Re: Next card app - timing - myFICO® Forums

Anonymous · ‎01-14-2016

Hello.

Thanks to the community for helping me out this far. I am 5 points away from reaching my goal score of 700.

Since my last post in mid 2015, I've gone up ~50 points. And my available credit has risen from $5250 to $16,450.

I have decided on the Discover IT card as my next card, as the double cash back after the first year promo seems very good. My main card now is the QS and it has another 2 months of 0% APR. I have done well to keep my utilization under 10% on my QS, but I was recently laid off. It came after a short vacation, and right before a more costly vacation that was already half paid for. So I am now carrying a 50% balance, and I took a 10 point hit to my score. I do have the cash available to get under 10% again, but it would make money very tight if anything happened.

Should I apply for the discover IT card now before my score drops lower? I did rebound about 5 points since December, I think due to the JCrew card. I hit my 7months or whatever it is, and went from $1050 to $5350 CL. So I am not really sure what direction my score will go next month.

And more generally, is utilization % based on individual cards?

Is it total CL for everything and the combination of your used credit needs to be under 10%?

Should I jump on the Discover IT app now before the double cash back promo goes away?

Thanks!

TrialByFire · ‎01-14-2016

Sorry to hear about the lay off I wouldn't wish that on anybody. Util is aggregate. Generally speaking Per card <30% is ok, <10% is ideal.

Rewards should be of little concern right now. 50% is a little high to be apping, but I don't think you should drain your cash reserves hoping it leads to an approval. What if you pay the balances down and your app is still denied? Now you have little cash on hand. Can you get a refund on the vacation that's half paid for?

I'm going to assume you have legitimate income to put on the application. That said, do what you gotta do to get by, and I hope you find work soon good luck!

SouthJamaica · ‎01-14-2016

@Anonymous wrote:
Hello.

Thanks to the community for helping me out this far. I am 5 points away from reaching my goal score of 700.
Since my last post in mid 2015, I've gone up ~50 points. And my available credit has risen from $5250 to $16,450.

I have decided on the Discover IT card as my next card, as the double cash back after the first year promo seems very good. My main card now is the QS and it has another 2 months of 0% APR. I have done well to keep my utilization under 10% on my QS, but I was recently laid off. It came after a short vacation, and right before a more costly vacation that was already half paid for. So I am now carrying a 50% balance, and I took a 10 point hit to my score. I do have the cash available to get under 10% again, but it would make money very tight if anything happened.

Forget about applying for any new card right now. You need to get your utilization down, and your employment status back to "employed", before you apply for any new card.

Should I apply for the discover IT card now before my score drops lower?

Absolutely not.

I did rebound about 5 points since December, I think due to the JCrew card. I hit my 7months or whatever it is, and went from $1050 to $5350 CL. So I am not really sure what direction my score will go next month.

It doesn't matter. Even if it goes up, you still need to hold off on applying.

And more generally, is utilization % based on individual cards?

Both overall utilization + utilzation card-by-card are taken into account.

Is it total CL for everything and the combination of your used credit needs to be under 10%?

Not necessarily but you do need to be employed & you do need to have nothing with 50% utilization

Should I jump on the Discover IT app now before the double cash back promo goes away?

Forget it please.

Thanks!