First 6 months apply to a lot of CC or wait until first report?

[Anonymous]

I have just got my first CC (SECURED)

as i understand my first credit report will only be issued in 6 months time.

should i apply to a lot of secured credit cards now before the 6 months(to avoid hard hits and be able to define my own limits based on my cash deposit) or wait until i have the first report and the apply? 

[Anonymous]

Your credit report gets issued every month, not every 6 months. 

I would just use this one and pay in full every month. Give it a few months for your score to go up. 

You can get credit karma or similar as it gives you a FAKO but does have credit alerts. 

I would just keep the 1 secured cards, wait a few months and apply for a unsecured card like Discover or Cap1. 

[HeavenOhio]

Your credit report will be available as soon as it contains some information. It takes six months to generate a FICO score. Once the score is generated, it will reflect what you've done during those six months. You won't avoid anything by applying before you have a score.

[Anonymous]

Wait until you have a profile.

[HeavenOhio]

Once you have a report, you'll have a profile. It won't be very "thick" or old, but it'll be there.

It's probably good to wait until the six-month mark to apply for another card, not so much because of the score but because there'll be some history for lenders to acknowledge.

[Anonymous]

I would get at least 3 cards and let them age together.

[Anonymous]

heheh everyboday says a diferent strategy!

come on we need to get this straight!

a: should i mass apply for secured cards right now and let them age for 6 months?

b: should i just work on getting points out of this secured card that i have already, to then be able to get unsecured ?

should i deposit a lot of money on my secured card, so that they give me the same high limit when the review it?

i was thinking to deposit there 5000usd to get that same limit after, and maybe it would open doors with the next cards?

I need a teacher, a mentor who explains me all of this!

thanks very much indeed

[Anonymous]

Here's my secured CC strategy ...

http://ficoforums.myfico.com/t5/Credit-Cards/US-bank-secured-card-data-an-non-USbank-secured-CC/m-p/...

[Anonymous]

A couple of months ago, I came across a post where someone had broken down the math on getting three CC now or spreading them out over six month intervals. Based on the end result, the answer was to get them now.

It went something like this: Getting three cards now your average age of accounts be six months old in six months. One card now and one card in six months your AAoA will be three months. Wait another six months (now a full year) and your AAoA will be four months.

I apologize to the original poster, I know I didn't do your post justice.

[Adkins]

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@Anonymouswrote:

heheh everyboday says a diferent strategy! This will be true in everything in life. 

come on we need to get this straight!

a: should i mass apply for secured cards right now and let them age for 6 months? No, I wouldn't recommend it BUT I would apply for one more card. After you generate a score in six months, you'll have better odds of getting an unsecured card. 

b: should i just work on getting points out of this secured card that i have already, to then be able to get unsecured ? I wouldn't spend extra, just what you would normally buy. 

should i deposit a lot of money on my secured card, so that they give me the same high limit when the review it? I recommend adding as much as you can. All else fails and you don't get a CLI when the card unsecured, you'll have a higher starting limit. 

i was thinking to deposit there 5000usd to get that same limit after, and maybe it would open doors with the next cards? Not necessarily. Every card lender has their own priorities, and just the limit by itself usually only applies to higher tier cards, like the CSR. Chase doesn't like to be your first large limit, and prefers you to have a large limit with another lender first. 

I need a teacher, a mentor who explains me all of this!

thanks very much indeed

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I missed what secured card you had. I recommend capital one and Discover, because they have a general timeline for graduation.