So I've not really been that concerned with my credit (i know that sounds bad), but I recently thought it is something I should look into. my husband needed a new computer and decided to check out what options Apple computers had as far as financing went, so I decided to apply for a line of credit. I thought it was a slim chance i'd be approved, given that i only had 1 credit card (First Premier). But I was instantly approved for $2000. omg!!!! since getting him the computer I started checking online for more guidance on credit cards and credit monitoring and thats when I came across myfico! I've recently become addicted to seeing new posts on this site and since then I have applied for a Wells Fargo credit card. (I bank with them) I was planning on doing a secured card in the new year but I figured I would try for an unsecured card since the Barclays went through. I was instantly approved for $1000. with that said I decided to go 3 for 3 and applied for the Walmart card. I got the 5-7 mail message and said "oh well. at least I got in with Barclay." when I got the letter of denial (or so i thought), it said to call them up and verify information. When I called back the company, a very polite lady was kinda chuckling at how ecstatic I was over getting approved for a $150 limit. I just want my foot in the door and to make monthly payments.
Now today as I was sitting outside on my ipad reading more of these forums, I saw a post for the shopping cart trick. I figured why not? I was instantly approved for Express (limit not known), Victorias Secret $500 and J Crew $500. I am offically done and won't put in another app till 2015. this forum has been so much help to me and I went from having 1 card to feeling like my credit isn't absolutely horrible. My credit score on credit karma is a 648. Then I got a letter from Wells Fargo saying it was 670. so I figured its somewhere in the middle. I will garden these apps and hope to see a major improvement in the next year. I know my aaoa will take a hit from this, but I have no need for another card until ive shown a good years worth of payments. I am wondering though, for the store cards, is it better to just charge $100 and pif or leave a balance of $10-$15? I want to do whatever will make my score better and qualify me for future cli's.
thanks so much in advance to all the credit card guru's. I'm happy to get this part of my life started and hope in 3 years to be ready to purchase a home! 
In addition to AAoA, the inquiries and new accounts hurt too. All of these will recover though. On the plus side, your available credit has increased significantly. I wouldn't worry too much about tweaking your score with small utilization changes now, because you are finished applying. To avoid interest, just pay the amount on each most recent bill in-full by the due date. This will keep you on great terms with the banks (who will give you CLIs in time), and will improve your score over time as the inquiries fall off and the accounts age.
EX:694 TU:744 EQ:777
Congrats! Thanks for sharing.
Discover IT $17k / US Bank Ace (VSig) $13.5K / US Bank Cash+ (VSig) $13.5k
Do you have anything negative on your reports? If so the re-building forum can help guide you to increase your score.
Congrats and see you in the garden
congrats!!!
@creditmatters2me wrote:Should I ask for a cli from ge immediately or after a couple months of making payments?
This is the same person. For some reason it couldn't find my account on here so I made a quick new one on my phone.
Welcome to the forum! Congratulations on your approvals.
You can ask for a CLI now since the cc is new but generally, for GE it's after 4 statements.
Congrats! Grab a shovel!