topic Re: Garden Club - May 2018 in Credit Cards

Garden Club - May 2018

UncleB — Mon, 07 May 2018 10:56:15 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://ficoforums.myfico.com/t5/image/serverpage/image-id/33673iA9327A27227FE439" border="0" title="Bronze Garden Club Member" width="40" height="40" align="right">

SIlver:

<img src="http://ficoforums.myfico.com/t5/image/serverpage/image-id/33675i85072060A7E9ED9F" border="0" title="Silver Garden Club Member" width="40" height="40" align="right">

Gold:

<img src="http://ficoforums.myfico.com/t5/image/serverpage/image-id/33674i6D97EA62D60FAA1E" 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://ficoforums.myfico.com/t5/image/serverpage/image-id/33676i7D22867F5B8C8548" border="0" 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://ficoforums.myfico.com/t5/image/serverpage/image-id/33677iDA1FD49740EB050B" border="0" 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 - May 2018

K-in-Boston — Tue, 01 May 2018 04:01:16 GMT

Checking in for May. I’m a few days credit sober after giving up the silver spade. Hopefully back in here until August when the Luxury SPG comes along. Or maybe I’ll just upgrade. Stay safe and healthy, everyone. Summer’s getting closer!

Re: Garden Club - May 2018

simplynoir — Tue, 01 May 2018 04:01:16 GMT

Happy May peeps! I want to it be the end of May already I have a trip to NYC to enjoy!

Re: Garden Club - May 2018

Remedios — Tue, 01 May 2018 04:01:23 GMT

Happy New Year!!!

Re: Garden Club - May 2018

shoegal — Tue, 01 May 2018 04:01:50 GMT

Hola May! 🎉

Re: Garden Club - May 2018

Saleen099 — Tue, 01 May 2018 04:02:03 GMT

Checking in for may. Good night PPL

Re: Garden Club - May 2018

Remedios — Tue, 01 May 2018 04:03:06 GMT

Almost forgot, I get gold spade on 25th.

Re: Garden Club - May 2018

Anonymous — Tue, 01 May 2018 04:03:11 GMT

Woohoo first post! D'oh!

Re: Garden Club - May 2018

UncleB — Tue, 01 May 2018 04:03:31 GMT

Happy May, everybody!

Re: Garden Club - May 2018

Anonymous — Tue, 01 May 2018 04:03:46 GMT

I got the last April post in. I hope Sasha has better luck this month. I am tired long day inspecting. Good night.

Re: Garden Club - May 2018

sarge12 — Tue, 01 May 2018 04:05:13 GMT

Checking in for May...still here in the garden...watching for snakes to kill with my spade.

Re: Garden Club - May 2018

Saleen099 — Tue, 01 May 2018 11:30:33 GMT

@UncleB wrote:
Happy May, everybody!

Re: Garden Club - May 2018

Anonymous — Tue, 01 May 2018 04:52:12 GMT

First month done!! Almost a week into my second month in the garden watering my little seedling. It has not been a time without temptation, though. But I'm pulling through.

Re: Garden Club - May 2018

iheartwings — Tue, 01 May 2018 05:04:03 GMT

Happy May, MFers.

Been following everyone's sagas, some good/some bad. I think it's good to start a new month for new beginnings.

It's been a month since my last app, but time has flown, so it doesn't even seem like 30 days have gone by. This is good because a year will pass in no time!

I have a couple thousand more to charge on my CSR to hit the bonus, but I'll get there before the end of June, especially since the balance for my summer trip comes due earlier in the month. I booked a trip to Belize to dive this summer, during the shoulder/hurricane season, so things are a little cheaper. I used the CSR for the resort, so at least I'll have travel cancellation coverage if a hurricane decides to make its way to shore.

In life news, I am looking forward to my first trip to Europe this month. Most my stay will be in Airbnbs (because they were a lot cheaper than hotels, but I booked them before I got the CSR, drat!), except for the one night I got at a Cat 5 Courtyard in Amsterdam to stay before I fly home. I used my Marriott Rewards VS annual certificate, which was great, because the room would have otherwise cost me about US$250, so the card has paid for itself for another year.

Speaking of Marriott Rewards VS...I'm +/- on whether I want to upgrade to the new Premier Plus version. Will have to see what they offer for me to be willing to spend $10 more a year. (Every once in a while, I wish I could PC this card into something else.)

While my travel is exciting, my credit is back to boredom.

Garden strong, friends.

Re: Garden Club - May 2018

Anonymous — Tue, 01 May 2018 05:14:00 GMT

Oh good grief! Did I leave my spade in April? It must have been left with that crazy person that wanted to app for every mailer that came through the door. Jeeze that person was a psycho. Hopefully I can make it 31 days this month!

But on a good note....41 days of NO credit card use. Duck tape really does work!

Ahhhh, it's nice outside, I'll just water this little seedling and hope it turns into a daisy some day......

Re: Garden Club - May 2018

UncleB — Tue, 01 May 2018 05:32:59 GMT

@K-in-Boston wrote:
The offers are relentless tonight. It's like everyone just soft pulled me and saw that I recently stepped out of the gates here for a moment. Amex sent me a direct email trying to get me to go for the 75k Biz Gold offer, or the SimplyCash. Macy's sent me a preapproval for their Amex card. Logged into PayPal a minute ago to make sure my old BillMeLater account was still there before responding to a thread, and I got a "you're preapproved" splash screen for the Synch PayPal card. No no no no no no no. Saving myself for SPG Luxury right now.

This was from the April thread, but I'm ~~abusing~~ using a mod trick to reply to it here.

I was somewhat surprised to get the same email from Amex that you mention above... an offer for the Biz Gold w/ 75k MRs (with a SimplyCash offer at the bottom).

Just a few weeks back I got the opposite offer: an offer for the SimplyCash (with sign-up bonus) with a Biz Gold "pre-approval" at the bottom.

I considered clicking the link in the message for "Not a Small Business Owner? Click here" but I figure the offers are harmless enough, and in any case they can be thought of as a 'litmus test' of sorts.

Truthfully, I can't think of anything I would possibly need, and I have to say I'm also enjoying the no-drama aspect of gardening.

Re: Garden Club - May 2018

Discover2016 — Tue, 01 May 2018 06:41:19 GMT

Checking in for May! All is well in credit land, also very glad that warm weather is finally arriving, was so tired of the cold, dreary weather.

Re: Garden Club - May 2018

EdMan63 — Tue, 01 May 2018 08:49:27 GMT

Ahhhh May!!!! Happy Birthday month for me. Also hit one year in garden this month. Haven’t pulled credit reports for this month yet but things should be stable. Have one inquiry aging off Experian this month as well. Could it hit 850?! It’s also supposed to be 80 degrees today. Bravo!!!!!!

Re: Garden Club - May 2018

Anonymous — Tue, 01 May 2018 08:47:14 GMT

Yep gardening.... will reach 1 month on 17

Re: Garden Club - May 2018

FireMedic1 — Tue, 01 May 2018 09:20:49 GMT

Officialy 2.5 yrs out of BK and finally EQ hit the 740 mark yesterday. 7 months here in the garden and watching it all grow now. Thanks for the help guys from when I joined back in 2015. Now to get TU to wake the heck up. Been 730 since Dec 2017. Let the May flowers begin from the seedlings. I'll stop by and water your garden if need be with the brush truck!