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Couple of newbie questions

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Anonymous
Not applicable

Couple of newbie questions

Hi everyone! This is my first post and I'm still not 100% familiar with everything.

Backstory.
Moved to the US two years ago and had no credit score. Opened a Secured CC with USAA ($300 limit) which quickly pushed my Fico scores well over 700.

Yesterday I closed on my first house and went on an app spree afterwards. I am only 23 right now, so I would assume it would be a good move to collect cards now and then garden for a while / ever?

I got approved for the following cards so far:

Lowes Store Card $17,000
NFCU CashRewards $7,100
Hilton Honors Amex $4,000
Chase Sapphire Preferred $2,000
Amazon Store Card $2,000

These are my questions:

1. Should I close my $300 secured CC with USAA? I called them and they will not convert it to a regular CC. I just don't like my $300 being tied up; this CC does have 2 years of history though.

2. What would be a good move for me at this point - keep the 5 CCs listed above or go for a couple more before gardening?

Thanks very much in advance!
4 REPLIES 4
jacetx
Valued Contributor

Re: Couple of newbie questions


@Anonymous wrote:
Hi everyone! This is my first post and I'm still not 100% familiar with everything.

Backstory.
Moved to the US two years ago and had no credit score. Opened a Secured CC with USAA ($300 limit) which quickly pushed my Fico scores well over 700.

Yesterday I closed on my first house and went on an app spree afterwards. I am only 23 right now, so I would assume it would be a good move to collect cards now and then garden for a while / ever?

I got approved for the following cards so far:

Lowes Store Card $17,000
NFCU CashRewards $7,100
Hilton Honors Amex $4,000
Chase Sapphire Preferred $2,000
Amazon Store Card $2,000

These are my questions:

1. Should I close my $300 secured CC with USAA? I called them and they will not convert it to a regular CC. I just don't like my $300 being tied up; this CC does have 2 years of history though. With the new lines utilization shouldn't be a problem, so go ahead and close it. Once you do the card it will continue to report for another 10 years.

2. What would be a good move for me at this point - keep the 5 CCs listed above or go for a couple more before gardening? Do not apply for anything else, let those cards age and build some history. Be prepared for a score drop as your AAoA (average age of accounts) will probably go to 0.

Thanks very much in advance!

 

Message 2 of 5
jacetx
Valued Contributor

Re: Couple of newbie questions

And welcome to the forums! Here is a link to helpful threads, look at the one about closing credit cards. It should explain everything in detail.

Message 3 of 5
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: Couple of newbie questions

You're  pretty covered on different categories of spend types, but what I would do is apply for the usaa cashback rewards plus Amex so you can get 5% back on gas and keep your relationship with usaa going. Once approved I would close the secure card and head to the garden. I'm going to do the same thing with my secured capital one card when the af is due if they don't unsecure it by then.

Message 4 of 5
longtimelurker
Epic Contributor

Re: Couple of newbie questions


@Anonymous wrote:

Chase Sapphire Preferred $2,000




That just caught my attention.   Isn't that card still $5K minimum?

Message 5 of 5
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