Best cards for lowish income?

Anonymous · ‎10-17-2018

I believe I said this before but I have relatively low income (working for a non-profit and I have recently started a money-losing business that will be money-losing until late next year) and medium-ish household income (Little over 60k household). My expenses are low (no mortgage) and I own a property myself where I get all my income from.

I do travel a bit for work that is re-embursed minimally so travel cards is what I am most interested in. Currently, have the CSP that I confirmed I was able to get on household income and approved for the minimum amount. Looking for other banks that might approve me in similar conditions to grow my credit score. Looking at Citi and Barclays AA cards (I really like Barclays offer 60k miles with 1 purchase). Is this something I could get?

Credit age is 1 year 3 months now with 2 apps Amex BCE and Chase Sapphire Preferred this summer.

Util: 0% on all (this second I am carrying a small balance on Amex for a store purchase) will pay it off.

FICO's all in the low 700s.

Card recommendations to lenders that care less about income?

Gmood1 · ‎10-17-2018

@Anonymous wrote:
I believe I said this before but I have relatively low income (working for a non-profit and I have recently started a money-losing business that will be money-losing until late next year) and medium-ish household income (Little over 60k household). My expenses are low (no mortgage) and I own a property myself where I get all my income from.

I do travel a bit for work that is re-embursed minimally so travel cards is what I am most interested in. Currently, have the CSP that I confirmed I was able to get on household income and approved for the minimum amount. Looking for other banks that might approve me in similar conditions to grow my credit score. Looking at Citi and Barclays AA cards (I really like Barclays offer 60k miles with 1 purchase). Is this something I could get?

Credit age is 1 year 3 months now with 2 apps Amex BCE and Chase Sapphire Preferred this summer.
Util: 0% on all (this second I am carrying a small balance on Amex for a store purchase) will pay it off.
FICO's all in the low 700s.

Card recommendations to lenders that care less about income?

You can get any card that you want. As long as your credit is decent. They care more about that than your income.

The Citi AA and Barclay AA are good churnable CC's. Those AA miles seem to go further for me than the Delta Skymiles.

The Wells Fargo Propel is another good travel CC IMHO. No AF witht he WF.

Anonymous · ‎10-17-2018

Yeh my only income is rent and that's $825 a month.

Gmood1 · ‎10-17-2018

I thought you stated your household income was $60k?

Anonymous · ‎10-17-2018

In term of credit card apps i wouldn't say tha 60k is on the low side. People have been approved for premium cards reporting half that.

If the household income you talked about is available to you report it on the app.

AverageJoesCredit · ‎10-18-2018

60k is not low income if that's what you are reporting, at least in regards to what i make. If you pay on time, like Gmood said, your credit can speak higher volumes. Much is possible

Anonymous · ‎10-18-2018

Income doesn't matter as much as you think when you have a great score and can pay off what you spend every month. I don't have a high personal income from work, but I do have other forms of income (investment income, alimony, second job, side hustle, and household income) with housing expenses of $433 a month. I have been extended credit way beyond my personal income from work, but I have a long history of paying in full everymonth and if I carry a balance for a month or two its at 0% and I always pay way more than the minimum. I also have an emergency fund and savings enough to cover 6months worth of living expenses or pay everything off immediately.

One thing I learned here that helped me the most was that having a low credit score wasn't necessarily a credit issue and it wasn't caused by being lower income. It was not having savings enough to cover emergencies and periods of unemployment and budget busters in general. It was a savings issue and once I build up my savings I was able to get my credit score from 611 to 837 in a little over a year and get a number of steller credit lines and a whopper car loan with a lower income.

Anonymous · ‎10-18-2018

GMood1 You are correct. Household income is ~60k. But income solely brought in by me is $825 a month. Some apps I find allow household income whereas some only allow personal income.

Anonymous · ‎10-18-2018

What apps? I think it might be an interpretation of the wording. If I'm not mistaken they all have to consider household income if submitted. For example, a homemaker shouldn't be unable to get credit just because they aren't the working spouse.

"A 2013 amendment to the federal regulations surrounding the Card Act expanded the definition of one’s ability to pay so that people 21 and older can include any income to which they have a 'reasonable expectation of access.' This can include income from a spouse, partner or other member of your household. It can also include nonwage income such as savings, trust fund distributions, unemployment compensation and others." -Nerdwallet

Anonymous · ‎10-18-2018

@Anonymous wrote:
What apps? I think it might be an interpretation of the wording. If I'm not mistaken they all have to consider household income if submitted. For example, a homemaker shouldn't be unable to get credit just because they aren't the working spouse.

"A 2013 amendment to the federal regulations surrounding the Card Act expanded the definition of one’s ability to pay so that people 21 and older can include any income to which they have a 'reasonable expectation of access.' This can include income from a spouse, partner or other member of your household. It can also include nonwage income such as savings, trust fund distributions, unemployment compensation and others." -Nerdwallet

Credit unions are one example. Since they are membership-based financial institutions they only consider the income of the member applying for credit. The only way to use household income for a credit union app is for all household members to join the credit union; then apply as co-applicants. That's the primary reason credit unions often ask for income verification via paystubs while other lenders rarely do.