A Successful Week

[jhb]

Hello everyone,

I've been lurking these forums since 2007 and have never posted anything, although working on my credit for the past 6 years. Last week I went on a little app spree. Applied for a car loan through USAA and was approved instantly for up to $46000 at 5.4%. The following day I took my wife to the Mercedes Benz dealership because she wanted to trade her car in for the new 2014 CLA. Mercedes said that they could beat that offer. So I said what the heck, run my credit. They approved me through Mercedes Benz Financial at a rate of 3.3%. One hour later, my wife drove off in her new Benz with all available upgrade options for about $42000. The next day I thought to myself, I now have some inquiries on my report, so let's do some credit cards. Applied for Discover IT, approved for $1000. Applied for the Chase Sapphire Preferred, approved at $6000. Finally, applied for the American Express Gold, approved. What a week. My Transunion score is 671 and Equifax 663 according to this site. Here is my list of cards for those wondering:

USAA American Express-$6000 opened in 2008
USAA MasterCard-$6000 opened in 2008
Capital One Platinum-$750 opened in 2008
Capital One Builder-$500 opened in 2008
Best Buy MasterCard-$300 opened in 2008
Citi Diamond Preferred-$1500 opened in 2013
Barclays Visa-$2000 opened in 2013
Navy Federal Secured-$1000 opened 2013(waiting for it to become unsecured)
Express-$500 opened in 2013
Chase Sapphire Preferred-$6000 opened in 2013
Discover IT-$1000 opened in 2013
American Express Gold-opened in 2013

When I first came to these forums I had no credit cards and no car loans in my name. I had a Fico score of 563. In six years, I have been approved for 3 car loans solely in my name and now 12 credit cards. I need to get my credit card age up and then I'll be in the 700's. I have one medical collection on my report from 2007 but creditors have looked beyond that. Thanks for your stories and your motivation.

[B335is]

That's awesome!  Def the best way to buy a car is armed with financing ahead of time.  Some day, I'll learn that, but for now I'm too impulsive and despite my better judgement, left making a new car purchase an all day affair.

[coldnmn]

Congrats!

[Anonymous]

Hey way to go! =D

[09Lexie]

Thank you for posting! Congratulations on all you've achieved and don't be a lurker!

[Anonymous]

Strong 1st post lol!

Congrats on all the approvals.  Seems like you've worked hard at managing your finances.

[jhb]

Thank you everyone! There is one more card I want to get next year and it's one of the American Express revolver cards. Then I believe I'm done. ;-)

[MoreRewards]

Congrats! That is accomplishments to be proud of.

[jhb]

Now I'm trying to figure out how to add all of my Cards to my signature like I see all the cool people here doing. :-)

[k-s]

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@B335is wrote:

That's awesome!  Def the best way to buy a car is armed with financing ahead of time.  Some day, I'll learn that, but for now I'm too impulsive and despite my better judgement, left making a new car purchase an all day affair.

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Usually that's true, but I actually got a better rate through Volkswagen Credit (I was buying a Jetta) than I could get from my CU. 1.25% with VW, 2.45% at the time at my CU, so it was definitely the better option for me at the time and I do not have prime credit yet. Still in the mid 600s.