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Capital One Platinum MC approval - 1st card in a decade

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8bitmachinegun
Regular Contributor

Capital One Platinum MC approval - 1st card in a decade

11 or so years ago, as the Great Recession was kicking off, I was laid off my job. At the time I had about $10K in CC debt. I burned through the 2 or 3 thousand I had saved up pretty quickly, and ended up living off credit cards for 7 months while I looked for a job. In the end I did get a job, but I had accumulated so much debt (~$20K) that I had no choice but to declare bankruptcy.

As a result of that experience I swore off credit cards for a decade. It seemed like the responsible thing to do since I apparently couldn't control my spending. In the intervening years I did manage to secure an auto loan at 15% interest. Initially I had some trouble keeping up with payments, but a big raise (40%!) a couple of years ago vastly improved my financial situation. I have since been able to refi at a more reasonable 8.5%.

Which brings me to my first credit card approval in a decade. I initially tried to get an Amazon Visa card since I spend a good bit of money there, but got denied. Since I had been getting several preapproved offers from Cap 1, I took them up on it and was approved for huge $500 credit line, lol. But it's a first step.

I remain a bit nervous about making sure I don't spend my CC dollars irresponsibly. 10 years has given a lot of life experience, and hopefully a bit of maturity. Still, does anyone have any tips for not getting out of control?

FICO8 - Aug 2020
FICO9 - Aug 2019
Message 1 of 10
9 REPLIES 9
Meanmchine
Super Contributor

Re: Capital One Platinum MC approval - 1st card in a decade

Congrats !

>3/2016 EX 644 CK-TU 642 CK-EQ 660 WalMart- 671.
>5/2023 All 3 reports 840ish (F8) F9s = 850 but my app finger is still twitching
Message 2 of 10
StillKicking
Contributor

Re: Capital One Platinum MC approval - 1st card in a decade


@8bitmachinegun wrote:

11 or so years ago, as the Great Recession was kicking off, I was laid off my job. At the time I had about $10K in CC debt. I burned through the 2 or 3 thousand I had saved up pretty quickly, and ended up living off credit cards for 7 months while I looked for a job. In the end I did get a job, but I had accumulated so much debt (~$20K) that I had no choice but to declare bankruptcy.

As a result of that experience I swore off credit cards for a decade. It seemed like the responsible thing to do since I apparently couldn't control my spending. In the intervening years I did manage to secure an auto loan at 15% interest. Initially I had some trouble keeping up with payments, but a big raise (40%!) a couple of years ago vastly improved my financial situation. I have since been able to refi at a more reasonable 8.5%.

Which brings me to my first credit card approval in a decade. I initially tried to get an Amazon Visa card since I spend a good bit of money there, but got denied. Since I had been getting several preapproved offers from Cap 1, I took them up on it and was approved for huge $500 credit line, lol. But it's a first step.

I remain a bit nervous about making sure I don't spend my CC dollars irresponsibly. 10 years has given a lot of life experience, and hopefully a bit of maturity. Still, does anyone have any tips for not getting out of control?


Congrats on the new card and making it through the bankruptcy. Been there, done that and then some.

 

Tips? Sure, ease back into using your credit card. Keep the amount you charge on it low (Like $50 a month) and PAY IN FULL every month.

 

Good luck and welcome to the boards.

Fico 8 Scores 10-19-20
Message 3 of 10
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: Capital One Platinum MC approval - 1st card in a decade

Congrats.


Open a savings account strictly for your cc payments. As soon as you make a charge transfer the funds from your checking into the savings. I do this that way I can only spend what I can afford to pay. Good luck
Message 4 of 10
M_Smart007
Legendary Contributor

Re: Capital One Platinum MC approval - 1st card in a decade

Welcome To myFICO Forums and

 
Message 5 of 10
HighAchiever
Established Contributor

Re: Capital One Platinum MC approval - 1st card in a decade

Welcome new member and congratulations on your approval!!! 😊
“Most people work just hard enough not to get fired and get paid just enough not to quit.”
Take the myFICO Fitness Challenge

Inquiries: Experian - 4 | Equifax - 3 | TransUnion - 3



Message 6 of 10
MartyWrite75
Valued Contributor

Re: Capital One Platinum MC approval - 1st card in a decade

Congratulations on your approval!
March 2024: Experian 762; Equifax 767; Transunion 769


Cards I Have:
Cap One QS: $600 (Sock drawer) || Cap One QS (#2): $6,200 (Sock drawer) || Discover It: $11,400 || Cap One Walmart: $600 (Sock drawer) || AMEX BCP: $8,900 || Amazon Prime Store Card: $10,000 || FNBO Rewards Visa: $2,600 || Discover Cash Back: $5,500 || Citi Custom Cash: $9,500 || Verizon VS Visa: $10,000 || Amex Hilton Honors: $10,000 || Amazon (Chase) Prime Rewards (VS): $9,500

Wishlist Cards:
Paypal Mastercard || Bread Mastercard

Gardening to 04/2024(ideally)
Total Utilization: 11%
Inquiries: Exp: (2) Trans: (1) Equif: (1)

Message 7 of 10
cf2701
Regular Contributor

Re: Capital One Platinum MC approval - 1st card in a decade

I can relate to your reluctance on using credit cards.  In my opinion a healthy "fear" is not a bad thing at all after the bad decisions some of us have made in the past.  

 

My biggest recommendation is exactly what others have said, for at least the first year (or forever, if you can) - don't even think about using credit cards for actual debt. Use them as a tool to get cash back, etc. and immediately pay them off.  I like discover because you get double cash back the first year and they seem very friendly to rebuilders (plus they are known to grow large credit lines so can grow with you).  

 

Last tip - and this is one I started a few months ago.  Use a budget.  It seems simple, but I would argue most people don't.  I'm not sure if I'm supposed to recommend other products, so if its a no-no, sorry mods. But I use ynab (you need a budget).  Google those words, its the first link.  This app has changed my financial life.  It will even automatically move funds from a budget category to a credit card category when you spend budgeted money on a card, so you can easily keep track of spending (and use credit cards for their cash back and other benefits) and not go into debt.  

 

Good luck.  And welcome.

BBVA Clearpoints $16,000 | Discover $13,900 | CECU Visa $10,000 | NFCU Go Rewards Visa Sig. $18,500 | NFCU CLOC $15,000 | PayPal CB MC $10,000 | Paypal Credit $10,000 | Card $7,500 | AMX Hilton Honors Ascend $2,000 | Wayfair $23,900 | Sportsmans Guide Visa $12,400 | Kohls $3,000 | Capital One Savor One $3,500 | PNC Cash Rewards $17,000 | PenFed Power Cash Rewards $10,000 | PenFed Gold $10,000 | Lowe's $20,000 | Best Buy Visa $4,000 | Home Depot $4,000 | NFCU Platinum $25,000
Message 8 of 10
8bitmachinegun
Regular Contributor

Re: Capital One Platinum MC approval - 1st card in a decade

@cf2701 Thanks for the suggestion. I'm very bad at budgeting. Fortunately my present income is good enough that budgeting is not mandatory.

 

I've tried using YNAB, but I just couldn't wrap my head around their budgeting method (paradigm?) The approach is totally alien to everything I know about budgeting and I just couldn't adapt to it. My worst problem at present is overspending on eating out. I utterly loathe cooking, my stove is broken and my kitchen is a disaster. So I don't really like eating in...

FICO8 - Aug 2020
FICO9 - Aug 2019
Message 9 of 10
cf2701
Regular Contributor

Re: Capital One Platinum MC approval - 1st card in a decade

@8bitmachinegun - it is uncanny at the similarities we share.  I too struggle in the eating out category the most, by far.  My income is also such that I have gotten by for several years without budgeting and was able to make my bills on time and save some.  It's funny because when I came across YNAB (You Need A Budget) app I didn't go searching for it, I just happened to read about it one day.  

 

So, I checked it out, signed up for the free trial and played with it. It was maddening to me after a day or two of playing with it that I was still struggling to grasp their concepts.  I'm a fairly intelligent guy and usually I get things fairly quickly. However, when I started reading up on YNAB I found it was pretty common and SO many other people started off in the same boat and struggled at first.  

 

So - I took it as a personal challenge, mostly because it pis*** me off that I couldn't figure out what I was doing wrong and it seemed so simple. I just kept using it and finally came across some videos of a guy on Youtube "Nick True - Mapped Out Money" and boom.  I got it.  And its awesome I must say.

 

I still spend too much on eating out, but the burn rate is coming down for sure.  I'm ok with that because to me, budgeting is telling your money where to go and knowing where it went. It's not just about frustrations and restricting your spending.  Once you see how much you are actually spending on certain things, I think our natural instinct is to say wow....and slow our roll a bit.  You just have to stick with it to keep tracking your spending.


If you decide to try YNAB again, just remember, you aren't budgeting your income for the month.  Only budget it as you get income into your checking account. Then, when you get paid again, budget to pay more bills, or set aside more money into other budget categories, etc. And, if you pay with credit cards 99% of the time like me - YNAB is amazing and making sure you have money at all times in checking to cover any and all credit card spending.  Why not get that cash back and points?

 

Anyway - you may not feel up to messing with it again right now, if so, I get it.  Hopefully this helps someone else to try it or if they have struggled with it to keep going like I did and they find the tool as useful as I have.

 

Sorry I went on a diatribe about budeting software. I didn't mean to hijack the thread.

 

Good luck on your journey!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

BBVA Clearpoints $16,000 | Discover $13,900 | CECU Visa $10,000 | NFCU Go Rewards Visa Sig. $18,500 | NFCU CLOC $15,000 | PayPal CB MC $10,000 | Paypal Credit $10,000 | Card $7,500 | AMX Hilton Honors Ascend $2,000 | Wayfair $23,900 | Sportsmans Guide Visa $12,400 | Kohls $3,000 | Capital One Savor One $3,500 | PNC Cash Rewards $17,000 | PenFed Power Cash Rewards $10,000 | PenFed Gold $10,000 | Lowe's $20,000 | Best Buy Visa $4,000 | Home Depot $4,000 | NFCU Platinum $25,000
Message 10 of 10
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