In the garden until I have 3 or less inquiries on my reports!!!! I'm at 10 EX, 11 TU, 8 EQ. About 3-5 will fall off each report by the end of this year. I got my Amex, so this shouldnt be too hard not to app. 
I have officially joined the garden... maybe 
Today I got a Citi Thank You with 0% for 15 months and 12.99% after that 6k CL, going to consolidate two cards on that and pay it down. Then I got a Discover with 4k limit, I have been wanting a straight Discover card. Now I have 4 inquiries on my report, one drops off in Aug, one in Feb (new apartment) and the other two next May. I may still go to my credit union and ask them to double my CL before the end of the month, but that will be another hard pull. Still I think they should approve it, I always pay more than the min payment and have never had an issue with them.
My garden... it is a bit long... People I work with ask me why I have so many cards, well I want to be able to play solitaire with all my credit cards 
GEcrb/Amazon store card 1632/2800 (0% till 2013)
GEcrb/JCP store card 35/3200 (0% till June)
Macy's store card 43/2000 (already scheduled to be paid off)
Cap1/Kohls store card 0/1000
BP gas card 0/600 (sock drawer, no BPs near me anymore)
Dell financial 0/1200
CrdFrst/Firestone 0/2800 (sock drawer, bought new tires before I bought new truck)
Cap1/Rewards MC 2300/3750 (transferring to new 0% Citi, then putting in sock drawer, Cap1 jerked me around recently)
CU/Visa 1000/2000 (local CU, 9.9% card, it is the card I plan on carrying balances on)
GEcrb/Walmart Discover 350/3500 (0% till Aug; sock drawer, unless I need something big at Wally World)
Phillips 66 gas card 100/600 (get all my gas on this card for the discount)
Cap1/ MC Plat 52/750 (already scheduled to be paid off) then will be put in sock drawer
Target store card 0/3000 (same as walmart)
GEcrb/Dillards AMEX 0/1900 (my emergency card)
GEcrb/PayPal MC 0/1000 (think I will take this out of sock drawer and use it for small monthly purchases to grow payment history)
Citi TY Visa 0/6000 (new card, gonna put CU Visa and Cap1 Rewards on it to pay down at 0%)
Discover 0/4000 (other new card of today)
Ford auto load 29k/38k
8 student loans total 31k (still working on finishing MBA, then law school... all are subsidized)
Well on my way to solitaire
I hope that I'm not too premature in making a post here having just finished a small app spree, but the celebration for that is definitely going to remain elsewhere. I'm here to let it sink in that while I'm going to take a short term hit to my credit score, I'm looking forward to the long term benefits of everything that's occurred over the last six months.
Anywho, my plan is to stay in the garden until this time next year. I may suffer a few more hits as me and my wife are looking for a cheaper place to rent, but I don't really consider that an application for credit regardless of the inquiries it may suffer. It's just a silly fact of rental life.
Here is what I'm working with, same as in my siggy:
CapOne for NewComers, inquiry 12/10/11, cl is $300
HSBC Best Buy, inquiry 12/17/11, denied; for some reason my student loan hadn't initiated reports, being a measly four years old at the time.
GEMB/CareCredit, inquiry on 03/15/12, cl is $1000 (a rebellious tooth forced my hand)
Amex Zynx, inquiry 05/10/12, NPSL
Wal-Mart Discover, inquiry 05/10/12, $1000
Chase Freedom, inquiry 05/10/12, $3000
Capital One Cash, inquiry 05/10/12, denied
BofA 123, inquiry 05/10/12, pending decision (most likely denied)
So I'm at 9 inquiries including one for my car which will be dropping in a few months (first to go!). These are fairly split across all my reports, but my wife and I will be looking at buying a house within the next 2-3 years, so this gardening is not only to improve my short term credit, it's also to gain experience for the long term and much bigger goals.
@NikJ4 wrote:Ok, so to draw irony to being in the garden, I really did break out in hives this morning. Now I am on benedry and adarax for itching. Go figure. Just thought i would find a little comedy in all of this. I will be doped up on allergy meds while hanging out in the garden so please excuse the snoring.
So sorry to hear! But yes, there is something ironic to be found in this. Hope you feel better soon.
Current Scores: EQ 775 (03/04/2014), EX 756 (03/01/2014), TU 760 (03/01/2014)
Ruby Spade Garden Club Member - Last App: 03/04/2013 - No apps until 2014
Cards: Cap1 Venture 6.4k, Cap1 Quicksilver MC 1.75k, BankAmericard 1-2-3 Visa Signature - UCF Alumni Association 5k, Discover 7k, Citi Diamond Preferred MC 10.35k, Wells Fargo Rewards Visa 7k, Chase Freedom 5k, Chase Ink 7.5k, Amex Green NPSL, Dillard's Amex 7.5k, JC Penney 7.5k, Kay Jeweler's 5.1k
@delayedinsanity wrote:
@FrugalRican wrote:Still in gardening.
AMEX CLI denied. Oh well.
I was hoping it could offset my Mastercard from BoA Constrictor, once I cancel that.
But then I realized that by the time I cancel the hellspawn card, my utilization will be under 5% anyway, so there's really no use for me to have a huge, gigantic card at 15.9 other than for it to climb buildings and swat at incoming helicopters.
Other than bragging rights in a credit bar. We'll have appbar bartend (I don't mean that negatively! I'm pullin your chain if you're in here), and you and me can toss a few capones back (capones always get violent), and when my Freedom calls a magistrate and puts your Freedom on the stretching rack, then "incomes" your BoA to save the day and have me slamming down Orchards for the rest of the night.
Hmm. Good thing there aren't Credit Bars. I wonder how you'd pay a fine for "charging and driving while under high utilization".
Current Scores: EQ 775 (03/04/2014), EX 756 (03/01/2014), TU 760 (03/01/2014)
Ruby Spade Garden Club Member - Last App: 03/04/2013 - No apps until 2014
Cards: Cap1 Venture 6.4k, Cap1 Quicksilver MC 1.75k, BankAmericard 1-2-3 Visa Signature - UCF Alumni Association 5k, Discover 7k, Citi Diamond Preferred MC 10.35k, Wells Fargo Rewards Visa 7k, Chase Freedom 5k, Chase Ink 7.5k, Amex Green NPSL, Dillard's Amex 7.5k, JC Penney 7.5k, Kay Jeweler's 5.1k
@germaine47 wrote:@I am ready to join in on the Garden Meeting, I hope membership is free all advice will be accepted. I have just closed on my home and did go buy dining room furniture @ 0% interest with GE for 12 months, approved for Chase Freedom and received a 30 day decision from US financial. At this moment I have everything that I could every want so I dont want to app for anything else until I pay the furniture off or a least wait 6-7 months. My next goal is to replace my 10 year old car.
Thanks FICO Family
You did things in the right order I started thinking that maybe I should buy a house or a condo after I got a new truck and they result of mortage calculators say that I can only qualify for a mortage half the size that I am paying for rent... oh well