topic Re: New to the board - Hello ! in General Credit Topics

New to the board - Hello !

Anonymous — Mon, 01 Aug 2011 18:00:20 GMT

I've been lurking around here the past few months and gained some valuable info on credit rebuilding. My CR had no history as of last year, so I started with a clean slate.

I started with a Cap One secured card in January. I've been using it regularly and PIF each month. I checked my CR in June and it was a score of 721 (says experian PLUS score model?) I decided to apply for a store card last month and was approved for a JC Penney card (200 CL). I then applied for a Walmart card last week and was approved for their regular card (700 CL), also Cap One just gave me a CI of $100 a few days ago. Last night I applied for an AMEX Zync card and was told I would be notified by email of their decision. I figured I was pushing my luck with all these apps and short credit history, but shocked to receive an email today that I was approved !

Well, I will know sit and let these age, and let these inquiries clear. I just purchased a quarterly myfico score here and it's 698 TU. I'm sure these new accounts opened will affect my score soon.

PS: I'm still learning these acronyms here, What does AOAA stand for?

Re: New to the board - Hello !

llecs — Mon, 01 Aug 2011 18:10:17 GMT

Common Abbreviations

AAoA = Average Age of Accounts

Re: New to the board - Hello !

Anonymous — Mon, 01 Aug 2011 20:16:24 GMT

thank you for the link. so my AAoA is about 4 months

Re: New to the board - Hello !

Anonymous — Mon, 01 Aug 2011 20:34:38 GMT

Welcome... An experian plus score is a fako score, not a fico. You can get your real fico score from this site however, just not your experian fico. Theres a lot to learn but it looks like your on track to create positive payment history. I would not apply for any more credit for another year. JCP and Walmart are both GE Money Bank. Every 4 months (after each 4 statements hit) GEMB will grant you a credit line increase if you request one. I would make sure to do this every 4 months like clockwork in order to garden your cards into the thousands. Good luck.

Re: New to the board - Hello !

Anonymous — Wed, 03 Aug 2011 00:13:47 GMT

Each time you apply for credit it is a hard inquiry on your report. That remains for 2 years. Having more than 2 inquiries lowers your score quite a bit. Don't apply for anything unless you absolutely need it. And keep your balances under 30 % of it's limit, preferably 9 %. Good luck!

Re: New to the board - Hello !

kjm79 — Wed, 03 Aug 2011 18:24:02 GMT

OP, sounds like you are definitely setting yourself to succeed. Keep it up! Do try and limit inquiries, but they aren't nearly as bad as they are made out to be. Inquiries do stay on your reports for 2 years but are only scored for one. Inquiries don't lower scores as much as people think they do. If you NEED the credit, don't worry about applying just because of the inquiry. Don't go an app spree just because however, just be selective and do your research before you apply somewhere.

As already stated, you are not getting your true FICO score. You can get your EQ and TU here. Also, since you have a walmart card, you get a FREE TU score once a month. There is still some question about which version of the TU score it is, but it's FREE. So definitely check that out. EX scores have to be obtained through a lender or from a CU in PA (members only )

Re: New to the board - Hello !

Anonymous — Fri, 05 Aug 2011 20:21:26 GMT

thanks! to you all for the advice and encouragement. I'm definitely chillin out on applying for any new credit. I will take of advantage of the free report offered by Walmart.