How to Break the CLI Barrier

[Anonymous]

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@tntexans72 wrote:

Credit is a game of patience. You need to let those accounts age for 6-12 months before applying for any more cards. Having a short history with that many inqs will get you shot down. You really don't want to waste any more inqs. In the meantime, you can work on getting those cap1 cli because those are all SP. Let cap1 see some usage and history before applying for a QS or Venture in 6-12 months. Even if you get approved now, most likely it will be a small SL. Congrats on getting those cards, you just have to sit tight and let them grow. 

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Thank you tntexans72!  I'm not a very patient person by nature (probably why I went from deciding I was going to buy a house to closing within 2 months).  My husband and I have lots of plans for our new house after the winter so timing is perfect to garden now.  I've heard/read many different theories on util.  Is it best to keep overall below 30% or 10%?  Does individual card util affect your score or is it just the overall that has the biggest impact?  
Sorry for all the questions - I should have started this learning a long, long time ago but it's better late than never!

[taxi818]

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@Anonymous wrote:

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@tntexans72 wrote:

Credit is a game of patience. You need to let those accounts age for 6-12 months before applying for any more cards. Having a short history with that many inqs will get you shot down. You really don't want to waste any more inqs. In the meantime, you can work on getting those cap1 cli because those are all SP. Let cap1 see some usage and history before applying for a QS or Venture in 6-12 months. Even if you get approved now, most likely it will be a small SL. Congrats on getting those cards, you just have to sit tight and let them grow. 

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Thank you tntexans72!  I'm not a very patient person by nature (probably why I went from deciding I was going to buy a house to closing within 2 months).  My husband and I have lots of plans for our new house after the winter so timing is perfect to garden now.  I've heard/read many different theories on util.  Is it best to keep overall below 30% or 10%?  Does individual card util affect your score or is it just the overall that has the biggest impact?  
Sorry for all the questions - I should have started this learning a long, long time ago but it's better late than never!

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Under 30% is fine. Under 10% if applying for something and you need to maximize scores. Scores are just that  scores. Useless until you need to app. No need to obsess over it. Time without applying is best. Strateg for increasing score. Keep until low. As possible. But dont be scared to use. 

[tntexans72]

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@Anonymous wrote:

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@tntexans72 wrote:

Credit is a game of patience. You need to let those accounts age for 6-12 months before applying for any more cards. Having a short history with that many inqs will get you shot down. You really don't want to waste any more inqs. In the meantime, you can work on getting those cap1 cli because those are all SP. Let cap1 see some usage and history before applying for a QS or Venture in 6-12 months. Even if you get approved now, most likely it will be a small SL. Congrats on getting those cards, you just have to sit tight and let them grow. 

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Thank you tntexans72!  I'm not a very patient person by nature (probably why I went from deciding I was going to buy a house to closing within 2 months).  My husband and I have lots of plans for our new house after the winter so timing is perfect to garden now.  I've heard/read many different theories on util.  Is it best to keep overall below 30% or 10%?  Does individual card util affect your score or is it just the overall that has the biggest impact?  
Sorry for all the questions - I should have started this learning a long, long time ago but it's better late than never!

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Congrats on on all your success. IME, I keep my util at 1-15% right before I app for a new card to get the best limit and rates. Everyone's profile are different but this has worked for me. I have 2-6 inqs max across the board. Based on those data points I am able to obtained higher SL. Good lock. 

[Countingpennies]

Both, overall utilization and individual will affect your score.

Somewhere between 0 and 10% overall is best. However, 0% on all cards is not good either, the goal to maximize score points is to a small balance report on at least one card every month.

With small CLs, I know it's hard to stick with this. If you do let some balances report, they will bounce back the next month when they are paid. Micromanaging can make you (me actually) crazy sometimes.

And, I agree that time and patience are very important. The time will go by fast, meanwhile, keep reading and learning.

[Anonymous]

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@Countingpennies wrote:

Are the 17 inqs on one CRA, or the total on all 3?

Since you plan on gardening for awhile, if it were me, I would add a couple of new cards before gardening and let them start aging now. You might consider a Discover card, it has been giving CLIs for many, sometimes monthly. Barclays is a good card to add now, seems slower to grow, but decent. Walmart and Lowes are also good to have, and can grow fairly quickly to a nice limit. 

The only Visa/MC cards you have are Cap1. The above cards I've mentioned can be obtained with a 660ish score.

And this is just my experience, but my Synchrony cards, some of which I've had for over 2 years, stayed on the low CL side until my scores went over 670, then I was able to get them all up to $4-6k, all in the same week.

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I wouldn't try for Barclay. They are concerned with inquiries. I  tried the day after I closed on my house and that was my reason for denial. My score was good. I hadn't applied for any cards but they said too many recent inquiries. They all came from when they pulled my credit for the loan on the house. 

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

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@Countingpennies wrote:

Are the 17 inqs on one CRA, or the total on all 3?

Since you plan on gardening for awhile, if it were me, I would add a couple of new cards before gardening and let them start aging now. You might consider a Discover card, it has been giving CLIs for many, sometimes monthly. Barclays is a good card to add now, seems slower to grow, but decent. Walmart and Lowes are also good to have, and can grow fairly quickly to a nice limit. 

The only Visa/MC cards you have are Cap1. The above cards I've mentioned can be obtained with a 660ish score.

And this is just my experience, but my Synchrony cards, some of which I've had for over 2 years, stayed on the low CL side until my scores went over 670, then I was able to get them all up to $4-6k, all in the same week.

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I wouldn't try for Barclay. They are concerned with inquiries. I  tried the day after I closed on my house and that was my reason for denial. My score was good. I hadn't applied for any cards but they said too many recent inquiries. They all came from when they pulled my credit for the loan on the house. 

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I agree about Barclay.

[Anonymous]

So I decided to try Discover before hanging up my apps. After calling in for a quick verification, I got approved for $1200. Now I'm officially in the garden for 6 month minimum!

[LadyJEsq]

Congrats and welcome to the garden!

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

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@Anonymous wrote:

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@Anonymous wrote:

Sorry!  Here's the added info:

Amazon $4000

Cap1 Platinum $1500

Cap1 secured $525

The Limited $700

NY&Co $900

VS $350

Express $750

Kohl's $300

Menard's $1000

TJMaxx $250

I've thought about closing out my secured but I thought I'd keep it until I'm ready to replace it.  My AAoA is only 1.2 years and without that card, I'm afraid it will drop too significantly.  My goal is to gain cards outside of stores and Cap1 but knowing how high my inq are, I want to hold off for several months before apping any more.  So in the meantime, my goal is to work with what I have and start growing these limits.

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Your AAoA wont drop just because you close the card. It will continue to report on your CRs for roughly another 10 years before it falls off, adding to your AAoA and length of history.

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That's so good to know!  I always assumed it was based off of open accounts only.  Any other pros or cons I should consider before closing it now?

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When you close an account that is in good standing, it will not effect your AAoA as others stated, and will continue to help for 10 years.  But you do need to consider the amount of the CL you will be losing.

In your case, if you closed the secured CC at 525, you just need to be sure it wont matter to your overall UTIL.  Its only about 5% of your total UTI.

If you can cover the 525 elsewhere, its not an issue.  If it were say, 2000, it could be a problem for you.  

HTH