topic Re: Garden Club - October 2017 in Credit Cards

Garden Club - October 2017

UncleB — Fri, 27 Oct 2017 08:53:51 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 - October 2017

UncleB — Sun, 01 Oct 2017 04:03:20 GMT

Happy October, everybody!

Re: Garden Club - October 2017

pizza1 — Sun, 01 Oct 2017 04:03:27 GMT

YAY, IM FIRST!! IM FIRST!!!

Re: Garden Club - October 2017

pizza1 — Sun, 01 Oct 2017 04:05:07 GMT

@pizza1 wrote:
YAY, IM FIRST!! IM FIRST!!!

One day at a time.....baby steps!!! Lets all do this!!!

Re: Garden Club - October 2017

shoegal — Sun, 01 Oct 2017 04:07:42 GMT

@pizza1 wrote:
@pizza1 wrote:
YAY, IM FIRST!! IM FIRST!!!
One day at a time.....baby steps!!! Lets all do this!!!

Yay!! I'm second

Re: Garden Club - October 2017

Anonymous — Sun, 01 Oct 2017 04:30:09 GMT

I'll take third!

I gotta stay focused for the next year! I didn't realize how many cards I've opened in 2017 until recently 😬.

Re: Garden Club - October 2017

10022016 — Sun, 01 Oct 2017 05:15:59 GMT

Only 13 days until I earn my Diamond Spade and this is the first time I've ever commented in this thread while it's still on page 1!

Re: Garden Club - October 2017

Gregory1776 — Sun, 01 Oct 2017 05:38:26 GMT

Well I’m here now. Opened my SSL, which kicked me out of the garden. And got a hard pull from PenFed trying to get a CLI (unsuccessfully) on a 60 day old HP they already had on opening my accounts.... 😞😞😞 well, I promise not to leave until April first 2018, at which case ill be asking for a CLI on Power Cash, and maybe get the PenFed promise.... but well see. After that, I intend no Hard pulls or new accounts until October 2019. Then I’ll have one inquiry. Hopefully life goes well, and i dont need anything or get a hard pull from anywhere intentionally. I also hope to get my credit score to 770-790+ and need to get my utilization to <7%, get my loan down to 7% and let my accounts age.

Wish me Luck, and Godspeed to you all!!

Re: Garden Club - October 2017

iheartwings — Sun, 01 Oct 2017 05:52:38 GMT

Happy October, y'all.

September brought a lot of bad weather juju for many of our garden friends, so I wish that the new month brings you new hope and opportunity if you've been affected by the storms.

I continue to tend to my plot of dirt for another month. Making a little extra cash for travel to the great state of KS midmonth.

Happy to continue on my boring streak.

Garden strong, folks.

Re: Garden Club - October 2017

Discover2016 — Sun, 01 Oct 2017 05:52:48 GMT

Still gardening! Next month I earn the Sapphire I believe, scoring inching their way to 800.

Re: Garden Club - October 2017

Rebuilding69 — Sun, 01 Oct 2017 07:03:06 GMT

@Discover2016 wrote:
Still gardening! Next month I earn the Sapphire I believe, scoring inching their way to 800.

Way to go! And congrats to everyone else sticking to their goals!

Re: Garden Club - October 2017

Anonymous — Sun, 01 Oct 2017 08:19:45 GMT

Hello, MFs! MyFico Family, that is!

Happy to be here, and I think I've grown a bit, thanks to YOU all.

Putting BCE away since I've spent and paid for required $1K already!
DeltaSkyMiles will be in my wallet this month - - - I'm getting the hang of this, but will read up on making sure the cards are rotated and creditors are happy!

Wishing you all the best! A real blessing that @AJC's sister and family are safe!

Impressed with MFs gardening strong! You inspire me daily!

Re: Garden Club - October 2017

Anonymous — Sun, 01 Oct 2017 08:21:38 GMT

@Gregory1776 wrote:
Well I’m here now. Opened my SSL, which kicked me out of the garden. And got a hard pull from PenFed trying to get a CLI (unsuccessfully) on a 60 day old HP they already had on opening my accounts.... 😞😞😞 well, I promise not to leave until April first 2018, at which case ill be asking for a CLI on Power Cash, and maybe get the PenFed promise.... but well see. After that, I intend no Hard pulls or new accounts until October 2019. Then I’ll have one inquiry. Hopefully life goes well, and i dont need anything or get a hard pull from anywhere intentionally. I also hope to get my credit score to 770-790+ and need to get my utilization to <7%, get my loan down to 7% and let my accounts age.

Wish me Luck, and Godspeed to you all!!

Good luck! We will keep each other in check!

Re: Garden Club - October 2017

Anonymous — Sun, 01 Oct 2017 09:03:39 GMT

OMG it's a already October, Happy Halloween lol hoping to really stay in the garden the entire month maybe even another 18 months......

Re: Garden Club - October 2017

Anonymous — Sun, 01 Oct 2017 09:42:06 GMT

Checking in for October. Experian and Equifax locked. Transunion wanted to charge me, so I left them alone.

Re: Garden Club - October 2017

Anonymous — Sun, 01 Oct 2017 10:08:15 GMT

Staying the course in the garden. Now that I froze eight different credit bureau/information providers it will be more of a challenge to pursue the latest and greatest I am sure. In truth, my profile needs a rest so I will hope that time will clear my inquiry affects and my scores will move up again. And, I am not wanting for anything right now.

Re: Garden Club - October 2017

Anonymous — Sun, 01 Oct 2017 10:09:14 GMT

@UncleB wrote:
Happy October, everybody!

As for you ... much better looking than I envisioned

Re: Garden Club - October 2017

Anonymous — Sun, 01 Oct 2017 10:11:58 GMT

October already??? Oh dear...

I'm doing nothing on the credit front except shredding credit offers to use as mulch and keeping the unmentionable few from messing with the Garden fence...

I just woke up, so I'm not too wordy...

Garden Strong y'all!!!

Re: Garden Club - October 2017

SomewhereIn505 — Sun, 01 Oct 2017 10:13:42 GMT

Happy October! I have a feeling I’m going to begin to feel the effects of my August and September expansion. Time to clean and get everything settle down for the winter weather and freeze. I’ve made spreadsheets to track my own data points - SL, CLI, scores, inquiries, etc. Seeing in it black and white is helping me to behave and I don’t have to remember the fine details. Wished I would have done it sooner. I’m going to keep reading and figuring out best practices. Later this month I’ll update myself to the bronze spade.

Re: Garden Club - October 2017

bizarrocreditworld — Sun, 01 Oct 2017 10:15:24 GMT

Hello Everybody,

I'm checking in for October. No new applications, but thanks to the Equifax mess, I've locked my credit reports until further notice. Before that, I found out my CapOne had been compromised (three ITunes charges for about $100), so I got a new card and my Discover account ended up requiring a new user name (although no charges were made).

So basically, I'm locked in the garden unless I am made an offer I can't refuse.