topic Re: Garden Club - May 2017 in Credit Cards

Garden Club - May 2017

Anonymous — Mon, 01 May 2017 05:19:32 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 à la 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 - May 2017

Anonymous — Mon, 01 May 2017 05:09:03 GMT

Happy may!! 45 days down!!

Re: Garden Club - May 2017

Discover2016 — Mon, 01 May 2017 05:09:55 GMT

Still gardening! I also earned my ruby spade!

Re: Garden Club - May 2017

UncleB — Mon, 01 May 2017 05:28:29 GMT

Happy May Everybody!!

It will soon be four months since my January "acquisitions", and in a couple of weeks it will have been a full year since my additions last May (I had quite a few in May 2016 since my reports were clean for the first time in 16 years). It will be interesting to see if I get a score bump from those HPs finally being a year old.

No plans for any 'official' additions, but I do plan to join Alliant Credit Union in the next few weeks, and I'll be taking out a share-secured loan with them to get the 'boost' from adding an installment account. While that will start my garden date over, IMO it's one of those times where it's worth it, and even then I'll know that I've not had any new HPs in months which is itself an accomplishment! (LOL)

Re: Garden Club - May 2017

CreditMagic7 — Mon, 01 May 2017 05:30:24 GMT

Checking in for MONTH 5 in this gardening stage.

Re: Garden Club - May 2017

Discover2016 — Mon, 01 May 2017 06:03:16 GMT

@UncleB wrote:
Happy May Everybody!!

It will soon be four months since my January "acquisitions", and in a couple of weeks it will have been a full year since my additions last May (I had quite a few in May 2016 since my reports were clean for the first time in 16 years). It will be interesting to see if I get a score bump from those HPs finally being a year old.

No plans for any 'official' additions, but I do plan to join Alliant Credit Union in the next few weeks, and I'll be taking out a share-secured loan with them to get the 'boost' from adding an installment account. While that will start my garden date over, IMO it's one of those times where it's worth it, and even then I'll know that I've not had any new HPs in months which is itself an accomplishment! (LOL)

I was about to ask you if you have had the Amex personal loan pop up. The Alliant loans are great too, I was planning on getting one last year but then Amex offered the loans.

Re: Garden Club - May 2017

Anonymous — Mon, 01 May 2017 07:15:32 GMT

May 28, 2017 = 8 months

Re: Garden Club - May 2017

Anonymous — Mon, 01 May 2017 07:26:13 GMT

@Discover2016 wrote:
Still gardening! I also earned my ruby spade!

Congrats on your ruby spade! Sweet accomplishment! Keep up the good work!!

Re: Garden Club - May 2017

UncleB — Mon, 01 May 2017 07:31:45 GMT

@Discover2016 wrote:
@UncleB wrote:
Happy May Everybody!!

It will soon be four months since my January "acquisitions", and in a couple of weeks it will have been a full year since my additions last May (I had quite a few in May 2016 since my reports were clean for the first time in 16 years). It will be interesting to see if I get a score bump from those HPs finally being a year old.

No plans for any 'official' additions, but I do plan to join Alliant Credit Union in the next few weeks, and I'll be taking out a share-secured loan with them to get the 'boost' from adding an installment account. While that will start my garden date over, IMO it's one of those times where it's worth it, and even then I'll know that I've not had any new HPs in months which is itself an accomplishment! (LOL)
I was about to ask you if you have had the Amex personal loan pop up. The Alliant loans are great too, I was planning on getting one last year but then Amex offered the loans.

Excellent question... unfortunately I've not seen the offer anywhere on my dashboard since that one time back in the fall.

I was a big dummy... had I taken the offer back in the fall it would have been a 'quick-and-dirty' fix to my lack of installment loan problem. I hesitated, though, since at the time I had recently added a new Chase account (IHG) and had also just received a CLI from Navy. I was afraid Amex would 'freak' if I gave them any reason to take a closer look, but now I realize I shouldn't have been concerned.

While I've heard nothing but good things about Alliant, I doubt I'll have a reason to use them beyond the SSL (I'm "well-fed" with NFCU and USAA) and I would have much preferred to take advantage of an existing relationship (like Amex) but it wasn't meant to be. At least they'll get a donation out of me (and a wee-bit of interest) so I guess in the end it will all work out.

Re: Garden Club - May 2017

Anonymous — Mon, 01 May 2017 07:42:45 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
Happy may!! 45 days down!!

Congrats on getting 45 days underneath your belt!!

Re: Garden Club - May 2017

Anonymous — Mon, 01 May 2017 07:43:34 GMT

@UncleB wrote:
Happy May Everybody!!

It will soon be four months since my January "acquisitions", and in a couple of weeks it will have been a full year since my additions last May (I had quite a few in May 2016 since my reports were clean for the first time in 16 years). It will be interesting to see if I get a score bump from those HPs finally being a year old.

No plans for any 'official' additions, but I do plan to join Alliant Credit Union in the next few weeks, and I'll be taking out a share-secured loan with them to get the 'boost' from adding an installment account. While that will start my garden date over, IMO it's one of those times where it's worth it, and even then I'll know that I've not had any new HPs in months which is itself an accomplishment! (LOL)

Congrats on 4 months!!

Re: Garden Club - May 2017

Anonymous — Mon, 01 May 2017 07:48:10 GMT

@CreditMagic7 wrote:
Checking in for MONTH 5 in this gardening stage.

Congrats on 5 months of gardening!!

Re: Garden Club - May 2017

Revelate — Mon, 01 May 2017 07:57:39 GMT

Still doing fine, other than I keep catching whatever Asian virus/cold/flu is running around every single country I visit apparently .

Earned my silver spade last month, plan is still to hold pat for the rest of 2017 and get as clean as possible (which this time should be Zestfully clean on two bureaus, finally after 6 years!) which maybe, just maybe, might happen by July: have to see how NCAP plays out then it's just inquiry fading time through January.

Either way have a life change which will likely come somewhere in the first part of next year, and it would behoove me to get my file as pretty as possible before then even if I might be at a score level it just doesn't matter at that point... one can always hope haha!

Not like I need more than 29 tradelines (some closed!) on my report anyway

Re: Garden Club - May 2017

Anonymous — Mon, 01 May 2017 08:06:34 GMT

@UncleB wrote:
@Discover2016 wrote:
@UncleB wrote:
Happy May Everybody!!

It will soon be four months since my January "acquisitions", and in a couple of weeks it will have been a full year since my additions last May (I had quite a few in May 2016 since my reports were clean for the first time in 16 years). It will be interesting to see if I get a score bump from those HPs finally being a year old.

No plans for any 'official' additions, but I do plan to join Alliant Credit Union in the next few weeks, and I'll be taking out a share-secured loan with them to get the 'boost' from adding an installment account. While that will start my garden date over, IMO it's one of those times where it's worth it, and even then I'll know that I've not had any new HPs in months which is itself an accomplishment! (LOL)
I was about to ask you if you have had the Amex personal loan pop up. The Alliant loans are great too, I was planning on getting one last year but then Amex offered the loans.
Excellent question... unfortunately I've not seen the offer anywhere on my dashboard since that one time back in the fall.

I was a big dummy... had I taken the offer back in the fall it would have been a 'quick-and-dirty' fix to my lack of installment loan problem. I hesitated, though, since at the time I had recently added a new Chase account (IHG) and had also just received a CLI from Navy. I was afraid Amex would 'freak' if I gave them any reason to take a closer look, but now I realize I shouldn't have been concerned.

While I've heard nothing but good things about Alliant, I doubt I'll have a reason to use them beyond the SSL (I'm "well-fed" with NFCU and USAA) and I would have much preferred to take advantage of an existing relationship (like Amex) but it wasn't meant to be. At least they'll get a donation out of me (and a wee-bit of interest) so I guess in the end it will all work out.

Hey UncleB!

Do you think if you wait a lil longer you may get another offer?

Re: Garden Club - May 2017

Anonymous — Mon, 01 May 2017 08:10:13 GMT

@Revelate wrote:
Still doing fine, other than I keep catching whatever Asian virus/cold/flu is running around every single country I visit apparently .

Earned my silver spade last month, plan is still to hold pat for the rest of 2017 and get as clean as possible (which this time should be Zestfully clean on two bureaus, finally after 6 years!) which maybe, just maybe, might happen by July: have to see how NCAP plays out then it's just inquiry fading time through January.

Either way have a life change which will likely come somewhere in the first part of next year, and it would behoove me to get my file as pretty as possible before then even if I might be at a score level it just doesn't matter at that point... one can always hope haha!

Not like I need more than 29 tradelines (some closed!) on my report anyway

Congrats on your new spade! I hope you start feeling better soon.

Re: Garden Club - May 2017

UncleB — Mon, 01 May 2017 08:11:49 GMT

@beautifulblaquepearl wrote:
@UncleB wrote:
@Discover2016 wrote:
@UncleB wrote:
Happy May Everybody!!

It will soon be four months since my January "acquisitions", and in a couple of weeks it will have been a full year since my additions last May (I had quite a few in May 2016 since my reports were clean for the first time in 16 years). It will be interesting to see if I get a score bump from those HPs finally being a year old.

No plans for any 'official' additions, but I do plan to join Alliant Credit Union in the next few weeks, and I'll be taking out a share-secured loan with them to get the 'boost' from adding an installment account. While that will start my garden date over, IMO it's one of those times where it's worth it, and even then I'll know that I've not had any new HPs in months which is itself an accomplishment! (LOL)
I was about to ask you if you have had the Amex personal loan pop up. The Alliant loans are great too, I was planning on getting one last year but then Amex offered the loans.
Excellent question... unfortunately I've not seen the offer anywhere on my dashboard since that one time back in the fall.

I was a big dummy... had I taken the offer back in the fall it would have been a 'quick-and-dirty' fix to my lack of installment loan problem. I hesitated, though, since at the time I had recently added a new Chase account (IHG) and had also just received a CLI from Navy. I was afraid Amex would 'freak' if I gave them any reason to take a closer look, but now I realize I shouldn't have been concerned.

While I've heard nothing but good things about Alliant, I doubt I'll have a reason to use them beyond the SSL (I'm "well-fed" with NFCU and USAA) and I would have much preferred to take advantage of an existing relationship (like Amex) but it wasn't meant to be. At least they'll get a donation out of me (and a wee-bit of interest) so I guess in the end it will all work out.
Hey UncleB!

Do you think if you wait a lil longer you may get another offer?

That's a good question... I constantly check, so if it does show back up I'll mostly likely see it promptly.

That said, I have another card with Amex now, so they might not be eager to give me another shot at a pre-approval for the installment loan. My fingers are crossed, though!

Re: Garden Club - May 2017

Revelate — Mon, 01 May 2017 08:36:58 GMT

@beautifulblaquepearl wrote:
@Revelate wrote:
Still doing fine, other than I keep catching whatever Asian virus/cold/flu is running around every single country I visit apparently .

Earned my silver spade last month, plan is still to hold pat for the rest of 2017 and get as clean as possible (which this time should be Zestfully clean on two bureaus, finally after 6 years!) which maybe, just maybe, might happen by July: have to see how NCAP plays out then it's just inquiry fading time through January.

Either way have a life change which will likely come somewhere in the first part of next year, and it would behoove me to get my file as pretty as possible before then even if I might be at a score level it just doesn't matter at that point... one can always hope haha!

Not like I need more than 29 tradelines (some closed!) on my report anyway
Congrats on your new spade! I hope you start feeling better soon.

HAHAHA, well I just checked CK and feeling somewhat better right now:

WHAT THE SHIZZLE, EQ DELETED MY 60D ON MAY 1!!!

Times 30/60/90 Days Late 0/0/0 FTW!

AHA DAMNIT!

EQ FICO 8: -4

EQ FICO 5: +2

EQ VS 3: +1

Stupid rebucketing (possibly)! Non-event, but on the plus side maybe I'll get more points when I do get a revolver reporting a balance next.

Re: Garden Club - May 2017

Anonymous — Mon, 01 May 2017 08:25:15 GMT

@UncleB wrote:
@beautifulblaquepearl wrote:
@UncleB wrote:
@Discover2016 wrote:
@UncleB wrote:
Happy May Everybody!!

It will soon be four months since my January "acquisitions", and in a couple of weeks it will have been a full year since my additions last May (I had quite a few in May 2016 since my reports were clean for the first time in 16 years). It will be interesting to see if I get a score bump from those HPs finally being a year old.

No plans for any 'official' additions, but I do plan to join Alliant Credit Union in the next few weeks, and I'll be taking out a share-secured loan with them to get the 'boost' from adding an installment account. While that will start my garden date over, IMO it's one of those times where it's worth it, and even then I'll know that I've not had any new HPs in months which is itself an accomplishment! (LOL)
I was about to ask you if you have had the Amex personal loan pop up. The Alliant loans are great too, I was planning on getting one last year but then Amex offered the loans.
Excellent question... unfortunately I've not seen the offer anywhere on my dashboard since that one time back in the fall.

I was a big dummy... had I taken the offer back in the fall it would have been a 'quick-and-dirty' fix to my lack of installment loan problem. I hesitated, though, since at the time I had recently added a new Chase account (IHG) and had also just received a CLI from Navy. I was afraid Amex would 'freak' if I gave them any reason to take a closer look, but now I realize I shouldn't have been concerned.

While I've heard nothing but good things about Alliant, I doubt I'll have a reason to use them beyond the SSL (I'm "well-fed" with NFCU and USAA) and I would have much preferred to take advantage of an existing relationship (like Amex) but it wasn't meant to be. At least they'll get a donation out of me (and a wee-bit of interest) so I guess in the end it will all work out.
Hey UncleB!

Do you think if you wait a lil longer you may get another offer?
That's a good question... I constantly check, so if it does show back up I'll mostly likely see it promptly.

That said, I have another card with Amex now, so they might not be eager to give me another shot at a pre-approval for the installment loan. My fingers are crossed, though!

Maybe it's all about timing. I know they are extending additional offers because I've received them.

Re: Garden Club - May 2017

Anonymous — Mon, 01 May 2017 08:32:12 GMT

@Revelate wrote:
@beautifulblaquepearl wrote:
@Revelate wrote:
Still doing fine, other than I keep catching whatever Asian virus/cold/flu is running around every single country I visit apparently .

Earned my silver spade last month, plan is still to hold pat for the rest of 2017 and get as clean as possible (which this time should be Zestfully clean on two bureaus, finally after 6 years!) which maybe, just maybe, might happen by July: have to see how NCAP plays out then it's just inquiry fading time through January.

Either way have a life change which will likely come somewhere in the first part of next year, and it would behoove me to get my file as pretty as possible before then even if I might be at a score level it just doesn't matter at that point... one can always hope haha!

Not like I need more than 29 tradelines (some closed!) on my report anyway
Congrats on your new spade! I hope you start feeling better soon.
HAHAHA, well I just checked CK and feeling somewhat better right now:

WHAT THE SHIZZLE, EQ DELETED MY 60D ON MAY 1!!!

Times 30/60/90 Days Late 0/0/0 FTW!

AHA DAMNIT!

EQ FICO 8: -4
EQ FICO 5: +2

Stupid rebucketing! On the plus side maybe I'll get more points when I do get a revolver reporting a balance next.

I know you have a big cheesy grin on your face right now. Congrats Revelate!

Re: Garden Club - May 2017

UncleB — Mon, 01 May 2017 08:32:21 GMT

@beautifulblaquepearl wrote:
@UncleB wrote:
That's a good question... I constantly check, so if it does show back up I'll mostly likely see it promptly.
That said, I have another card with Amex now, so they might not be eager to give me another shot at a pre-approval for the installment loan. My fingers are crossed, though!
Maybe it's all about timing. I know they are extending additional offers because I've received them.

Hopefully that's a good sign for me... I'll definitely be keeping my eyes open!

(Thanks for letting me know they're making offers again!)