Garden Club Meeting - August 2012

[Anonymous]

Thanks for the info! I tried two local CUs. One of them I've done business with for 15+ years. I think they might be upset because they ate a $510k mortgage during my BK. The third app was with AAA. I believe they use a number of lenders.  I thought that refi was going to be a sure thing. 

[tcbofade]

Day 18 for me.

Congrats all, especially Tinu...apparently, gardening DOES work. 

[LS2982]

Enjoying my day so far. Walking through the mall with my fav. Song Pink Floyd "Comfortably Numb" blaring through these beats audio headphones I picked up yesterday. Very grateful for how my credit journey has gone so far. The garden is my home until my 31st bday.

Thanks to everyone here! And big CONGRATS to tinu for proving that gardening brings all your dreams to life!!

[tinuviel]

Hi folks... I'm baaaaack!!!

On Friday I said that I might be gone from the garden for a few weeks. I really didn't know if I would get approved for what I wanted -- especially since I cold apped for two of the cards -- and that I might get declined and need to have time to consider alternatives. But, as I stated in my approval thread, I got everything that I wanted right off the bat -- instant online approvals, no recons! I've spent the last couple of days deciding whether or not there's anything else that I want at this point in time, and the answer is no. I'm ecstatically happy with my new little seedlings and am looking forward to getting them settled into my garden and tending to them.

Please allow me to express my thanks for the congratulatory comments! I do appreciate all of the support that I've received on these forurms. Rebuilding can be a tough experience, especially emotionally, so it's wonderful to have people offering encouragement along the way.

My experience clearly shows that gardening does work! Two of the cards that I was approved for were denied to me 10 months ago. The reason stated on the denials was that I had CO/CAs on my reports. So, the take away from the denials was that I needed to sit tight and wait for them to drop off. There was no point in apping for lesser cards -- department store, additional rebuilders, etc -- just so that I could get the emotional satisfaction of seeing the word "Approved!" I knew what cards I wanted and decided to settle into the garden and wait until the issues that were causing the denials were rectified. And folks, that made all the difference!

So, if you're either building or rebuilding your credit, gardening is a valuable part of your strategy. Do your best to find out what type of credit profile a particular issuer is looking for, and then refrain from apping until you meet their criteria. You'll gain age and positive history while you sit in the garden, which does nothing other than enhance your profile even further.

Now I have four little seedlings to integrate into my garden. I'm planning on letting them age, waiting for inqs to fall off; I have some from 2 years ago when I was in the early stage of my rebuild and they'll be coming off over the next few months. In about 9-12 months I'll be interested in getting a new car and will be looking for an auto loan. My car is old and was paid off years ago, so I'm no longer showing a recent installment loan. Getting an auto loan will be good for my credit profile, and a new car will be a good thing for me in general. So, that's my next credit goal.

Until then, I'll be gardening the following:

Cap1 Visa Platinum - 6400 CL

Cap1 NHCR MC - 750 CL

Dillard's Amex - 4200 CL

JC Penney - 2300 CL

Kay Jewelers - 5100 CL

Amex Green - NPSL

Discover - 2000 CL

Bank Americard UCF Alum Association - 5000 CL

Citi Diamond Preferred - 6800 CL

Wells Fargo Rewards Visa - 7000 CL

I'm so very happy with the current makeup of my garden! Now I'm ready to take up my gloves and watering can once again, and am eager to proceed with earning my spades. Let the gardening begin! 

[MekaBarbie]

I am very new to this and thought I would give it a try. I went on an app spree lately and I need to do nothing but garden!

[tinuviel]

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@MekaBarbie wrote:
I am very new to this and thought I would give it a try. I went on an app spree lately and I need to do nothing but garden!

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Welcome to both the forums and the Garden Club! Please feel free to make yourself right at home.

You'll find a wealth of information on these boards, and if you're new to credit you'll find it to be invaluable. The folks here are wonderful and are happy to share their knowledge and experience.

Would you care to share some info? What cards do you currently have? Do you have any plans or goals for the future?

Once again, welcome!

[MekaBarbie]

Where do I begin!

My bk was discharged in December 11, since then I have the following cards.

Capital one - 300cl increased to 500
Lane Bryant - 150 cl
Maurices - 250 cl
Firestone - 1000 cl
Care credit - 2000 cl
Capital one cash rewards - 500 cl
Barclays apple - 500 cl


Today u checked my ex fico and it is 653. Definitely not the best but a work in progress.

As of right now I am focused on not applying for any other cards and let letting everything settle. My goal is to first go 6 months and then 1 year and then two years. Baby steps.

I appreciate all of the advice that I have read in these boards from my time just floating around. Any advice is greatly appreciated.

[bobomb01]

Hey Everyone,

I'm new here. I stumbled upon this forum last week and I'm definitely in the garden.

My cards:

CU Visa: Opened 2007, $0/$5000

Capital One Platinum: Opened in 2008, Upgraded to Venture One in 2012, $0/$4750. 

Chase Slate: Opened in 2011, $270/$1500

Discover More: Approved last week, Transferred a balance to it. $4000/$5500. 

AMEX Gold: Approved last week. Will be my main spending card to help manage spending, and build history with AMEX to eventually upgrade to a BCE or BCP

No late or missed payments on any cards, no collections... Just a high utilization due to my final 2 semesters at college. Landed a job so I'm working on paying it all off.

In the meantime I'm in the garden until my Discover card is paid off, and I have a decent payment record with AMEX. 

I'm also looking into a different credit monitoring service. I'm currently signed up with CreditInform Premier from Capital One... My Experian score last month was a 706. I'm shooting for 750 by this time next year,

If anyone has any comments, let me know!

Thanks

[CreditPacMan]

HELP ME STAY AWAY FROM MY COMPUTER LOL

I'm back in the garden again. After a major app spree back in May I went on a little app spree in August. The result: 3 new accounts and CLI !

I should really garden for the next 18 months ... 

[webhopper]

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@bobomb01 wrote:

Hey Everyone,

I'm new here. I stumbled upon this forum last week and I'm definitely in the garden.

My cards:

CU Visa: Opened 2007, $0/$5000

Capital One Platinum: Opened in 2008, Upgraded to Venture One in 2012, $0/$4750. 

Chase Slate: Opened in 2011, $270/$1500

Discover More: Approved last week, Transferred a balance to it. $4000/$5500. 

AMEX Gold: Approved last week. Will be my main spending card to help manage spending, and build history with AMEX to eventually upgrade to a BCE or BCP

No late or missed payments on any cards, no collections... Just a high utilization due to my final 2 semesters at college. Landed a job so I'm working on paying it all off.

In the meantime I'm in the garden until my Discover card is paid off, and I have a decent payment record with AMEX. 

I'm also looking into a different credit monitoring service. I'm currently signed up with CreditInform Premier from Capital One... My Experian score last month was a 706. I'm shooting for 750 by this time next year,

If anyone has any comments, let me know!

Thanks

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Welcome to the Garden!

I'm currently 3 days away from a shiny bronze spade!