Credit One, Cap One, Best Buy and more!

[Anonymous]

Greetings,

My name is Cory and this is my first post. I don't know if I am putting it in the right place but I am in the process of rebuilding credit. I started 6 years ago with a card and really went hard last year. I followed the advice of a "friend" and now I'm having to start over starting this month.

My friend said apply for a bunch of cards fast and I did, and my score dropped and I have a bunch of sub prime cards, I think is what you call them. I am seeking solid advice so that is Why I joined. I have many questions, so any help is appreciated. If I need to break up questions into multiple threads I can but I figured this would be easier.

1. I have 2 credit one cards. 1 opened Oct 2017, 1 August 2018. The 2018 is the mastercard, $800 SL. 2017 was $300 SL, now $450. I was thinking of canceling the 2017 card before the annual fee hits because I hardly use the card now days just for small purchases. Can I just combine the cards to get a higher CL? The new one has a lower APR and AF and is a master card, the old one is a visa. Id like to roll the $450 into the new one if possible.

2. I combined my 2 cap one platinum cards and PC to Quicksilver One. This month. When do you think I can request a CLI? They said 6 months from combining. I thoufht it was 6 months from my last CLI but they said since it was increased due to the combine, it resets? Should I speak to someone else?

3. I have a crap ton of new accounts in the last month, mostly low limit cards I know now I should have never took hard inquiries to get but listening to a friend did anyway. This drastically lowered my AAofA to 9 months. Should I just keep the cards and garden or should I just cancel them?

4. I recently signed up for NFCU and have a secured card. How long before they unsecure it? The reps keep giving me diff answers.

5. I have a USAA classic amex card. Does the CL ever increase or will it stay were it is? SL is $500, got it last month.

6. Recently got a Discover IT card. SL $1100. How often can I request a CLI. I was doing snooping on here before I joined and it looks like every 90 days?

7. I have a best buy visa at SL $2000 last month. How often can I get a CLI with them?
8. Which cards I have will take a hard pull vs a soft pull. See below.

The cards of all my cards I plan on trying to grow are my Best Buy Visa, Discover IT, USAA Classic, NFCU Secured, PayPal MC and Cap1 QS1. The rest of my cards I feel I want to close but then figured the ones with no AF I should just leave open since it isnt hurting much. I dont know how to create a sig yet so I'll just type what cards and limits I have below.

CC means Credit Card, SC means Store Card
Cap1 Auto Loan 15k, Best Buy Visa CC $2000, Cap1 QS1 CC $1550, Wayfair SC $1500, Merrick Bank CC $1400, Discover IT CC $1100, Finger Hut SC $1000, Zales SC $1000, NTB SC $1000, Credit One CC $800, Shell Gas SC $800, First Premier CC $700, USAA Classic Amex CC $500, Home Depot SC $500, Credit One CC $450, Walmart SC $400, Indigo CC $300, Target SC $300, Belk SC $300, Avant CC $300, PayPal MC CC $300, JC Penny SC $100.

Help! Hahahaha

8/4/18
Fico 8 Exp 648
Credit Karma TU 645, EQ 652
UTI 22%
4 baddies, 1 late, 22 inquiries.

[HeavenOhio]

Welcome, @Anonymous.

Capital One counts account combinations as credit limit increases. The information you got was correct. The general advice here is to check each of your Capital One cards for increases before combining.

I'd hang onto the new cards for the time being. In three months or so, I'd start cutting them out, maybe at the rate of one or two per month, with the most useless going first.

With Discover, 90 days is a good point to request your first CLI. After that, because denials don't reset any clock, you can request them whenever you want. Some people seem to figure out a pattern that works for them, e.g. every 60 days, every 90 days, or whatever.

Capital One, Discover, and PayPal are soft pulls for credit line increases. NFCU is probably a hard pull, but they may reuse recent pulls. I'm not sure about Best Buy and USAA.

[Anonymous]

Thanks! I appreciate the warm welcome and the help! I am def trying to do better afyer the crappy advice from a friend!

[HeavenOhio]

@Anonymous, taking a closer look, here's what I'd do with your cards.

Keep:

• Cap1 QS1 CC $1550 (try to upgrade this to a no-fee Quicksilver or SavorOne)
• Wayfair SC $1500 (consider closing down the road)
• Merrick Bank CC $1400 (consider closing down the road)
• Discover IT CC $1100
• USAA Classic Amex CC $500
• PayPal MC CC $300

Dump now:

• First Premier CC $700
• Credit One CC $450
• Credit One CC $800
• Indigo CC $300
• Avant CC $300

After that, gradually reduce your store cards to the ones that are the most useful. I'd start by zeroing in on places you never shop and cards with very low limits. Fingerhut will eventually need to go, but it's not a priority card to cut.

Also, garden (don't apply for anything) until your newest account becomes one year old. After that, add no more than one card every six months. After a year rolls around, your report will be in good shape, and limiting yourself to one card every six months will keep it in good shape. A lot of attractive card choices will become available to you.

[MrDFinance]

I agree close all those subprime cards ... You have some decent cards to grow with....

Most importantly head to the garden and focus on limit increases only for the near future...

[Anonymous]

Thanks everyone! Do I try to grow my Best Buy Visa. I like that card as it get best buy rewards but also its a visa so I can use anywhere. I'm just now sure if increases are HP or SP with them. It is through Citi Bank.

Dang, dump all the cards? My UTI will suffer though right? All those cards I'm to dump are all at zero balance. I'm scared . will it mess up my AAofA.

[FireMedic1]

Agree with the above. Especially Heavens dump advice. There's a place waiting for you while you let those puppies age. No more credit for now. You have much smarter buddies here. To bad you didnt come here sooner. Good Luck and read every day here and you'll learn so much.

The Garden

[MrDFinance]

If your other cards have balances and those do not then Utilization will suffer and yes your AAoA will suffer...Take the hit now rather then later

We're advising that you close them because those cards sole purpose is to take advantage of people who have bad credit.... They typically have annual fees and monthly fees attached to or if not they offer no cash back or rewards ..

We want you to focus on the cards the bring value to you and that you can grow with it the future.... Because eventually if you continue down the right path you will reach a day where your credit is good and you want to have relationships with creditors that matter and not be still stuck paying fees to cards you don't use... Or have bunch of cards that offer you no rewards....

[Anonymous]

Okay, last question for now. Dumping these cards will it destroy my UTI. Since they all have zero balance. Also since I have paid the AF on all of them already and most are only a few months old, do I lose the fee? I thought it would be better to keep for a year then dump before renewal. I'm just trying to understand it all. This credit world is hard. Happy I already habe a house and car lol. Geez this is difficult. Yes I will be here every day. I have for about a week now but figured I would finally post. Any good knews on my NFCU card? I habe a secured card from them coming. I keep hearing it is the best ever.

[Anonymous]

Okay, well I'm going to go close then. Thanks! Oh how do I make a signature here? Lol