Checking spending availability almost triggered FR

[CreditCuriosity]

They are wondering how you spend 5k a month with 52k income. 5x12=60k... Your salary is 52k before taxes...Yes you could have savings and other stuff, none the less catching their atention in such a short period of time is my guess of having the card / cards with them

[Anonymous]

Ive used the check spending feature the past week with no issues. The max is 3 times a day and then it kind of breaks or at least that what mine does. 

Ive probably used it over 300 times with my amex tenure with no issues whatsoever. They know many use it to check their spend power even if they dont spend that much. Maybe if other factors are present I could see it as maybe being the straw that breaks but so far it hasnt caused me any issue. 

Its probably the balance put on the card in such a short time. Spending and checking the spend level are two different things. 

[Anonymous]

Not sure on this one.  I poke around there but have checked the spend limit maybe once.  I'm not going over the 30% mark.    And I was unaware that they watch every little thing you do!  Good to know.

[Anonymous]

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@CreditCuriousity wrote:

They are wondering how you spend 5k a month with 52k income. 5x12=60k... Your salary is 52k before taxes...Yes you could have savings and other stuff, none the less catching their atention in such a short period of time is my guess of having the card / cards with them

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Winner winner, chicken dinner.

[Anonymous]

Just use the cards modestly and make weekly payments. Don't rock the boat and don't push for ANY cli's for 6 months.

[rlx01]

A 5k line is really a 2.5k/month line if you use the full float. So not really that big a deal.

CLs are meaningless anyway. Most creditors start SP'ing if you ramp up spending without history and stop you from getting too far.

[kdm31091]

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@CreditCuriousity wrote:

They are wondering how you spend 5k a month with 52k income. 5x12=60k... Your salary is 52k before taxes...Yes you could have savings and other stuff, none the less catching their atention in such a short period of time is my guess of having the card / cards with them

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This is probably a huge portion of it. To them, and to me, it would seem you are spending well beyond your means!

[yfan]

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@CreditCuriousity wrote:

They are wondering how you spend 5k a month with 52k income. 5x12=60k... Your salary is 52k before taxes...Yes you could have savings and other stuff, none the less catching their atention in such a short period of time is my guess of having the card / cards with them

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But checking 5K for spending ability is not the same as spending 5K every single month. One may be checking spend ability for a one-time large purchase that they can pay off with savings; a home improvement project for example. Spending ability is how much you can spend at any one time, not moth after month.

[CreditCuriosity]

-Cal- Asked these Questions

* How long have you had your Green Card?

* What amount(s) did you put in?

* What is your reported income to Amex?

-OP-Answered these question

1. 1 month
2. 5k
3. 52k

So it wasn't checking spending ability IMO... It was actual spend, then hitting the button might of compounded it.. Anyways, only guesses

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@yfan wrote:

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@CreditCuriousity wrote:

They are wondering how you spend 5k a month with 52k income. 5x12=60k... Your salary is 52k before taxes...Yes you could have savings and other stuff, none the less catching their atention in such a short period of time is my guess of having the card / cards with them

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But checking 5K for spending ability is not the same as spending 5K every single month. One may be checking spend ability for a one-time large purchase that they can pay off with savings; a home improvement project for example. Spending ability is how much you can spend at any one time, not moth after month.

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[yfan]

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@CreditCuriousity wrote:

-Cal- Asked these Questions

* How long have you had your Green Card?

* What amount(s) did you put in?

* What is your reported income to Amex?

-OP-Answered these question

1. 1 month
2. 5k
3. 52k

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Well, to me, the question "What amount(s) did you put in?" seems to be asking what amount the OP entered in the online form to check their spending ability, not actual spending. Maybe OP can clear this up here?