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Greetings, fellow credit gardeners! The year is rapidly drawing to a close. As we bid welcome to the holiday season, I hereby convene the December meeting of the myFICO Garden Club.
For those who are new to the concept of gardening, it involves refraining from applying for new credit or seeking CLIs that require hard pulls. Soft pulls CLIs, however, are not only acceptable, but are encouraged. The idea is to allow one's current TLs to grow and mature, waiting for inqs to age or fall off, and possibly waiting for "baddies" to be removed or age off. During this time, one tends to one's current accounts and watches their AAoA grow and the new credit ding fade.
So, if you're at the stage of your credit journey where you're ready to enter the garden, please come and join us. You may pick up your complimentary watering can and garden gloves by the front door -- you can even choose your favorite color! We're proud to offer a well appointed clubhouse. There is a snack table set up. This month I would like to invite everyone to join in a Garden Club potluck buffet. With so many different traditions to draw upon, we have a unique opportunity to share in a rich diversity of treats and goodies. So whether you celebrate Christmas, Hanukkah, Yule -- or even Festivus! -- please feel free to add your personal holiday favorites to the snack table.I'll start off by adding a holiday ham along with a baking dish of scalloped potatoes. Alongside is a port wine cheese log along with maple smoked salmon spread, accompanied by an assortment of crackers. And as always, you'll find an assortment of mini-quiches (enjoy, Relevate!). We also have ginger bread cookies, mini Black Forest Christmas Cakes and marzipan candies. And finally, I've brought some egg-nog with rum, and a bowl of wassail (warmed, spiced wine). Once again, please feel free to bring and add any of your favorite holiday goodies. And, in the corner diagonally across from the front door, there is a fully stocked bar, along with a wide selection of soft drinks. If needed, there are some anti-itch medications stocked in our supply cabinet near the door -- Lanacaine, Benedryl, etc. If you need to place your reports in the deep freeze, we also have a freezer, located next to the bar, so go ahead and throw your reports in!
Come on in and make yourself comfortable. Make a gardening plan and commit to sticking with it! Are you planning to wait six months before applying for additional credit? A year? Until the last of your baddies drop off? Whatever your goal, we're here to support you. If you feel the "app-itch" coming on, let us know and we'll try to help you through it.
Now, if you happen to leave the garden prematurely, that’s your decision and we respect that. You are always welcome to come back, pick up your gardening tools and start over again. But please, celebrate any approvals on another thread. While we are happy with members’ success stories, we really do want to keep this thread’s focus and tone to be consistent with gardening efforts. You are certainly welcome to celebrate soft CLIs on this thread, though, as they do not involve inqs or apps for new credit.
GARDEN CLUB CHALLENGE AND RECOGNITIONS:
Garden Club Challenge: Pick a firm date for staying in the garden and post it in your siggy!
Garden Club recognition levels: To qualify, your reports must contain:
You will be able to add the following to your siggy if you have abided by the above for the following time periods...
Less than 1 month - seedling
1 month - bronze spade
3 months - silver spade
6 months - gold spade
12 months - platinum spade
24 months or more - diamond spade
Please note: recognition levels reset once you add an account or incur a HP. We recognize that there may be very good reasons for "leaving the garden," and we respect whatever thoughtful decisions members make. As stated previously, members are always welcome to come back, grab their gloves and start gardening once more.
I'd like to express my appreciation to DaveSignal for coming up with some spade graphics that you can embed in your siggy in order to display your status. Thanks, DS -- great job!!!
Seedling:
<img src="http://ficoforums.myfico.com/t5/image/serverpage/image-id/2760iB9166C1A493A3CBC/" border="0" width="75" height="100" align="right">
Bronze:
<img src="http://i.imgur.com/LEYWe.png" border="0" width="40" height="40" align="right">
SIlver:
line to put at top of sig:
<img src="http://i.imgur.com/Gfc4B.png" border="0" width="40" height="40" align="right">
Gold:
line to put at top of sig:
<img src="http://i.imgur.com/24xvV.png" border="0" width="40" height="40" align="right">
Platinum:
line to put at top of sig:
<img src="http://i.imgur.com/vVRv5.png" border="0" alt="" title="" width="120" height="80" align="right" />
Diamond:
line to put at top of sig:
<img src="http://i.imgur.com/40nIa.png" border="0" alt="" title="" width="40" height="40" align="right" />
So, how's everyone's garden doing this month? Please feel free to mix and mingle, and share your gardening goals as well as your progress on the journey.
I am in the garden starting this month with a Gold Spade. See you all down the road!
Stopping by with my fresh bronze. I'll be waiting out the new year, but not much longer than that. Will be car shopping sometime soon. Should see some good movement from a couple of deletions, so I need to tend to focus on the garden and not leave for any other tempting apps
| Chase Freedom $9500 DCU Visa $10000 Capital One QS $2000 AMEX BCE $3000 | Lowe's CC $8500 WalMart CC $3100 BOA Platinum $600 AMEX Gold NPSL |
I'm still in. Planing to app for Amex BCE in January and get the Jan '12 back dating.
Would having Amex Green for 3 months help?
I hope my score will be better. My only concern is at the time of apping, I would have 5-6 INQ in last 6 months. The last one is from Amex Green from 3 months ago.
What do you guys think?
I'm in, concluding a 4 month extended app spree that ran from August through November, thanks to all the info that has been posted by the generous & knowledgeable members of this forum.
11 out of 17 CC apps approved. From 1 card, $3K total CL on 8/1 to 12 cards, $20.2K on 11/30. Refinanced auto loan from WFDS to DCU. Was added as AU on $9.6K 24 year old FIA MC, and opened AMEX Gold which was backdated to my previous account that I opened in 1984. Current scores in sig. INQ: EX - 5, TU - 6, EQ - 10 .
Buying a house for cash this month (a cheap one), so no need now for a mortgage late next year, which was my original goal when I started this back in August.
I'm here until late spring, 2015, when my BK7 falls off. Have 11 new TLs since August to age & grow until then. Should be able to go for some of the $5K minimum CL cards by then, if I want them. Hopefully will be able to upgrade to Walmart Discover and have great GE-backed CLs by then too!
Thanks again to everyone who posts to this wonderful, supportive community!
An app spree the last 2 months has put me in the garden for at least one year. I have a very recently discharged bk and I don't want to experience any AA. I happen to have one of the creditors, Barclay, that I have read does this from time to time. I have been PIF every month with Barclay's by charging my monthly bills that I would have to pay every month anyway so hopefully that helps.
Yea so I'm in the garden and by next year this time I should have some really nice blossoms on their way to becoming very strong, mature and beautifully colored plants. Well here's to my next step which is the Bronze
I'm in too.
5 new credit cards and 4 store cards since May 2012.
Total credit line was $600 in Nov 2011. Now over $20K. Been a very successful year for me.
Got several COs in 2010. Recently sending GW out. BofA just called today saying they will remove all baddies. Wow!
Thanks everyboday here. Love the forum. Love the atmosphere and chemistry.
I'm still here.