topic Re: First time posting! Looking for what to do next. in Credit Cards

First time posting! Looking for what to do next.

Anonymous — Sun, 18 Aug 2019 15:32:28 GMT

Hi!!

I have been a reader of this forum for about a year and a half but have never joined until now.

Here are a list of my current cards:
Discover it chrome: $1256.80/7500 (BT)
Amex Delta gold: $172.80/$1000
USB Cash +: $1132.70/$3000
USB Platinum: $4473.21/6000 (just did a BT to this card, that is why it is so high)
Citi DC: $386.50/3800
AFCU: $0/3,000
MFCU: $696.03/1000
Victorias Secret: $56/850

Lines of credit:
AFCU: $0/$1000
USB (Just the reserve line) $0/$1000

Also have a car loan that just turned 1 year old.

The only true credit score I have to reference is my USB latest pull for an app, and that was 710 TransUnion.

I am 24 with 35k income.

TU has 4 inquiries and Equifax has 1.
AaofA is 2 years.

Overall util is 28%.

The other two scores I would have to go off of would be from credit karma, which from what I read here, is not super accurate.

I am not planning on getting any more cards, but I am considering cancelling my AMEX. I didn't get the 61 day CLI, and from what I have read on here, I barely got in with my $1000 SL. I already got my miles bonus... Just not seeing any point to the card with that low of CL and where I already got the SUB.

Citi will get paid down to $0 on thursday.

No late payments /derogs. (Ever)

I am planning to garden, as the product I am hoping to get in a year or so is the premier line with USB. I was denied for it recently and it is a product I would really like to have, so I recently switched all of my banking over to USB, as their banker told me that will increase my chances. Planning to reapply for that in a year.

So should I cancel my AMEX? What are your thoughts on this?

All other cards have been pretty decent with their CLI'S...
Discover gave me my highest SL of $4500 and it has gone to $7500 in less than a year
Citi SL was $1800 and now $3800
USB Cash + was $500 and now $3000
AFCU was $1000 and is now $3000
VS was $700 and now $850

I recently closed Wells Fargo platinum that was $0/2500 and capital one that was $0/750 (that card never grew much so I cut it, $750 CL is not even useful)

Any other tips/advice?

Thanks!!!

Re: First time posting! Looking for what to do next.

Medic981 — Sun, 18 Aug 2019 15:40:25 GMT

Welcome to the myFICO forums!

@Anonymous wrote:
Hi!!

I have been a reader of this forum for about a year and a half but have never joined until now.

Here are a list of my current cards:
Discover it chrome: $1256.80/7500 (BT)
Amex Delta gold: $172.80/$1000
USB Cash +: $1132.70/$3000
USB Platinum: $4473.21/6000 (just did a BT to this card, that is why it is so high)
Citi DC: $386.50/3800
AFCU: $0/3,000
MFCU: $696.03/1000
Victorias Secret: $56/850

Lines of credit:
AFCU: $0/$1000
USB (Just the reserve line) $0/$1000

Also have a car loan that just turned 1 year old.

The only true credit score I have to reference is my USB latest pull for an app, and that was 710 TransUnion.

I am 24 with 35k income.

TU has 4 inquiries and Equifax has 1.
AaofA is 2 years.

Overall util is 28%.

The other two scores I would have to go off of would be from credit karma, which from what I read here, is not super accurate.

I am not planning on getting any more cards, but I am considering cancelling my AMEX. I didn't get the 61 day CLI, and from what I have read on here, I barely got in with my $1000 SL. I already got my miles bonus... Just not seeing any point to the card with that low of CL and where I already got the SUB.

Citi will get paid down to $0 on thursday.

No late payments /derogs. (Ever)

I am planning to garden, as the product I am hoping to get in a year or so is the premier line with USB. I was denied for it recently and it is a product I would really like to have, so I recently switched all of my banking over to USB, as their banker told me that will increase my chances. Planning to reapply for that in a year.

So should I cancel my AMEX? What are your thoughts on this?

Rather than cancelling your AMEX, I would product change your line of credit to another AmEx product without an annual fee.

All other cards have been pretty decent with their CLI'S...
Discover gave me my highest SL of $4500 and it has gone to $7500 in less than a year
Citi SL was $1800 and now $3800
USB Cash + was $500 and now $3000
AFCU was $1000 and is now $3000
VS was $700 and now $850

I recently closed Wells Fargo platinum that was $0/2500 and capital one that was $0/750 (that card never grew much so I cut it, $750 CL is not even useful)

Any other tips/advice?

Thanks!!!

When you are digging yourself out of debt, you need a buffer from getting deeper into debt. An emergency fund can keep you afloat in a time of need without having to rely on credit cards or high-interest loan.

An emergency fund is a savings account with money set aside to cover large, unexpected expenses such as an emergency room visit; home-appliance repair or replacement; major car repairs; and the most costly of all, unemployment.

How much should you put aside? The rule of thumb is to have enough cash to cover three to six months of living expenses. If you lose your job you can use this money to pay for necessities while looking for a new one or the cash could supplement your unemployment benefits.

To figure out how much you should have in your emergency fund, add up your monthly bills: rent or mortgage payment; utility payments such as gas, electric, water, garbage; phone, cable and internet; insurance payments such as car, health and home; transportation costs such as car payment, gas, public transit; debt payments such as minimum credit card and all loans except for mortgage; grocery expenses; and other recurring monthly expenses.

Having even $500 saved can get you out of many financial scrapes. Put something away now, and build your fund over time.

How to build up an emergency fund -
- Start a budget and set a monthly savings goal - set up direct deposit to an emergency savings account.
- If there is money left at the end of a pay period, move some into your emergency savings account.
- If there is no money left, cut your expenses. Don't eat out, save leftovers, bring lunch to work, bring coffee from home, spend evenings at home and carpool.
- Get a second job or sell unused belongings to build your emergency savings account.
- Continue to assess your financial situation and adjust accordingly.

Nearly 80 percent of American workers say they’re living paycheck to paycheck, according to a recent survey. Remember that credit is a tool and relying on credit cards for funding emergencies is no different than relying on a gun for when you need cash. Both can be dangerous if not used wisely.

Let your current tradelines age and increase your average age of accounts. No new hard inquiries which mean no new applications. Work on credit line increases that only require soft inquiries. Reduce the balances on your cards. Take care of any derogatories on your credit bureau files (if any). Try to negotiate lower APRs on your credit cards. This is what credit gardening is all about.

Re: First time posting! Looking for what to do next.

AverageJoesCredit — Sun, 18 Aug 2019 16:33:16 GMT

@Medic981 +1

Try and pay off cards that you csan, start practicing pif and save I wish i could save money. I would definetly place that above credit cards but alas...

Re: First time posting! Looking for what to do next.

HighAchiever — Sun, 18 Aug 2019 16:52:38 GMT

Welcome new visitor!!! I would suggest not closing any cards if they don't have an annual fee. Just place them in the "sock drawer" and not use them. Also, I would not carry a balance on so many cards. It could be hurting your score, in that more than half of your cards have a balance. I know there is a specific number, but someone else hopefully will chime in on that. Also, like previously stated, pay down your balances. That utilization drop will help as well... Good luck!!!

Re: First time posting! Looking for what to do next.

800who — Sun, 18 Aug 2019 17:39:15 GMT

With all the different balances I would highly suggest the famous Dave Ramsey "snowball" method... min payments on all cards except card with smallest balance and throw all available money to that card until PIF, and then move on to next smallest balance... and repeat! Cut spending, increase income... no unnecessary spending, beans & rice, rice & beans

P.S

welcome to the forums!

Re: First time posting! Looking for what to do next.

Anonymous — Sun, 18 Aug 2019 17:50:32 GMT

I would not close it. You can PC it to no AF delta blue (after AF posting). This way you keep access to amex offers, and retain a relationship with amex.

Re: First time posting! Looking for what to do next.

JR_TX — Sun, 18 Aug 2019 18:11:10 GMT

Echoing the advice from all the posters above.

Best of luck OP and keep us posted with your credit journey!

Oh and welcome to the forum as an official member!

Re: First time posting! Looking for what to do next.

sarge12 — Sun, 18 Aug 2019 18:50:21 GMT

OP...For now, my sole question is why is this statement there...

The only true credit score I have to reference is my USB latest pull for an app, and that was 710 TransUnion.

You can get free experian fico 08 scores from both www.creditscorecard.com and usa.experian.com, it is something you might want to do since it is free, and if you stagger the two you can get the experian score twice per month. Also you should be getting a free monthly TU fico 08 score from the Discover IT online account. The Citi DC card site provides the EQ fico bankcard 08 score for free as well...it is not the more widely used classic fico 08 and has a max of 900, but it tracks fairly well with the classic. That should supply you with at least 1 fico score from all 3 CRA's.

Re: First time posting! Looking for what to do next.

Anonymous — Sun, 18 Aug 2019 20:18:10 GMT

Oh I wasn't sure if those were accurate! Discover shows 724 and Citi shows 720 😊

Re: First time posting! Looking for what to do next.

CreditInspired — Sun, 18 Aug 2019 20:47:19 GMT

Hi OP and welcome to MyFICO

You've gotten some excellent advice here and I want to add one more reason for not closing your AmX. First, you're taking it personally that you have a 1K limit and didn't get your 61-day, 3X CLI. It's just an algorithm decision. Hold on to that card. Another thing you said, "well you got your SUB so you can close the card." Down the road, you may see another AmX card with a SUB. I'm not saying this would happen but you don't want AmX to view you as someone who only want their SUBs and then close the card. So you didn't get a CLI this time; maybe you'll get it next time.

Second, I agree with everyone else--having a balance report on more than half of your cards is not a good look. What did you decline letter from AmX say?

Finally, the UT on some cards are high even though your aggregate is in okay shape and you just did BTs. IMHO, get these balances to less than 28.9% as soon as you can before you overextend yourself.

USB Cash +: $1132.70/$3000 - UT 37%
USB Platinum: $4473.21/6000 - UT 75%
MFCU: $696.03/1000 - UT 70%

And if the BTs are 0% promos, I suggest dividing the balance by the duration and pay that amount monthly (not the minimum payment) so that at the end of the promo, the balance is paid in full. I'll use USB Platinum as an example. Let's say it's at 0% promo for 12 months. Pay $372.75/month so it's paid off before promo expiration.

GL2U

Re: First time posting! Looking for what to do next.

sarge12 — Sun, 18 Aug 2019 20:57:50 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
Oh I wasn't sure if those were accurate! Discover shows 724 and Citi shows 720 😊

There are different versions of fico scores, and the fico bankcard 08 score from Citi is an example of a different version than the fico 08. The thing to note is the standard fico 08 score from each of the 3 CRA's will be exactly the same no matter where it is obtained, at least it is suppose to be. An experian fico 08 score pulled by creditscorecard.com will be the same as the same experian fico 08 pulled the same time and day from myfico site. The equifax fico bankcard 08 is a version of fico 08 tailored to credit card issuers, and there are versions tailored for auto financing as well. So in short, all those pulls I mentioned are legitimate fico scores and 2 of them are the most widely used classic fico 08 scores from both TU and Experian. There is very few places that you can get the equifax fico 08 scores from for free, but you can get it by opening a checking account at Langley FCU. By the way, as strange as it sounds you cannot buy an equifax fico 08 score from equifax. If you join their program the scores the sell are propriatary scores as useless as the vantage 3.0 scores you can get from credit Karma for free. The discover card site gives you the TU fico 08 free, and the creditscorecard.com site run by discover supplies the experian fico 08 score free, so that covers 2 of the 3 most used scores there. The other really important scores are the earlier versions of fico 2,4, and 5 used for mortgage lenders to set mortgage interest rates. They can be obtained on myfico site with a 3B pull and are listed under other scores. It is important to know that the mere presence on those fico versions of a consumer finance account will lower the scores even if paid perfectly. It is also noteworthy that some car dealership arranged financing is coded as a consumer finance account. Honda Financial was, and I learned that the hard way. There is vast knowledge about credit matters in this forum...read and learn!

Re: First time posting! Looking for what to do next.

Anonymous — Mon, 19 Aug 2019 03:35:38 GMT

Don't close any cards!

Re: First time posting! Looking for what to do next.

sarge12 — Mon, 19 Aug 2019 09:17:55 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
I would not close it. You can PC it to no AF delta blue (after AF posting). This way you keep access to amex offers, and retain a relationship with amex.

I agree with that, Amex cards may not be accepted in every location, but my relationship with Amex is a bridge I have never been tempted to burn. The Amex card I have is one of the few that has seen steady use since day 1 for groceries. The others that have are the Chase Amazon Prime Rewards with 5% cash back at Amazon, the Capital One Quicksilver with it's simple 1.5% rewards structure, and my State Farm card 3% CB for insurance. The Citi Double Cash has as well seen a lot of use, but now that they are nerfing a lot of the benefits, that will change. I am sure that my HSBC card with 3% cash back for 12 months plus a 10% rewards bonus annually will see the bulk of my non-grocery, streaming, insurance, or Amazon use for the next year. With that card added, I will have a minimum of 3 percent on every purchase. I may put a little on the Capital One still, just because it was one of my earliest cards, and there has never been any negative experiences with it.

Re: First time posting! Looking for what to do next.

SouthJamaica — Mon, 19 Aug 2019 11:24:44 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
Hi!!

I have been a reader of this forum for about a year and a half but have never joined until now.

Here are a list of my current cards:
Discover it chrome: $1256.80/7500 (BT)
Amex Delta gold: $172.80/$1000
USB Cash +: $1132.70/$3000
USB Platinum: $4473.21/6000 (just did a BT to this card, that is why it is so high)
Citi DC: $386.50/3800
AFCU: $0/3,000
MFCU: $696.03/1000
Victorias Secret: $56/850

Lines of credit:
AFCU: $0/$1000
USB (Just the reserve line) $0/$1000

Also have a car loan that just turned 1 year old.

The only true credit score I have to reference is my USB latest pull for an app, and that was 710 TransUnion.

I am 24 with 35k income.

TU has 4 inquiries and Equifax has 1.
AaofA is 2 years.

Overall util is 28%.

The other two scores I would have to go off of would be from credit karma, which from what I read here, is not super accurate.

I am not planning on getting any more cards, but I am considering cancelling my AMEX. I didn't get the 61 day CLI, and from what I have read on here, I barely got in with my $1000 SL. I already got my miles bonus... Just not seeing any point to the card with that low of CL and where I already got the SUB.

Citi will get paid down to $0 on thursday.

No late payments /derogs. (Ever)

I am planning to garden, as the product I am hoping to get in a year or so is the premier line with USB. I was denied for it recently and it is a product I would really like to have, so I recently switched all of my banking over to USB, as their banker told me that will increase my chances. Planning to reapply for that in a year.

So should I cancel my AMEX? What are your thoughts on this?

All other cards have been pretty decent with their CLI'S...
Discover gave me my highest SL of $4500 and it has gone to $7500 in less than a year
Citi SL was $1800 and now $3800
USB Cash + was $500 and now $3000
AFCU was $1000 and is now $3000
VS was $700 and now $850

I recently closed Wells Fargo platinum that was $0/2500 and capital one that was $0/750 (that card never grew much so I cut it, $750 CL is not even useful)

Any other tips/advice?

Thanks!!!

I think you should keep it open. Down the road you will be able to get CLI's from American Express. Best to keep the doors open with Amex, and they are not pleased with customers who open an account, get a nice SUB, and then close it.