@Anonymous wrote:
One of my goals is to obtain the best credit and credit history in order to be able to get a good home loan (not anytime soon), but I guess I'm being anxious because I feel like 2 cards isn't enough to build enough credit / credit history.
My DW started from no score and 17 months later is over 750 TU Score. She started with 2 cards. I remember when she went to JCP (5 months) and they offered a card without a HP (I wasn't there), she got the store card with $400 limit. Of course they HP her and I was mad. At that time I didn't know that JCP can grow fast. Target can't, so don't go with Target. Less than a year later her JCP is $6,500 and it helps her util.
If your home loan is not soon, then calm down, work with 2 cards. After 7 months and 6 statements, visit the prequal sites for Citi, Amex and Cap1. Amex can grow fast 3X at activation then 3X 6 months later (up to). Cap1, if you show 1 year with good payments, they can approve you with Venture at 15k even if the best limit you have is 6k for few months. If you let 6 months pass by between apps and you only get 1 or 2 cards, you can get good limits and low APR. That's my, have a few great cards with good limits. I don't want to manage 15 cards. Maybe I even get some cards with good bonus.
@Anonymous wrote:
Carrying a balance for some reason feels...odd to me, I can't explain it. But I'll give it a try one month and see how it goes.
Thank you for the advice and good luck with your endeavors!
I don't plan to carry balance to pay interest, maybe I carry balance with 0% cards, that's all. You said that you pay both your cards before statement cut, that will make them report $0 balance to the bureaus. When you start from 0 history I don't recomend doing this. I think is better to let the cards report some balance (always less than 30%) then PIF before due date (I do it 2-3 days before due date, just to make sure every payment clears at due date). This way you will pay $0 interest and use the cards they way they are designed: use the card, wait for statement, pay the statement before due date to ride the grace period and pay $0 interest.
My DW and I got a joint secured loan for $500 back in november. We pay a little over $40 a month. We are going to pay less than $10 in interest and I'm sure that helped my DW to jump over 750 6 months after. When the loan reported less than $250 her score jumped almost 15 points even with several cards reporting a low balance.
If you want to maximize your score, only let 1 card report less than 10% balance. I prefer doing this only when you are going to apply for something. The Score model has no memory. This way, the lenders can see that I use the cards, sometimes a few more than others (5% or bonus requirements). Some prefer to always let only 1 card report.
There is not a single path to great credit history, but the basics are the same. Always pay on time, don't use them above your means and with a little time, you will have the credit history that you want.
