topic Re: HD put me on notice in Credit Cards

HD put me on notice

Anonymous — Sat, 10 Jun 2017 15:04:52 GMT

Home Depot put me on notice this week. I received a letter from them saying my credit limit of $16,000 will drop to $5,100 if I don't make a purchase with my HD card by August 1st, any purchase for any amount. I prefer Lowes and have the same CL and I use that card a lot. My fear is if I allow the CL to drop for non-usage, could that start a domino effect with my other cards?

Edit: I understand fully that a small purchase will be the answer, however it's not convenient to get to the place and yes I can go online and purchase something. I sometimes forget these little things until it's too late, like last month when I had 30 days free Amazon Prime and didn't cancel it so now I've got a year of Prime (not such a bad thing, but an example).

Thanks in advance for your thoughts.

Re: HD put me on notice

Anonymous — Sat, 10 Jun 2017 14:43:51 GMT

Do you honestly have nothing to buy for your home that would just keep it active?

One creditor dropping CL shouldn't cause AA elsewhere.

Re: HD put me on notice

empiror22 — Sat, 10 Jun 2017 14:46:54 GMT

So all you have to do is buy any item, like say a pack of gum or batteries or any cheap item?? If you want to keep the limit and it's as easy as it sounds, why not just charge a little something to keep the CL.

Re: HD put me on notice

Anonymous — Sat, 10 Jun 2017 14:51:37 GMT

@empiror22 wrote:
So all you have to do is buy any item, like say a pack of gum or batteries or any cheap item?? If you want to keep the limit and it's as easy as it sounds, why not just charge a little something to keep the CL.

Totally agree I can do that, the local HD is not that convenient for me to get to, and yes, a pack of gum would be it, but sometimes things slip my mind and I was concerned about a AA happening. Don't want that happening to me, considering only 3 years ago I couldn't get credit to save my life due to high credit card balances. I carry small balances on 3 cards each month and many just sit in the SD.

Re: HD put me on notice

Loquat — Sat, 10 Jun 2017 14:50:25 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
Home Depot put me on notice this week. I received a letter from them saying my credit limit of $16,000 will drop to $5,100 if I don't make a purchase with my HD card by August 1st, any purchase for any amount. I prefer Lowes and have the same CL and I use that card a lot. My fear is if I allow the CL to drop for non-usage, could that start a domino effect with my other cards?

Thanks in advance for your thoughts.

Just go in there and buy yourself a bottle of water in those little box coolers at the check out and go on with your life. Simple as that.

Re: HD put me on notice

Anonymous — Sat, 10 Jun 2017 14:52:43 GMT

If you can't get to the store, go online and buy yourself a $5 HD gift card

Re: HD put me on notice

Anonymous — Sat, 10 Jun 2017 15:14:06 GMT

This is a good example of when it may be time to close a card because it becomes too much work to keep it open. If you do not carry a lot of balances on your other cards, losing this $16K limit probably won't hurt your utilization. You have some healthy credit lines on your other accounts.

Re: HD put me on notice

RockinRay — Sat, 10 Jun 2017 15:15:31 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
If you can't get to the store, go online and buy yourself a $5 HD gift card

This is a great idea and saves the cost of the gas to get there and back!

Re: HD put me on notice

Anonymous — Sat, 10 Jun 2017 16:12:26 GMT

Does paying off a balance slowly little by little every month count as activity? I haven't used my HD card in a while, just been paying the balance off slowly with small payments monthly. without any new charges at all.....I wonder if it counts lol.

Re: HD put me on notice

Anonymous — Sat, 10 Jun 2017 16:25:33 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
If you can't get to the store, go online and buy yourself a $5 HD gift card

Re: HD put me on notice

AverageJoesCredit — Sat, 10 Jun 2017 16:43:10 GMT

Youve already gotten the notice, by the time you post this just go online and buy something now so you dont forget later on. Easy peasy , pass the Charmin

Re: HD put me on notice

CreditInspired — Sat, 10 Jun 2017 17:36:58 GMT

And Steel, honestly, if you really just can't be bothered and/or don't need this CL for utilization or padding, just go ahead and beat HD to the punch, and close the account yourself. No harm, no foul.

Re: HD put me on notice

Anonymous — Sat, 10 Jun 2017 19:04:00 GMT

In OP's position I'd buy one of those fancy screwdrivers with dozens of swap-out heads or something to keep the card active, but that's just me (I have a lot of different sizes of screws to work with at home for some indefinable reason). Anyway, this is why I try to make at least one small purchase a month on each card to keep them percolating and keep the issuers from wondering if I really wanted their cards in the first place.

Re: HD put me on notice

Anonymous — Sat, 10 Jun 2017 19:31:03 GMT

I have to say if it's difficult for you to remember to go online and purchase something, than just close the card. If Lowe's is your homeboy, than stick with that one! I closed a bunch of cards that were just unnecessary a few months ago. HD seems to be that card for you!

Re: HD put me on notice

K-in-Boston — Sat, 10 Jun 2017 22:14:10 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
Does paying off a balance slowly little by little every month count as activity? I haven't used my HD card in a while, just been paying the balance off slowly with small payments monthly. without any new charges at all.....I wonder if it counts lol.

Yes. Essentially as long as a statement generated that isn't $0 previous balance, $0 current charges, $0 due - that's "activity." Hope that's a promotional balance and you're not paying like 27% interest?

Great idea on the $5 gift card - alternately, you could always just buy one thing online that you know you will always need. HVAC filters, light bulbs, cleaning supplies... I did close my HD after getting my Lowe's, not really because I couldn't use it but because for some reason Citi would never give me a CLI on that one card and 5 years and like 8 wasted HPs later it was still stuck at $1250.

Re: HD put me on notice

fltireguy — Sat, 10 Jun 2017 22:28:34 GMT

FYI

You can cancel Amazon Prime at any time... they will give you a pro rated refund - no hassle with them

Re: HD put me on notice

Shogun — Sun, 11 Jun 2017 03:38:55 GMT

I got a cold on my Walmart card for no -useage. They didn't send me any notice, just caught it on my report. Didn't care because I'll probably never use it.

Re: HD put me on notice

Anonymous — Sun, 11 Jun 2017 06:34:23 GMT

@Shogun wrote:
I got a cold on my Walmart card for no -useage. They didn't send me any notice, just caught it on my report. Didn't care because I'll probably never use it.

Mind sharing how long did you not use the card for? Some data points.

Re: HD put me on notice

pipeguy — Sun, 11 Jun 2017 09:38:45 GMT

Looks like I need to visit HD .... have not used mine in over a year and I want to maintain the card along with my lowes card to "refurb" our house in a year or two when we retire and move. I'm counting on those high credit lines and special project deals for the refurb...

Re: HD put me on notice

jamesdwi — Sun, 11 Jun 2017 11:56:39 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
Does paying off a balance slowly little by little every month count as activity? I haven't used my HD card in a while, just been paying the balance off slowly with small payments monthly. without any new charges at all.....I wonder if it counts lol.

yes it counts, but unless you spend $300 or more, you will be paying interest on it. APR on mine is 25.99% not exactly a low APR card.