Advice Please - Applying for Cards

[Anonymous]

Hello all! New here and have been just browsing. I love monitoring my credit score and want to increase my credit worthiness and think I might be going about it the wrong way. I was hoping someone could look over my history and tell me if I am making the right choice.

A year ago to this date I started my first credit card. At the time (All CreditKarma Scores) I was a 728. I was 22 and just finishing up college. I applied for the Chase Freedom card and received 5900 as my limit. A month later disaster hit my current job. I knew I would not be able to survive until I found a job so as a safety net I opened up a capital one platinum preferred card with a limit of 3000. 

As soon as I got the new card I had to move, I found a new job a month later, and after everything was said and done I almost maxed out both of the cards as I was getting my first paycheck. I now work in a hospital system full time in a good role. I stayed down low for the past year as my credit score sunk in November to 620, 669 in Jan, and now has gone up to 715 last month. 

I have constantly been paying the cards generously to pay them down. The one is at 66% CU and the other is now at 40% after I got a CLI from Chase up to 8900. The intro APR on both of the cards are now about to head home and I was not excited about paying interest on them. So my smart brain decided I should look into a Balance Transfer.

Now another tidbit of info. I got a new car in November of last year which also resulted in 2 hard inquiries. So my inquiries I believe are now 5-6. Additonally,add the inquiry from PNC below along with Chase and Discover. Capital One is a soft inquiry. 

I ended up applying at my local PNC for their card. I was pre-approved a month ago, hmmm'ed about it for some time and when I finally decide to apply my pre-approval was gone and I got denied. I applied for a CLI with Capital One and was denied (they said they are evaluating the account use?). 

The only approval that has gone through was when I applied for the Chase Slate STUPIDLY thinking I could transfer the balance from the Chase freedom to the slate. That obviously is not true so I closed out that Slate card hence why I got the CLI on my Chase Freedom.

I just applied for the Discover IT card seeing the high yielding initial CL last night and got the review 7-10 day mesage. 

Starting to get worried.

My goals are to:
Transfer my balances

Cut down my Credit Utilization percentage

Am I going about this all too wrong? Thanks for any help you can provide.

EDIT: I am not currently spending money on my current credit cards because I am using cash and my budget. 

[s_haliz]

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@Anonymous wrote:

Hello all! New here and have been just browsing. I love monitoring my credit score and want to increase my credit worthiness and think I might be going about it the wrong way. I was hoping someone could look over my history and tell me if I am making the right choice.

A year ago to this date I started my first credit card. At the time (All CreditKarma Scores) I was a 728. I was 22 and just finishing up college. I applied for the Chase Freedom card and received 5900 as my limit. A month later disaster hit my current job. I knew I would not be able to survive until I found a job so as a safety net I opened up a capital one platinum preferred card with a limit of 3000. 

As soon as I got the new card I had to move, I found a new job a month later, and after everything was said and done I almost maxed out both of the cards as I was getting my first paycheck. I now work in a hospital system full time in a good role. I stayed down low for the past year as my credit score sunk in November to 620, 669 in Jan, and now has gone up to 715 last month. 

I have constantly been paying the cards generously to pay them down. The one is at 66% CU and the other is now at 40% after I got a CLI from Chase up to 8900. The intro APR on both of the cards are now about to head home and I was not excited about paying interest on them. So my smart brain decided I should look into a Balance Transfer.

Now another tidbit of info. I got a new car in November of last year which also resulted in 2 hard inquiries. So my inquiries I believe are now 5-6. Additonally,add the inquiry from PNC below along with Chase and Discover. Capital One is a soft inquiry. 

I ended up applying at my local PNC for their card. I was pre-approved a month ago, hmmm'ed about it for some time and when I finally decide to apply my pre-approval was gone and I got denied. I applied for a CLI with Capital One and was denied (they said they are evaluating the account use?). 

The only approval that has gone through was when I applied for the Chase Slate STUPIDLY thinking I could transfer the balance from the Chase freedom to the slate. That obviously is not true so I closed out that Slate card hence why I got the CLI on my Chase Freedom.

I just applied for the Discover IT card seeing the high yielding initial CL last night and got the review 7-10 day mesage. 

Starting to get worried.

My goals are to:
Transfer my balances

Cut down my Credit Utilization percentage

Am I going about this all too wrong? Thanks for any help you can provide.

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If I were you, I would not keep seeking cards for sake of BT only.....Well you can only buy sometime and feel good that you are buyin the stuff and don't have to pay dime....In reality you will push yourself towards unending cycle of indebtness....From one card to another to third.....It won't take long before those credit card companies will start seeing you as a big risk...And will start cutting your CL...Or would cancel the card altogether. Your credit score will start sinking.....To the point where you will start getting rejection when you apply new credit card, loans, mortagages, etc.

So you may ask what's solution....Well no simple solution. One of the best advice I can give you is only spent what you can buy from cash. Say if you earn $4,000 a month. You really can't spent more than say $1,500. If you do, you know you would not able to pay and it will keep rolling.....Till your 0% ends...As you are in....

If you are not careful with your finances, you may end up declaring bankrupty.......This is a clear wake up call for you to cut down your spending significantly and pay higher portion of your salary towards your credit card debt.....If you want to survive from the mess you had into....

Best of Luck... 

[Anonymous]

S_Haliz - I don't think I explained my situation fully. I have not been using my credit cards at all. Your post is great and is in reference to someone who is currently using the cards but that is not my case. I have a budget and spend only cash from my debit card and am paying down the cards. 

I am simply looking for advice on the application process because I am trying to be proactive in my credit history future, diversify my accounts, hopefully transfer the balances or most of it to another card while keeping my utilization down. I am not opening up the card to keep spending. Thanks for taking the time to read my post!

[s_haliz]

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@Anonymous wrote:

S_Haliz - I don't think I explained my situation fully. I have not been using my credit cards at all. Your post is great and is in reference to someone who is currently using the cards but that is not my case. I have a budget and spend only cash from my debit card and am paying down the cards. 

I am simply looking for advice on the application process because I am trying to be proactive in my credit history future, diversify my accounts, hopefully transfer the balances or most of it to another card while keeping my utilization down. I am not opening up the card to keep spending. Thanks for taking the time to read my post!

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OK....Understood that you are currently not spending...However debt you had incurred on 0%, you should have systematic plan to get rid rid off....However slowly.....Distributing debt to multiple cards is desirable way to keep utilization. However you should still have a plan to get rid of that debt. 

There is nothing special in application process. All you need to do is determine before you apply as to what is my likelyhood of getting this card to be approved. Each application counts as an hard inquiry, which has a potential to bring your score down. And more desparate you are to find new home for BT, the more you will keep applying. This would give creditors impression that you are desparate for new credit. They will also able to learn that you are getting lots of denials.....Which would make them more wary to give you credit. Or they may end up giving you a very small credit limit. 

[Anonymous]

The Chase Slate seems to be considered the best transfer card from a fee viewpoint.   Check on the chase site to see if you hae a preapproval for it.  As S_Haliz says, not a long-term solution, but if you can get it with enough CL, and you pay off before the 0% expires (15 months) then you will be out of the woods.

Personally, I think this is worth trying, rather than paying the interest charges if you don't.   But you do need to pay it off!

[Anonymous]

Longtimelurker-
Agreed and thanks for responding!
I was approved for the slate prior and chase told me after I was approved that I can not do a bt between my two chase cards which basically null and voided the reason I even wanted the slate.

Haliz- I have been paying down the card every two weeks generously. I have decreased my credit debt by half within the past four months so I am being responsible when it comes to my credit debt.

[Anonymous]

Right, I forgot most of it was on a Chase card (but you can transfer the Cap One, right?).  Next choice is often Citi Simplicity, which has some extra fees but not too bad.

[Anonymous]

That's a good option. I'm going to see how discover goes today because they need 24 hours before my application shows up in their system then I can call and see if I am denied or accepted. Just for kicks and giggles. What do you think knowing my credit score of 682 and inquiries and all do I have of being accepted?

[--HighHopes--]

There have been several ppl get a discover IT even with several inquiries although everyone I've read went to recon.  When I got mine I had about 5 inquiries and I even had to recon to get it approved and my score was 695 at the time.  The prob I forsee with the disscover is that even if you are able to get approved (which I think you've got a shot with recon) they tend to give out small CL's if you have low-med scores and especially if you have multiple inquiries.  So I don't think you will get all that is needed to transfer both cards:/  It would have been good for you to keep the Slate Card and transfer your capone over to it and then try to find another for your Chase balance as with the inquiries and the mid score I think you'll find it really hard to find a card willing to give you a CL high enough to cover both your balances so you'll prob have to settle with 2 new transfer cards if you can get them.  I think I would see if it hasn't been 30 days if you can reopen the Slate and use it for the Capone and then maybe you'll get enough from Discover to cover your freedom without having to take anymore HP's

[Anonymous]

HighHopes-

Awesome feedback. I am not really going to be moving my cap one anywhere since the APR doesn't kick in for quite some time. I think that if I get a discover it card with at least 5,000 I would be estatic so that I can transfer a decent portion of the chase to the discover.

Could you tell me a bit more about this recon process and what is all involved? As soon as my app shows up in the system I plan on calling (they listed a number on the page after I submitted saying to get the process moving faster and get a decision that I could call). If they say I was denied what do I do? Confused! Thanks for taking the time to respond!