tue, 27 Sep 2016 18:15:53 GMT

Since when you can delete trade line?

I guess it is more or less wishful thinking