Credit Building Timeline and Next Card Recommendations

[Anonymous]

So, this year is the year of getting my ducks in a row after a very long period of stagnation. Obtained a drivers license, bought a car, returned to college and have been working on establishing credit. I'm 32 and finally starting to manage my life like an adult! Lurking here over the past months has been super helpful. This place is such a valuable resource and I recommend it all the time! That said I'd love a little bit of advice going forward. So here's the breakdown:

At start: clean profile, no baddies, no score

March 2018 - Approved Cap 1 Platinum SL: $300

April 2018 - Approved Discover IT SL: $500

June - Cap 1 CLI to $400 & PC to Quicksilver

July- Discover CLI to $800

Approved Kohl's card SL: $300

August - Discover CLI to $1000

September - Approved AmEx BCE SL: $1000

6 inquiries TU, 5 EQ, 4EX (some approvals were a triple or double pull), still no fico score generated, denied along the way for Barclays Apple Rewards, Walmart, and Zulily (looks like Synchrony is not impressed).

Time to hit the garden for a while but going forward, which cards would you recommend adding to my stable? Any other recommendations regarding my current cards? Aside from gardening a while and adding new cards later on is there anything else I should be attending to? 

[MrDFinance]

It all depends on your habits.... The most important thing is that you don't wanna get cards just to get them....

I would spend this time to garden what you have while you figure out which cards will benefit you in the long run...

Yes in the beginning these cards will help your score so that's a good reason to get it but your hopefully gonna get to a point where your scores are fine and the cards now need to provide you with actual value ......

Find the holes in your current card setup and start building a wish list to work towards

[SweetCreditObsession]

Congratulations on a good start. You'll get a score after six months of reporting history. Amex and Disco don't mind thin or new files. Citi and Chase desire at least a year of history. I would target Citi next. Best wishes.

[Anonymous]

As far as spending habits go, I don't travel much right now since most of my family lives within driving distance so no need for a miles card. I live in a small town so most of my money gets spent at Walmart or on Amazon aside from gas and dining out which I only do about once a week. I do spend a bit on gas though commuting to college but the BCE (and Discover IT during the 5% gas quarter) covers that. So really the only card currently on my wishlist is the Amazon Prime Rewards Visa. Between Chase's 1 year history requirement and 5/24 rule though I don't plan to open any more accounts until I've snagged that one hopefully in the spring. Then maybe Citi Double Cash? 

[SweetCreditObsession]

It's a good cash back card and they seem to have loosened their lending requirements --- they let me in!

[Life_take2]

Citalix,

        Congrats, it looks like you are off to a running start. You have a good mix of a retail card and some bank cards. Both Amex and Discover will show you love with continued proper use. Sync will come around after FICOs begin reporting and you have some history under your belt. Once you hit a year and have no inquiries in the last, say 3+ months, Barclays could be revisited (if you still want their card) as they tend to get spooked by recent accts\inquiries.  

Although I know you were looking for advice on CCs here, I might suggest considering a small installment loan to round out your credit mix and really help drive your scores up while you are gardening.  There are a number of excellent threads on here that describe the process. I am suggesting this since your 'goal card' was a Chase product (AmazonVisa) and it would give you some good talking points, if and when you ever had to recon a denial (which would likely only be due to length and depth of credit profile ) to be able to speak to your experience with varied credit types.  Aside from that, you seem to be on the right track. The cards you selected will offer CLIs with a soft pull, so gardening while growing your lines (to lower util) will be easier. At this point, your biggest test will be to resist the urge to go app-crazy the first month you start to see your scores jump up.

Best of luck and keep us posted on your progress.

[BarryNTexas]

Kudos on your commitment to taking control of your financial life!  Sounds like you are off to a good start.  There has been great advice already shared to you but I'd like to add one of my own.  It comes from personal experience and eventual regret.  Bottom line is I wish I hadn't gone on sprees and opened a ton of cards just because I could.  When building or rebuilding credit history the APRs you are approved for are typically bottom tiered (highest) rates.  Granted it's great to get the credit lines opened but trying to get those rates reduced in the future, when your scores are excellent, is nearly impossible in many cases.  To that end, I suggest you keep your ort lean and mean early in your journey and then start applying

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@Anonymous wrote:

So, this year is the year of getting my ducks in a row after a very long period of stagnation. Obtained a drivers license, bought a car, returned to college and have been working on establishing credit. I'm 32 and finally starting to manage my life like an adult! Lurking here over the past months has been super helpful. This place is such a valuable resource and I recommend it all the time! That said I'd love a little bit of advice going forward. So here's the breakdown:

At start: clean profile, no baddies, no score

March 2018 - Approved Cap 1 Platinum SL: $300

April 2018 - Approved Discover IT SL: $500

June - Cap 1 CLI to $400 & PC to Quicksilver

July- Discover CLI to $800

Approved Kohl's card SL: $300

August - Discover CLI to $1000

September - Approved AmEx BCE SL: $1000

6 inquiries TU, 5 EQ, 4EX (some approvals were a triple or double pull), still no fico score generated, denied along the way for Barclays Apple Rewards, Walmart, and Zulily (looks like Synchrony is not impressed).

Time to hit the garden for a while but going forward, which cards would you recommend adding to my stable? Any other recommendations regarding my current cards? Aside from gardening a while and adding new cards later on is there anything else I should be attending to? 

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 for better cards once you have the scores and the discipline.    Best of luck!