topic Re: My credit building journey, lots of random questions, advise plz in Rebuilding Your Credit

My credit building journey, lots of random questions, advise plz

Anonymous — Mon, 25 May 2015 21:09:40 GMT

First of all, thank you so much to everyone here. I have spent the last few days reading. A lot of lingo to learn. (Luv button was my favorite) (or PYDBDB) haha. And its totally worth it! Basically my credit is fair/good. I was lazy in building it. Going through anti credit card phase just to be unique. Always paid in cash. Bad mistake. Basically the only neg on my report is 3 missed payments from 1 of my student loans (which is an ERROR). Everything else is in good standing. No chargeoffs. No collections. No bks. If you are in a rush, just look at my BOLD or underlined parts if you could please.

care credit 6/13 CL $6800
credit one 4/14 CL $850
Buckle store card 5/14 CL $500
cap1 qs 12/14 CL $3k
commerce bank 10/14 CL $2k
amazon store card 4/15 CL $800
sams club PLCC 5/15 CL $1200

Amex Everyday 5/15 CL $5k

util is now around 15%.

If my oldest account is from june of 2013 (care credit), and my second oldest is from april 2014 (the credit one), my score is currently at EQ 669,TU 659 myfico of 688. do u think I really should close the creditone? Has a $49 AF. I could probably close the credit one, but I just paid my annual fee less than 2 months ago. I think I should wait until a month before they charge the fee, and cancel it then, say march of 2016? I would not be where I am today without it. It has served its purpose.

I am kinda thinking my average age of accounts is going to be screwed anyway with all these new cards, and maybe closing the creditone wont make that big of a difference, and then I can garden? My AAOA says its currently 2 years 10 months.. I really was NOT wanting the sams club private label credit card. I was hoping to get the synchrony bank master card and be able to get the special $50 off $100 deal and get extra cash back on top of our plus membership. They would not approve me even though I have care credit and amazon, yet give me a $1200 limit on a non master card. The other lady at the counter told me they never approve people for the MC version. It would have been foolish for me to say no to the non MC, since they did a HP, plus at that point I did not have amex approval, and only $1k limit on my cap1 qs. If my AAOA goes way down, I guess I have 30 days to cancel the new card and just accept the HP as a loss, right?

I have 7 HPs on my TU, 2 on my EQ, but that does not include my sams club or AMEX applications from this month. Only 2 of the 7 are from the last 6 months.My score is so low because of a student loan error 90 days past due, even though it wasnt, and I have written in about 5 letters and can't get it removed. On all the simulators, I have seen my score would instantly be 740-780 without the error. Ugh. What should I do about this? Keep sending in more letters? When I call in the rep always says I wont have any problem in getting it removed but that isnt the case. I was even thinking life would be better with them being serviced by a new company, but heck no...

Question,
I am preapproved for a discover IT card, do you think I should go ahead and take it? I applied for one 3/14 and was declined only due to 80%util (thanks to my care credit for a relative). The EO I spoke with for the recon a year ago basically told me once my util is below 30 I would guaranteed get approved. I honestly don't need it. I do like their cashback, basically doubling it for car rentals or flowers..... maybe I should wait and apply for it once my 15 months of no interest expires on my new amex? After hitting the luv button on my credit steps cap1 qs (no AF) and going from $1k to $3k...I am thinking I could just do a lot with that card, groceries/gas on AMEX, and be fine.

I cant believe some of the stuff I have learned about. Terms like Stoozing. People making money off of no interest cash advances by placing them in a higher yield savings account. As tempting as that sounds, and not to be judgemental, I think in the time it would take me to do all that I could focus my time and energy into something and make just as much money. But thats just me. I do love couponing/frugaling and I think its a unique/cool idea though. I also enjoyed reading about app-o-rama's. That is an interesting strategy. I don't think with my scores I would have benefited from applying for multiple amex cards. Now Chase would be my ultimate goal, thats for sure.

I gotta say, it feels so good to see others beating this defunct system. I can understand why some people are so proud of the cards they have, and their limits. But to me, it seems almost like its so hit or miss. As in there isnt much continuity. Maybe some people arent being totally honest about their past on other sites. Or really the system is just that broke. One year ago, I never would have though today my score would be 80 points higher, and that I would be able to have real credit cards. It requires self control. I would not be able to be so diligent it if it wasnt for my Amex Serve card. It is SO easy and simple to take money from one account, move it to the other, pay bills, even do couponing.

Ok. So now I have some real cards. I pay my bills on time, usually in full, if not much more than the minimum, 12 days early, every month. I avoid pulling triggers on the store cards because I read so much mixed info on them (but I gotta say the kohls card sounds tempting). What else should I be doing here to improve my credit? I own my own car, don't have a mortgage, etc. Paying on my interest for my student loans will help me financially overall. I guess maybe I could cosign on someone's car loan, which would be a big risk, but I know for a fact if they ever had issues, someone would take care of it. Since I rent, should I try to get added to a family members mortgage? I do want to have the ability to get a home loan or an auto loan without astronomical interest rates. I am not planning on buying a home in the next year.

THANKS!!!

Re: My credit building journey, lots of random questions, advise plz

Anonymous — Mon, 25 May 2015 21:41:29 GMT

Holy Moses... Welcome to MYFICO. Now let me get my coffee and read your book and see if I can answer your questions..

1) If my oldest account is from june of 2013 (care credit), and my second oldest is from april 2014 (the credit one), my score is currently at EQ 669,TU 659 myfico of 688. do u think I really should close the creditone? Has a $49 AF. I could probably close the credit one, but I just paid my annual fee less than 2 months ago. I think I should wait until a month before they charge the fee, and cancel it then, say march of 2016? I would not be where I am today without it. It has served its purpose. - Close credit one as it is not your oldest account.

2) I am preapproved for a discover IT card, do you think I should go ahead and take it? I applied for one 3/14 and was declined only due to 80%util (thanks to my care credit for a relative). The EO I spoke with for the recon a year ago basically told me once my util is below 30 I would guaranteed get approved. I honestly don't need it. I do like their cashback, basically doubling it for car rentals or flowers..... maybe I should wait and apply for it once my 15 months of no interest expires on my new amex? After hitting the luv button on my credit steps cap1 qs (no AF) and going from $1k to $3k...I am thinking I could just do a lot with that card, groceries/gas on AMEX, and be fine. - A Discover pre-approval does not mean anything. Try this test- Select a random 9 digit number as SSN and a name and pull it in the pre-approval section on the site and you will get an answer.

If you don't need the card, then hold off applying.

3) Ok. So now I have some real cards. I pay my bills on time, usually in full, if not much more than the minimum, 12 days early, every month. I avoid pulling triggers on the store cards because I read so much mixed info on them (but I gotta say the kohls card sounds tempting). What else should I be doing here to improve my credit? I own my own car, don't have a mortgage, etc. Paying on my interest for my student loans will help me financially overall. I guess maybe I could cosign on someone's car loan, which would be a big risk, but I know for a fact if they ever had issues, someone would take care of it. Since I rent, should I try to get added to a family members mortgage? I do want to have the ability to get a home loan or an auto loan without astronomical interest rates. I am not planning on buying a home in the next year. - You are doing good so far and on the right track. Apply for cards you only want. Don't get cards just because you have the ability to.

See - RED HIGHLIGHT. Don't ever do it. You will be doing more harm to yourself than good. If you need to have a loan reporting so that you can maximize your scores, go to a credit union and put $500 down and get a secure loan. That will report and should solve your problem.

But all in all, good job!!

Re: My credit building journey, lots of random questions, advise plz

Anonymous — Mon, 25 May 2015 22:41:22 GMT

Trying to think of something more to add... Hmm... Nope.

+100 to Yes-Its-Me

Said everything I would have.

Re: My credit building journey, lots of random questions, advise plz

shadowx360 — Tue, 26 May 2015 17:03:56 GMT

As for the error, pressure the credit reporting agency as well as the lender. Pull some official-looking letters from Google and send those in. Hire a lawyer if you must.

Also, rule #1 of credit cards. Always pay in full. Rule #0. NEVER EVER COSIGN A LOAN UNLESS YOU ARE WILLING TO PAY IT ALL. No exceptions. Doesn't matter if you have known the person since you were 5 or if you gave birth to them. Also, don't open credit cards at the register. Ever. Cashiers are pressured to push them onto you and not a single card you have seems worth it to me. Store credit cards are never worth the hard pull. You need to restructure your cards to cover the categories but your scores are way too low for that.

Best thing you can do is hold off on new cards for at least a year, preferably 2 so they all fall off your credit report. Pay in full every month. Start off with this set of cards to cover your categories:

Citi DoubleCash for 2% general spend
Sallie Mae Mastercard for 5% gas/groceries/Amazon. Open a second one after a year if you spend more than $250 a month on gas or groceries. 2x SM > Amex BCP
Chase Freedom when signup bonus is $200+ for rotating categories
Discover IT when signup bonus is high

Re: My credit building journey, lots of random questions, advise plz

Anonymous — Tue, 26 May 2015 17:14:03 GMT

@Shadowx360,

You seem to have started off on the wrong foot. Should always start with no credit fee cards, that way your oldest cards you can keep around. You can close the Care Credit, and it will stay on your report for 10 years, but reports as a 2 year old card for that entire duration. I'd suck up and pay those fees for a few more years if I were you.- I wouldn't suggest OP close care credit even though it stays on the report for 10 year. I think OP started well.. So close Care credit and keep Credit One?. Care Credit was open before credit one so why suck up and pay the fees?

As for the error, pressure the credit reporting agency as well as the lender. Pull some official-looking letters from Google and send those in. Hire a lawyer if you must. - Hire a lawyer for what exactly?

Also, rule #1 of credit cards. Always pay in full. Rule #0. NEVER EVER COSIGN A LOAN UNLESS YOU ARE WILLING TO PAY IT ALL. No exceptions. Doesn't matter if you have known the person since you were 5 or if you gave birth to them. Also, don't open credit cards at the register. Ever. Cashiers are pressured to push them onto you and not a single card you have seems worth it to me.A Store credit cards are never worth the hard pull. You need to restructure your cards to cover the categories but your scores are way too low for that. - Disagree with rule #1. Paying in full is ALWAYS a choice and not a must when you have a credit card. Also, opening a card at the register is not bad and some store cards are worth it.

Re: My credit building journey, lots of random questions, advise plz

shadowx360 — Tue, 26 May 2015 17:28:17 GMT

I wouldn't suggest OP close care credit even though it stays on the report for 10 year. I think OP started well.. So close Care credit and keep Credit One?. Care Credit was open before credit one so why suck up and pay the fees?

Read that one wrong, though the oldest one had the fee. In that case, close the one with the fee since it's not the oldest.

Hire a lawyer for what exaclt?

For consulting/pressuring if they aren't responding to OP's letters. Five letters seems excessive. Letters from a lawyers office carry a bit more weight.

Disagree with rule #1. Paying in full is ALWAYS a choice and not a must when you have a credit card. Also, opening a card at the register is not bad and some store cards are worth it.

Guess we have different philosophies. Why pay interest on a credit card? Unless OP has an emergency that requires more money than he has liquid, he should still be able to pull out most investments in the month it takes before he has to pay the bill. I'm not talking about paying balances down to 0 before statement hits. There are no good reasons why anyone would pay interest. It does NOT help increase credit scores.

Also, genuinely curious, what store cards are worth the HP? It's easy to get $200+ worth of cash back/miles per credit card. What store card will give that amount of return in the foreseeable future over a generic 2% reward? Perhaps the one exception I can think of is Lowes, which gives 10% off initial purchase and OP buys $10k worth of solar panels. Even in that case, that's assuming OP doesn't have access to a 10% movers coupon. Even in those cases extremely rare cases, I still stand by my original point that it's better to research the card online and apply from home than to make a spontaneous decision at the register.

Not trying to be a jerk to OP and he didn't do too bad with his first set of cards, but there are better options. The Cap1 QS is a pretty good choice, though I would have chosen the Cap1 QS Student (formerly Cap1 Journey) as a 1.5/1.25% starting card and going for the Citi 2% as soon as he has enough credit history.

Re: My credit building journey, lots of random questions, advise plz

Anonymous — Tue, 26 May 2015 22:23:08 GMT

Thank you for the replies.

Ok, so this $500 secured loan idea. I will be forced to pay a little interest? Do I just keep getting more and more of the same loan every 6 months?

I will never cancel my care credit. That is not an option. I have too many instances where their 24 months no interest has serves me well for emergencies. No outrageous fees. Any non promo purchases are paid in full.

I seem to be reading mixed responses on the credit one. Guess I'll keep it until next March and check my aaoa first.

I would have totally loved going through cap1 at first. Believe me, I applied, recon'd, etc. No dice. I am just happy that credit steps isn't a permanent lock down. I enjoy the easiness of their rewards.

Chase is very picky. I attempted their 300 off 500 on the freedom but was declined. They insisted I left a checking account open that began to incur fees from non use. I even paid the $70 and recon'd. Denied.

I have received many offers from citi. Double cash and Diamond. I was going to get that sallie mae card but was too scared to try so instead got the Amazon store credit line.

I wholeheartedly agree with opening cards impulsively at the register. Bad bad idea. Research first for sure. Learned my lesson on that one!

I always pay in full unless I'm on some type of a promo. I pay 3-10x the minimum payment just to be safe.

I want to pc my Amex everyday to the one that does 6%cb at grocery stores, maybe in a year or 15 months.

I do ultimately want to be that awesome smart informed frugal person that can apply for the great offers. Chase Sapphire, or Amex Starwoods, etc. It's a lot to take in. For me I think maybe after a year I can apply for the Sapphire and the freedom at the same time. Then accept the better or what I'm offered.

All of this makes me nervous. I can see how a HP is essentially lost money. But with my fair/good scores, I don't think there was a chance I'd get approved for any of the better Amex cards at this point.

Re: My credit building journey, lots of random questions, advise plz

Anonymous — Tue, 26 May 2015 22:27:15 GMT

@shadowx360 wrote:
I wouldn't suggest OP close care credit even though it stays on the report for 10 year. I think OP started well.. So close Care credit and keep Credit One?. Care Credit was open before credit one so why suck up and pay the fees?
Read that one wrong, though the oldest one had the fee. In that case, close the one with the fee since it's not the oldest.

Hire a lawyer for what exaclt?
For consulting/pressuring if they aren't responding to OP's letters. Five letters seems excessive. Letters from a lawyers office carry a bit more weight.

Disagree with rule #1. Paying in full is ALWAYS a choice and not a must when you have a credit card. Also, opening a card at the register is not bad and some store cards are worth it.
Guess we have different philosophies. Why pay interest on a credit card? Unless OP has an emergency that requires more money than he has liquid, he should still be able to pull out most investments in the month it takes before he has to pay the bill. I'm not talking about paying balances down to 0 before statement hits. There are no good reasons why anyone would pay interest. It does NOT help increase credit scores.

Also, genuinely curious, what store cards are worth the HP? It's easy to get $200+ worth of cash back/miles per credit card. What store card will give that amount of return in the foreseeable future over a generic 2% reward? Perhaps the one exception I can think of is Lowes, which gives 10% off initial purchase and OP buys $10k worth of solar panels. Even in that case, that's assuming OP doesn't have access to a 10% movers coupon. Even in those cases extremely rare cases, I still stand by my original point that it's better to research the card online and apply from home than to make a spontaneous decision at the register.

Not trying to be a jerk to OP and he didn't do too bad with his first set of cards, but there are better options. The Cap1 QS is a pretty good choice, though I would have chosen the Cap1 QS Student (formerly Cap1 Journey) as a 1.5/1.25% starting card and going for the Citi 2% as soon as he has enough credit history.

Understandable- See red. But remember not everyone has the luxury of being able to pay their cards in full- Also, I wouldn't encourage OP to hire a lawyer. There are fees in involved in doing that and better ways to cachieve what he wants.

Again I disagree- see red in 2nd paragraph. Store cards like Lowes, Overstock etc... are worth it in my opinion. They may not be your cup of tea but not for everyone.

Re: My credit building journey, lots of random questions, advise plz

Anonymous — Tue, 26 May 2015 22:36:06 GMT

I guess in my crazy mind I was figuring the time and money spent w a lawyer would be roughly the same as just riding it out and being a responsible person. I mean I guess I have no right to complain. 80pt increase in one year. Ok. Would the extra 70 point instant boost (just a guess from all the simulators) benefit me today? I am not buying a house this year. But I just want to be in the 740+ range more than anything.

And by the way, I built that 80pt boost by carrying a balance sometimes, always low util. Maybe I'd be at 740 had I always PIF. The simulators said otherwise. Basically my history was the culprit, hence me thinking of maybe getting on someone's mortgage but I guess that's a big ole worthless liability....

And by the way, thanks for the advice thus far. I do love hearing different options and opinions!

Re: My credit building journey, lots of random questions, advise plz

Anonymous — Tue, 26 May 2015 22:46:10 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
I guess in my crazy mind I was figuring the time and money spent w a lawyer would be roughly the same as just riding it out and being a responsible person. I mean I guess I have no right to complain. 80pt increase in one year. Ok. Would the extra 70 point instant boost (just a guess from all the simulators) benefit me today? I am not buying a house this year. But I just want to be in the 740+ range more than anything.

And by the way, I built that 80pt boost by carrying a balance sometimes, always low util. Maybe I'd be at 740 had I always PIF. The simulators said otherwise. Basically my history was the culprit, hence me thinking of maybe getting on someone's mortgage but I guess that's a big ole worthless liability....

And by the way, thanks for the advice thus far. I do love hearing different options and opinions!

@Anonymous,

You are doing soo well right now and you are doing something absolutely right. You don't need a lawyer. You answered your own questions. You have had a huge point increase and once you make a few adjustments, you will be fine.

Also, carrying a balance is not bad... You are on the right track-

Re: My credit building journey, lots of random questions, advise plz

Anonymous — Thu, 28 May 2015 23:18:01 GMT

How long do you think it will be before my score hits mid 700's? I am going to just take a gamble myself, and say probably 1 year without trying harder. I am going to give it one last hoorah and ECCB the hell out of that error.... Pretty sure its the year 2015...who still mandates letters be sent by FAX! lol.

How long do you think it will be before I can convert my Amex EveryDay to the 6% cash back on groceries one?

In my mind I still have this fear of applying for anything at Chase. Maybe I should make my future goal the Amex Starwood and the Citi Double Cash.

And by the way, I have decided to cosign on a car for my mother when she decides to buy one. It will prevent me from having to do the credit union loan thing. Does cosigning for a car, vs having a car in my name with a cosigner vs just havin ga car in my name make any difference on a credit report? I probably should ask that question outside of the credit card forum.

Again thank you everyone for your advice!

Re: My credit building journey, lots of random questions, advise plz

Anonymous — Sun, 31 May 2015 02:22:04 GMT

Alright folks I'll try to keep this one short and sweet. Lol. My Amex Everyday came today. 6 days, not too bad.

The APR is 0% for 15 as promised but says 17.99% thereafter. I am 99.999% positive when I was applying it said a range of 12 to 20% and that I was approved for 15.99%. I am gonna let that go because I plan to PC anyway in a year so to BCP... Waste of time trying to change Apr then right?

Secondly, in my packet it showed my EX fico as 692. Ok... Making progress

Then says the following :

"key factors that adversely affected your score :

-Serious delinquency (grr lol, fine,moving on)
-Proportion of loan balances to loan amounts is too high (student loans? Son of a.... )
-Length of time accounts have been established (yep, totally correct)
-proportion of revolving balances to revolving credit limits is too high ( define high? Was at or under 30% util when I applied. Is this a joke?) "

The great part though... It didn't say too many inquiries!!!

Guess it's time to review my EX credit report. Usually only review my EQ and TU. Just realized that.....

Finally, is it true that every 4 months I can alternate my 3 credit reports for free. Eg: pull EX, 4mos EQ, 4 months TU, Then repeat?

I made sure my card was activated by making a $20 purchase. I was not able to use the chip feature. Had to swipe. I kinda thought it would make people with chips insert if they swiped. Or work if inserted at register to read the chip...

Have a great weekend!

Re: My credit building journey, lots of random questions, advise plz

shadowx360 — Sun, 31 May 2015 02:45:51 GMT

Yea, I spread mine out at about 4 month intervals. As for inquiries, they definitely hurt your score in the short term, though probably in the range of 5-15 points. They list the reasons that affect your score the most.

As for utilization, idea is 1-9% and less than half of your cards reporting a balance. You definitely want your utilization under 30% though. That being said. I don't really bother the with second half of that, I rather use whichever card gives me the most cash back then to stop using a card near its statement closing time just so I can make sure the purchase posts and then pay it off, which would pretty much prevent me from using half my cards for a week every month. Also for the utilization, there's a calculation per card as well as overall for all your lines of credit. I normally leave ~9% on one of my cards and it translates to about 3% overall utlization.

The factor you can do the least about in the short term is high proportion of loan balances. That's always top reason affecting my credit score, and it's not like I have a quarter million just lying around to pay off these loans. Worse part is that every semester adds in two new loans which means my average age of credit is really low.

Re: My credit building journey, lots of random questions, advise plz

Anonymous — Wed, 10 Jun 2015 21:13:04 GMT

A'ight folks. Grab your specs and a cup a joe...LOL

CHASE CARD

Address:

PO BOX 15298

WILMINGTON DE 19850

Date of Request:

01/22/2015, 01/19/2015, 11/24/2014,

10/27/2014

I had applied for a Freedom card with them in December due to a preapproval and their sign on bonus. Were they able to do all these soft pulls because I had a checking account with them years ago??? They denied me because they claimed I never closed my checking, which I did, and promptly paid them $75 over the phone, recond 2x no dice, long over it, just was startled by their copioius amounts of SPs.

So my TU still shows 7 inquires, EQ only 2 (both from capital one?), and EX has 2 in last 6 months (amex/sams) with 6 total.

So my issue here is this. Looks like Amex is only pulling and reporting my EX. Yet my sams club plcc pulled from EX yet reports to EX and EQ?? Does that normally happen?

If I instantly had to go out and buy a car, should I have my TU frozen? I just discovered my best friends fiance's father can offer us friends and family discount for chrysler. Which would basically cover our down payment after truecar pricing. Probably going to say no to the temptation and just enjoy our paid off vehicles!

W.I.T.H is up with chip readers at places not working?! I deliberately reached for my amex every time on my trip, and 10% of the time they didnt take amex, and 75% of the time the chip reader would not work...

I am highly highly considering transferring a balance from a family members store card 29% apr and letting them pay me to pay it off. I figure this will give me extra activity, but also not put me in debt if something bad happened or they could no longer pay me. This person is paranoid that if they themselves did a BT on a new card of theirs, that it would look bad.... We're talking low low amount. less than $1200. Can I even do this? The whole thing IRKS me cuz I was the one that got them 21 months no interest with bank of america 10k limit, SPECIFICALLY for their 2 BTs!!! IDIOTS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Should I add myself as an authorized user on a family members 2 cards that have a 0 balance and a 9-10k limit? If they suddently hit over 10% util, I could remove myself? Or would it just be a big ole hassle?

Why is it that when I have the time I am obsessing about not only my score but friends and family?

Hope everyone is happy, healthy, and enjoying learning about credit!

Re: My credit building journey, lots of random questions UPDATE

Anonymous — Wed, 01 Jul 2015 22:42:34 GMT

"my score is currently at EQ 669,TU 659 myfico ex of 688"

Well, that is kinda awesome! In less than a month of joining myfico two of my scores have went up 30-40 points. (and my new Amex TL isnt even part of that!) I didnt even realize it. Thank you to everyone for the great advice here. I really took advantage of the SP CLI's. I have nearly tripled my total open CL.

I also found out that my one 120 day late error on a student loan is supposed to drop off after 7 years. Now on experian, it said the date was August 2016. The other two said January 2016. I wonder how big of a score increase I would see from that? I am also a little frantic here because apparently disputing things like these can cause them to be closed and reopened, and taking a big hit on AAOA, at least according to creditboards.

I am also thinking that 1 more HP from CareCredit could be worthwhile. Previously they only HPd my TU. Ask for 25k CLI and hope they counter for 15-20k. They did take my 2 month old amazon and sams accounts limits from 800/1200 up to 6000/7000. My care credit will be a 0 balance in the next month or two and having 15-20k 0 balance would be awesome for my uitilzation, no? UPDATE: went ahead with it, took one TU HP from me, one from coapplicant, new CL of $15,600!

I have also decided my Commerce Bank Visa is slightly evil. While 6 months ago I never would have contemplated eliminating it (as it was my highest CC CL at the time) they are just crazy. They give people bonus points for accruing interest. Seriously? Plus their points are only worth half a cent. And now the awesome shopping portal is gone where you could get 10-15 or even 20x points. No manual CLIs. System initiated every 4-6 months. Their banks are not everywhere but also not that far away. Maybe I should initiate this loan with them? They only offer real loans of $7k or more. Otherwise they have accessible lines of credit starting at $1k. They do have decent APR for used/new cars starting at 3 percent for future reference.

I am getting Citi Simplicity 0% for 21 months then 12.9% offers that have the opt out notice. Previously they were for Diamond Preferred and Doublecash at 0 for 12-18mos then 19%. Credit pulls database shows sub 700 scores getting approvals but with very low CL. Seems to me with citi if you are 740+ they automatically give you 3-5x the starting limit.

I am preselected on capital one for the venture, 0 for 15 then 17.9, also another QS, and the platinum prestige. I mean yes, I really could be using the extra room to push purchases through for the rewards without having to pay off during the month. I am wondering since my QS Visa in credit steps has a 22.9% apr starting in october, maybe my angle should be to see what I am preselected for in september, take the 3 HPs but apply for 2 cap1 products Then eventually combine. I dont want duplicates.

I have no personal need for 15 cards with 25k limits. But...

Short term 1- 6 month goals:

1. Small loan

2. Complete one 3x CLI on AMEX

3. Grow or Throw the commerce bank visa.

4. Potentially apply for Citi Doublecash then Venture

Longer term 6-12 month goals

1. Close credit one in march

2. under 5% util

3. Learn statement closing dates

TLDR: is one HP CLI worth it for a potential 20-50% increase in overall CL?

Re: My credit building journey, lots of random questions UPDATE

Anonymous — Wed, 01 Jul 2015 21:51:29 GMT

WOO HOO!!! HAPPY JULY! My first offical score in the 700's! Goes to Equifax! 703 baby!!!!

Re: My credit building journey, lots of random questions UPDATE

Anonymous — Fri, 03 Jul 2015 20:21:36 GMT

July is starting out an awesome month! My 2nd score hit 700, actually 710! 2 down, one to go!

Having a hard time here with the loan situation. The CUs in my area all want to do $2000-$7000 for loan minimums. Looks like I will have to go to a tiny town near by to push for a $500 loan. They were all pushing for this line of credit thing which I do NOT want. It is too much like a credit card and I am not that stupid to know it would report just like one. I cant wrap my mind around a loan that big, especially if in 2 months something happens to my car and I would want a loan for one. Not good. I was hoping for $500, they keep the 500, I pay them, then at the end maybe repeat. This is what I was advised to do.

I previously had called about my commerce bank card. They insisted no credit limit increases are possible and you have to wait 6 months. Well I called today, explained my situation. That I have better credit. Better rewards cards now. That their shopping portal had gotten worse. And that basically I would hate to close my card because one day I would want a car loan, etc. I also thanked them for last october them giving me 0 percent for 1 year, then 16% after, when everyone else was sending 29.99 percent.

So the guy remarked my account that I wanted a visa signature or a WEMC. . I joked with him and said yeah I am joking about the WEMC maybe some day, I don't spend 25k a year and that is generally a banks criteria to get one. He said that is not always the case. Anywho, he said the computer is reviewing my account in August. And he could see that I have made many many payments. He joked and said, you know you can carry a balance for longer than a week, right? So if it doesnt happen, he wants me to call in, apply for a new one, and they will merge the two together, while keeping the originals open date.

Baby steps

Re: My credit building journey, lots of random questions UPDATE

Anonymous — Sat, 04 Jul 2015 06:28:06 GMT

One suggestion about getting a secured loan:

You can apply for membership at SDFCU and you can qualify for membership by joining ACC if you dont qualify by any other method. Just look under 'who can join' and follow the directions.

Then you can open a share account with a small deposit. Then contact them and arrange for a secured loan for 500 for 36 months. The will charge a nominal interest rate and you can repay them for somewhere around 14 a month. That will give you an installment loan under your name and will report to all three CRBs. After you pay them for 2 or 3 months, you can set up an auto pay and it will take care of itself.

If you still need it after the 36 months, you can repeat the process again.

Congrats on getting to 700!

hth

ETA: I just decided to app for a membership at SDFCU and it took me maybe 15 minutes including a comfort break. I did not app for a CC or any type of loan, just set up a share savings account. I didnt have to fund it right away but I decided to impress them with a giant 20 deposit. I am going to let them digest my membership for a couple months because I'm not quite ready to ask for a CC yet. If you want a secure loan as I described above, I would just call them about it.

Re: My credit building journey, lots of random questions UPDATE

Anonymous — Fri, 14 Aug 2015 03:52:15 GMT

Caught myself rambling on another thread, and figured I would keep this here, at least for myself for future reference! Just realized above I did meet a few of my goals too. Doublecash, check! And utilization, check! Still on the fence about Venture...

@Anonymous wrote:
Yeah, the whole death of D* was a sad event. But then again, churning is now 10x harder than it was even 18 months ago. I decided i'm holding out for another 100K AA offer for the AA Exec instead of wasting my 18mos wait on 75K offer.

I do read a lot of comments similar to this on other sites. There have been quite a few new rule changes with regards to frequency, repeat apps, etc. Churning for new folks is still a possibility but requires more research. I try not to call it churning though, more like a hobby. Lately I look at each inquiry in a dollar value. In certain situations, I will spend an inquiry and this potential money, if it is worth it. I wasted 1 inquiry on the double cash. Well worth it. Decent card for gettin in with Citi.

I double apped with chase for IHG and hyatt, reconned each twice, and only got the IHG. I was double pulled, but those two inquiries are well worth the $50 and 80k points, not to mention $49 a year for 1 night at any IHG

I spent one inquiry on a 50k PRG card and a 35k delta card. Normally I think I'd be resentful as many ended up with 50-60k delta offers, but the whole picture was great. Especially since I have some flexibility or the option to hold on to my delta miles without the card, and keep the points on my no annual fee ED. Bottom line, even if I didnt have high inquiries, I would still like to exercise caution in "spending" them. Maybe I am still in this early phase and I should just keep adding cards and profit later? I feel empty right now because I dont have any min spends to work on though!

I do regret some of my applications and I probably shouldnt. My apping for amazon and sams were foolish and unresearched...I only got $40 gift cards for each one. I do feel their gracious limits helped my utilization and approval odds for subsequent cards due to relationship with synchrony. And the 5% and financing offers will be used some day for sure. Not to mention when my family members balance was really high on my Care Credit, and I didnt know any better to ask for 25k and counter. This would have possibly eliminated my Discover denial april '14 and even capital one.

its basically been an app spree since this spring.... Amazon April, Sams May, Amex ED in June, Prg, delta, Double Cash, and IHG in July.

I have to remember that less than 4 months ago I was at 13k total available credit. I do not want cards shutting me down, but it seems as though as time goes on I am getting approved by better lendors. I would just like to ensure I end up: A. Not spooking Amex out of a 3x CLI on my ED and B. Build a good relationship with Citi so I can get some TYP action up in hur one day.

I wont be able to app for Chase Sapphire until July of 2017. I am basically convinced if its something I really could benefit from before then, I will just become an AU somehow or hope they loosen the reigns.

The great news is, I did get some new information on my 1 student loan that has a 120 day late error. A new rep basically stated all the previous submissions electronically and by fax were received, processed, then discarded, but the reason no action was taken was because it has to be sent in by mail! So .... I have a tingly feeling that since only 1 loan of my 7 has this late payment error, the one with a balance of 2k, that they will take care of this error FINALLY. I am going to be REALLY really curious as to my score increase. It makes me wonder if it will be more than a 30-40 point increase. I do know that any time I app have been denied in the past, it does list "Serious Delinquency" as one of the first reasons.....