topic Re: I have a 673 TU what should i do? in Credit Cards

I have a 673 TU what should i do?

wilmer007 — Mon, 24 Oct 2016 04:36:46 GMT

i've been able to slowly rebuild my credit with two CC that i've had for about 5 months (one is a BofA CC with $500 limit and the other is a Chase CC with $700 limit) but i'm unsure if i should be asking for CLI or to apply for CCs that have rewards or to not do anything and just keep building my credit.

my current scores are 673 TU, 683 Experian, and 703 Equifax (not really sure about Experian and Equifax though). i have 1 hard inqury from both Equifax and TU. but 4 from Experian.

a few weeks ago i called Chase to have my Slate card upgraded to the Chase Freedom Unlimited CC and was instantly upgraded. i really wanted the cash back rewards and since it was an upgrade i didn't generate another hard inqury but i lost the ability to monitor my Experian FICO score by switching cards which is a bummer.

i tried upgrading my platinum bankamericard CC from BofA but they tell me my CC is secured (i did not give a deposit either) and that they would have to do a hard inqury so i'm not going to waste my time with BofA anymore since chase is willing to accomodate me to keep my business. BofA also tells me that i have to wait 6-12 months before my CC is no longer secured before i can even attempt to upgrade it. which is another reason i don't plan to do business with BofA going forward.

anyway i drive alot for work (50-100 miles a day) and i would really like to have a CC for gas purchases that can give more rewards (preferably cash back) than the chase freedom unlimited and one that i would be able to qualify for aswell. i spend about $30 every two days for gas which is about $400-$450 a month on gas. i would like to be able to see my Equifax or Experian Fico Score aswell but it's not a big issue.

or should i just stick with the chase freedom unlimited for now and just continue to build my credit. i pay off the balance every 2-3 weeks so i don't even wait for the statement as i pay everything off long before the statement is generated.

Re: I have a 673 TU what should i do?

grillandwinemaster — Mon, 24 Oct 2016 04:47:56 GMT

Congrats on your success so far. What to do going forward depends a lot on your Ultimate credit goals.

What are you trying to accomplish? Home loan? Auto loan? Credit Card games? Ask yourself what you want your credit to do for you, and then you can formulate a game plan.

Best credit wishes to you!

Re: I have a 673 TU what should i do?

Anonymous — Mon, 24 Oct 2016 04:48:24 GMT

LOL the BofA cash rewards card offers one of the highest cash back percentages of any card as far as gas goes at 3%. I know you don't want to do business with them anymore but something to think about. Try and pre qualify for it and see what happens

Re: I have a 673 TU what should i do?

wilmer007 — Mon, 24 Oct 2016 05:06:38 GMT

right now i am just focused on building my credit as quickly as possible and getting reward cards. since i drive my car alot every day i need to ready for an auto loan in a few years since my 15 year old car has about 135k miles right now and it should last me a few more years. luckily i make $80k-$100k a year and have $10k+ in my checking accounts so i only need reward cards and to build up my credit for auto loans. honestly i don't even need an auto loan since i can just by a car outright by then but taking out the auto loan and then quickly paying it off just helps build my credit even faster.

Re: I have a 673 TU what should i do?

Anonymous — Mon, 24 Oct 2016 05:13:03 GMT

You should try again with bofa. DH got the partially secured 99/500 no rewards card. After we got it in the mail he got on chat and asked to have the rewards added. Since they have the partially and fully secured versions with rewards it was a simple switch for us.

Other than a rotating catagory on a freedom or discover youre not likely to get higher than 3% for gas. Discover Chrome, which im fairly sure you can still apply for, has 2% and so does the amazon chase card. I think, but dont quote me, amex blue cash everyday has a gas catagory. You could also look into what the stations you use might have. My parents travel constantly, rv retirees, and they have a few gas cards.

My point is, gas rewards are fairly easy to come by, but not many are that great.

Re: I have a 673 TU what should i do?

Anonymous — Mon, 24 Oct 2016 10:29:28 GMT

If you need a free EX, you can get it here from Discover...

https://www.discover.com/free-credit-score/

Re: I have a 673 TU what should i do?

SouthJamaica — Mon, 24 Oct 2016 12:42:34 GMT

@wilmer007 wrote:
i've been able to slowly rebuild my credit with two CC that i've had for about 5 months (one is a BofA CC with $500 limit and the other is a Chase CC with $700 limit) but i'm unsure if i should be asking for CLI or to apply for CCs that have rewards or to not do anything and just keep building my credit.

my current scores are 673 TU, 683 Experian, and 703 Equifax (not really sure about Experian and Equifax though). i have 1 hard inqury from both Equifax and TU. but 4 from Experian.

a few weeks ago i called Chase to have my Slate card upgraded to the Chase Freedom Unlimited CC and was instantly upgraded. i really wanted the cash back rewards and since it was an upgrade i didn't generate another hard inqury but i lost the ability to monitor my Experian FICO score by switching cards which is a bummer.

i tried upgrading my platinum bankamericard CC from BofA but they tell me my CC is secured (i did not give a deposit either) and that they would have to do a hard inqury so i'm not going to waste my time with BofA anymore since chase is willing to accomodate me to keep my business. BofA also tells me that i have to wait 6-12 months before my CC is no longer secured before i can even attempt to upgrade it. which is another reason i don't plan to do business with BofA going forward.

anyway i drive alot for work (50-100 miles a day) and i would really like to have a CC for gas purchases that can give more rewards (preferably cash back) than the chase freedom unlimited and one that i would be able to qualify for aswell. i spend about $30 every two days for gas which is about $400-$450 a month on gas. i would like to be able to see my Equifax or Experian Fico Score aswell but it's not a big issue.

or should i just stick with the chase freedom unlimited for now and just continue to build my credit. i pay off the balance every 2-3 weeks so i don't even wait for the statement as i pay everything off long before the statement is generated.

If I were you I'd add a third card, such as Amex BCE or Barclay Rewards.

Then I'd maintain them this way: every month let 2 cards report a zero balance and 1 card report a small balance of $25 or so. That will perk up your scores a little.

If you want to pick them up a little more, take out a savings account at a credit union like Alliant, take out a $500 share secured loan secured by the savings account with a 48 or 60 month term, turn off autopay, and pay it down to about a $45 balance. That will give you some more points.

Re: I have a 673 TU what should i do?

wilmer007 — Mon, 24 Oct 2016 19:40:47 GMT

actually i forgot to mention that i have a third CC. its the meineke CC with a $700 CL that i got for any car repairs. but now looking back i regret even applying for it since i would put any car repairs on my rewards CCs anyway and quickly pay it off.

as for the secured loan wouldn't that generate a hard inqury? i'm trying to not generate so many inquiries as i have like 3-4 on experian in the last 6 months already so i'm trying to use them very carefully from now on. i only have 1 hard inquiry on TU and EQ but their really isn't any way to know which CC application will pull from which CB.

Re: I have a 673 TU what should i do?

Anonymous — Mon, 24 Oct 2016 20:12:26 GMT

If you have a Walmart or Sam's nearby. The walmart offers cash back as a statement credit. It's 2%.

99% of the time it is a TU pull.

Usually when approved it's a low limit. But after a cycle of two they usually give a decent cli.

Re: I have a 673 TU what should i do?

Themanwhocan — Mon, 24 Oct 2016 21:22:34 GMT

Make sure you understand how to manipulate your card usage to maximize your FICO score. You don't want to keep geting cards with toy limits. http://ficoforums.myfico.com/t5/General-Credit-Topics/How-do-I-play-the-1-9-Utilization-Game-Please-Help/m-p/2471257#M199479

If you do not have any open credit lines other than credit cards, then you might consider the Alliant Share Secured loan to boost your scores. http://ficoforums.myfico.com/t5/Understanding-FICO-Scoring/Adding-an-installment-loan-the-Share-Secure-technique/m-p/4506756#M106741

Check my cash back credit card charts, to see if one of the cards that offer 5% cash back on Gas purchases are available to you. http://ficoforums.myfico.com/t5/Credit-Cards/Cash-Back-credit-card-charts/td-p/4004725

Basically, your FICO is pretty low, and you don't have much credit history. So just keep what you have for now, work on any baddies on your credit reports, and work on optimizing how much usage reports to the credit bureaus to optimize FICO scoring.

Re: I have a 673 TU what should i do?

SouthJamaica — Mon, 24 Oct 2016 21:31:07 GMT

@wilmer007 wrote:
actually i forgot to mention that i have a third CC. its the meineke CC with a $700 CL that i got for any car repairs. but now looking back i regret even applying for it since i would put any car repairs on my rewards CCs anyway and quickly pay it off.

as for the secured loan wouldn't that generate a hard inqury? i'm trying to not generate so many inquiries as i have like 3-4 on experian in the last 6 months already so i'm trying to use them very carefully from now on. i only have 1 hard inquiry on TU and EQ but their really isn't any way to know which CC application will pull from which CB.

What good is a Meineke card? What do you use it, once every 9 years or so?

Re: I have a 673 TU what should i do?

Anonymous — Mon, 24 Oct 2016 21:31:25 GMT

I would garden until all you scores are above 700. Your scores are good but not enough history. I'm gardening myself until all my scores are in 700s.

Then you would have built some more history, worked on baddies, and will have a access to premium cards with better starting limits.

Re: I have a 673 TU what should i do?

wilmer007 — Tue, 25 Oct 2016 18:02:04 GMT

i just got another pre approval snail mail for the discover it cc. thats the second one in 2-3 weeks. should i apply for it to help get rid of the "too few accounts paid as agreed".

Re: I have a 673 TU what should i do?

Themanwhocan — Tue, 25 Oct 2016 23:21:36 GMT

@wilmer007 wrote:
i just got another pre approval snail mail for the discover it cc. thats the second one in 2-3 weeks. should i apply for it to help get rid of the "too few accounts paid as agreed".

No. You need your credit history to age, your recent inquiries to age, you need to optimize the credit card utilization properly, othewise you will be stuck with yet another toy limit that will be difficult to increase.

Discover isn't going to forsake you if you decline their mailed advertisements.

Re: I have a 673 TU what should i do?

wilmer007 — Wed, 26 Oct 2016 03:57:14 GMT

well guys i took a gamble and applied for the AMEX Blue Cash Preferred and was approved with a $1400 CL. i was hoping to get maybe $2k-$5k but it's better than nothing and i was scared that i would not get approved since it was a shot in the dark.

i carefully looked over other cards but after seeing that AMEX is great at increasing CL and how others were getting approved with scores lower than me i decided to try my luck.

i really wanted this card because of the 6% CB (and the constant CL increases from AMEX aswell) and now i'll be able to buy gas gift cards at publix and save money and then i'll still get 3% CB at the pump once i hit the $6k limit.

now that i have the best CC for gas and groceries i won't apply for any new credit for a while and just garden my score. i do however plan to apply for the penfed platinum cash rewards plus as i get closer to maxing the $6000 spending limit on the BCP. this way when my 6% dissappears i can still get 5% on gas from the other card.