topic Re: Garden Club - February 2018 in Credit Cards

Garden Club - February 2018

UncleB — Thu, 01 Feb 2018 05:00:08 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 pull 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 (average age of accounts) 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 inquiries to age or if we 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 inquiries 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 credit reports 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 add the code, click 'My Settings', then 'Personal Information', then paste the code into the 'Signature' box. When you're finished, be sure to click 'Save' at the bottom of the page!

*New forum members may be unable to add/edit HTML; see note below.

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 a seedling or spade to your profile. Send any moderator a PM and we'll add it for you.

You can also use the "Report Inappropriate Content" option on any post to notify a moderator; be sure to indicate that you need __________ spade. (seedling, bronze, etc.)

Re: Garden Club - February 2018

simplynoir — Thu, 01 Feb 2018 05:01:48 GMT

February, you couldn't have come soon enough!

Re: Garden Club - February 2018

UncleB — Thu, 01 Feb 2018 05:03:37 GMT

Happy February, everybody!

Re: Garden Club - February 2018

outofcredit — Thu, 01 Feb 2018 05:04:33 GMT

Checking in! @Uncle B I will take my 30 day spade now. Longest I've gone without doing something creditwise since November 2015..lol.

Happy February everyone.

Re: Garden Club - February 2018

pizza1 — Thu, 01 Feb 2018 16:28:57 GMT

HI everyone!!! So GLAD FEBRUARY IS HERE!!! I can't wait to receive nothing again for Valentines Day! LOL

Re: Garden Club - February 2018

shoegal — Thu, 01 Feb 2018 05:10:33 GMT

Happy February everyone! 😍💕

Re: Garden Club - February 2018

Anonymous — Thu, 01 Feb 2018 05:13:44 GMT

I’m here....which lately means nothing! 😂

I should be issued a visitor’s pass!

Re: Garden Club - February 2018

K-in-Boston — Thu, 01 Feb 2018 05:11:54 GMT

Happy February everyone! Still waiting on the results of my 4506-T for Amex to give me my 3X CLI on SPG and still waiting to see if BoA is going to give me a boost on my BankAmericard so I can pass the $99,900 (or $169,900 with the AU card) I’m sitting at today. And I’m still gardening! Should be getting a spade again soon.

Work is busy so I’m still struggling to catch up again.

Re: Garden Club - February 2018

UncleB — Thu, 01 Feb 2018 05:17:10 GMT

@outofcredit wrote:
@Anonymous in! @Anonymous B I will take my 30 day spade now. Longest I've gone without doing something creditwise since November 2015..lol.
Happy February everyone.

I got your back @outofcredit... you've been bronzed!

Re: Garden Club - February 2018

Discover2016 — Thu, 01 Feb 2018 05:18:52 GMT

Time to play some Shirley Bassey diamonds are forever, just earned my diamond!

Re: Garden Club - February 2018

simplynoir — Thu, 01 Feb 2018 05:25:26 GMT

wrote:
Time to play some Shirley Bassey diamonds are forever, just earned my diamond!

I don't think I have that type of willpower anymore. I went 3+ years without any but now can't go back lol.

Re: Garden Club - February 2018

K-in-Boston — Thu, 01 Feb 2018 05:36:09 GMT

Wow, Diamond. Congrats and well

done!!!

@simplynoir I’ve mentioned it before, but all of my credit cards (open and closed) were opened in spurts. I think there was a 6 year period where I opened Chase Freedom, Home Depot and Amazon - and that’s it. Contrast that with the past 2 years and change since I discovered this place. LOL

Re: Garden Club - February 2018

simplynoir — Thu, 01 Feb 2018 05:39:54 GMT

@Anonymous K-i-B wrote:
Wow, Diamond. Congrats and well
done!!!

@simplynoir I’ve mentioned it before, but all of my credit cards (open and closed) were opened in spurts. I think there was a 6 year period where I opened Chase Freedom, Home Depot and Amazon - and that’s it. Contrast that with the past 2 years and change since I discovered this place. LOL

My Biz Plat, QS, BCE and Walmart/SC cards were enough for me once upon a time.....

Re: Garden Club - February 2018

K-in-Boston — Thu, 01 Feb 2018 05:51:42 GMT

Sweet! Cindy just gave me my promotion, demotion, and repromotion!!!

I’m officially a Senior (Contributor). Where do I go to apply for the myFICO AARP card? Oh right, no app talk.

Re: Garden Club - February 2018

Anonymous — Thu, 01 Feb 2018 05:52:56 GMT

wrote:
Time to play some Shirley Bassey diamonds are forever, just earned my diamond!

So awesome!

Speaking of diamonds 😳......... I’ve officially completed my purse collection AND I actually gave away 5 of them, so I’m down to a respectable number 😌.

So, I need a new focus this year, and diamonds will work just fine!

Re: Garden Club - February 2018

Anonymous — Thu, 01 Feb 2018 05:57:57 GMT

Check it out, MF! Bronze Spade!

Thanks again for the support! You guys and gals are THE BEST.

This old lady is going to bed early (10PM). Nigh-night!

Re: Garden Club - February 2018

UncleB — Thu, 01 Feb 2018 05:59:59 GMT

@K-in-Boston wrote:
Sweet! Cindy just gave me my promotion, demotion, and repromotion!!!

I’m officially a Senior (Contributor). Where do I go to apply for the myFICO AARP card? Oh right, no app talk.

Oh no... that was supposed to be fixed. Did you get three PMs for your rank change?

Re: Garden Club - February 2018

K-in-Boston — Thu, 01 Feb 2018 06:02:52 GMT

Just two. First the promotion then the demotion. But the rank shows so I counted that as repromotion.

Re: Garden Club - February 2018

UncleB — Thu, 01 Feb 2018 06:04:23 GMT

wrote:
Just two. First the promotion then the demotion. But the rank shows so I counted that as repromotion.

Well rats.

Thanks for the heads up... I'll pass the word along.

Re: Garden Club - February 2018

Anonymous — Thu, 01 Feb 2018 06:08:01 GMT

Well we completed another month. In about 2 weeks DW will have gone 1 year and no apps. I think I am in the 7 to 8 month range I will have to check. We are saving ourselves for a Navy Jeep loan. Some time this year?