Hello all! First I would like to say how much I have enjoyed reading your many posts, encouragements and wise words regarding the world of credit, which I am quite new to. I am in my early 40's and just got my first credit card (Capital One) last year, because it was always drilled into my head that they were bad and debt was bad. My scores started at around 630, and are now in the 700s:
Experian: 736 Equifax: 754 Transunion 734
After I got my Capital One $300 SL that increased to $500, I got a CreditOne card in November (now at $450), which I applied for not realizing that it was NOT Capital One! In April I got the LendUp/Mission Lane for $500, followed by a PayPal Credit line of $250 in May. When I signed up for an Experian credit monitoring service, I kept being advised that I had a "thin profile", should add another account. I saw that I had a 97% match for the AmEx Blue Cash Everyday card, so I applied for it and was DENIED! I believe that was when I realized how bogus that card match malarkey was and found this forum in a state of panic.
I didn't apply for anything else, just focused on increasing my scores and was at 718 with Experian when I applied for Discover It last month, and got approved with a $6000 credit line and 5% cashback! A few days later, I received an invitation to apply for the PayPal card whenever I logged into my account, so I gave it a shot and was approved for $5000! I was so relieved; I came to realize that I had these starter cards and bum ass bucket cards that weren't helping with my utilization and increases; CreditOne tried to give me a preapproval for Platinum $800 card and I laughed!
I was happy to go "into the garden" for a bit but TODAY, Capital One gives me a PREAPPROVAL for the Quicksilver card and because I definitely wanted to move into a higher "tier" with them, I accepted the offer and was approved for $2000 (1.5% cash back), which surprised me, but I'll take it because I would rather an approval with a paltry credit line for a 3-bureau pull than a denial. I only have 3-4 inquiries with each bureau, excellent payment history and am at 6% utilization with the addition of the PayPal Mastercard. I have $370 in debt total with a revolving credit line of $7700 and my oldest account is an installment (student loan) that was closed in 2012 after being paid. Current salary of $50K.
My question is this: Discover has not reported the new account yet, but the PayPal MC made my Experian shoot up 18 points when they reported, and it was instant because I had access to $4k until the physical card arrived. Should I expect too much of a drop in scores with two new accounts reporting, and any idea on when that might happen? How long should I garden for and should I go back and try AmEx again in the summer or fall or not worry about it? Should I use my Discover card the most since it offers the most benefits? I just want to make sure I continue to build responsibly and well-informed.
Thanks so much! I hope you all are enjoying this holiday season!
