Happy but still Focused … Opinions ?

[Anonymous]

So been on the grind for about 3 years now maybe 4 ... starting not from no credit but from very very bad credit .... wish they would teach us this when we are young ... always took advise from the MyFICO community without joining it but I have been a member for over a month now so it's cool ... anyways to the point 

started off with some predatory cards and my last car loan thru Santander was a predatory loan ... new car financed thru MBFS !! 5%APR happy about that .. I applied for a ton of cards the beginning of this year so I can start getting some rewards . I think after this it's time to garden a bit ... what do you guys think ... and to close the Cap1 Secured and Credit One or should I just throw them in the drawer and let them age .. after all I'm about only at 4 year age for my Credit profile at this point . 

02/2022 - EXP-679 EQX- 683 TU- 703
02/22 - Chase Marriott Boundless - 5K SL
02/22 - Disco ITcash - 1000 SL
01/22 - BofA Unlimited Cash Rewards - 500 SL
01/22 - Amex Plat NPSL
01/22 - Apple GS card - 4500 SL
06/21 - Cap Spark - 500 SL - 600$
08/20 - Cap1 QS - 300SL - 400$
02/19 - Credit One - 300 SL - 650$ ( Consider Closing)
11/18 - Cap1 Secured - 1000SL - 1300$ (Consider Close)
07/20 - Milestone - 300 SL ( Closed)
02/19 - Indigo - 300SL ( Closed)

eventually looking forward to CSP and Freedom and Amex Cash Magnet but I know I won't get those this year ... highly doubt it 

75K total debt 

56k-MBFS

18k- Student loans 

1K - CRedit Cards

[bigseegar]

At 3-4 years your scores really should be higher than that unless you still have BK or Baddies reporting. 

As to the Cap1 card I'd see if by now they wouldn't Unsecure it and then sock drawer it for age. If they won't I'd probably get my money back and use it more wisely then. Even if you do close it it still will report for 10 years as closed in good standing with good history. Same with Credit One if it has an AF I'd cancel. If not I'd sock drawer.

Something else, unless you travel a LOT your'e wasting $650 a year on the AF for the Amex Platinum. If you do travel a ton and can use the other perks then it's worth it. If you don't then I'd personally downgrade the Gold which is only $250 a month and has 4X rewards on groceries and dining. Much better card for non heavy travelers. If you travel but lightly, maybe 2-3x a year then I'd consider the Green card at $150 for that.

[dragontears]

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@Anonymous wrote:

So been on the grind for about 3 years now maybe 4 ... starting not from no credit but from very very bad credit .... wish they would teach us this when we are young ... always took advise from the MyFICO community without joining it but I have been a member for over a month now so it's cool ... anyways to the point 

started off with some predatory cards and my last car loan thru Santander was a predatory loan ... new car financed thru MBFS !! 5%APR happy about that .. I applied for a ton of cards the beginning of this year so I can start getting some rewards . I think after this it's time to garden a bit ... what do you guys think ... and to close the Cap1 Secured and Credit One or should I just throw them in the drawer and let them age .. after all I'm about only at 4 year age for my Credit profile at this point . 

02/2022 - EXP-679 EQX- 683 TU- 703
02/22 - Chase Marriott Boundless - 5K SL
02/22 - Disco ITcash - 1000 SL
01/22 - BofA Unlimited Cash Rewards - 500 SL
01/22 - Amex Plat NPSL
01/22 - Apple GS card - 4500 SL
06/21 - Cap Spark - 500 SL - 600$
08/20 - Cap1 QS - 300SL - 400$
02/19 - Credit One - 300 SL - 650$ ( Consider Closing)
11/18 - Cap1 Secured - 1000SL - 1300$ (Consider Close)
07/20 - Milestone - 300 SL ( Closed)
02/19 - Indigo - 300SL ( Closed)

eventually looking forward to CSP and Freedom and Amex Cash Magnet but I know I won't get those this year ... highly doubt it 

75K total debt 

56k-MBFS

18k- Student loans 

1K - CRedit Cards

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With 5 new cards in the last 2 months you have about 23 months before you will be able to cold app another chase card so get comfortable gardening if the CSP and Freedom are goal cards.

I am not a fan of keeping a useless card just for age so I am in the camp of if it doesn't fit your spending pattern close it to prevent accidental late payments (whether from charges you made but forget about or an annual subscription you forget was set up on the card or even fraud that you didn't catch until the late gets reported).

In the big picture, your oldest cards are not that old...

[Anonymous]

No bankruptcy ... my school loan reported late like 6 years ago... and then beginning Of CoVID I caught...1late payment each on 4 different cards ... and a ton on inquires I've built up tryna get to where I'm at obviously easily over 10-12 inquiries on each report ... gardening for a year I should push into mid to high 700s... I travel a bunch for work atleast flying twice a month ... and a lot of hotel stays hence the Marriott card ... so the benefits cost wise outweigh the  Amex Plat AF ... at this point in my life atleast and for the forseeable future .

[SouthernCredit]

I'd close Credit One. Capital One is probably bucketed and won't grow, so I'd close or sock drawer. I'd go to the garden adn start working on raising the limits on your existing card. Start requesting CLIs from any lender that does a SP for them. Grow them, continue to pay on time, and keep your utilization down, and you should start seeing scores rise. 

[Anonymous]

Are chase , discover and BofA SP for CLI? I know Cap1 ... and Apple GS are .

[dragontears]

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@Anonymous wrote:

Are chase , discover and BofA SP for CLI? I know Cap1 ... and Apple GS are .

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Discover and BofA can be SP CLI 

Chase is a HP for all customer initiated CLI requests (and last I heard 5/24 is being applied to CLI requests as well as new accounts) 

[FinStar]

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@bigseegar wrote:

At 3-4 years your scores really should be higher than that unless you still have BK or Baddies reporting. 

As to the Cap1 card I'd see if by now they wouldn't Unsecure it and then sock drawer it for age. If they won't I'd probably get my money back and use it more wisely then. Even if you do close it it still will report for 10 years as closed in good standing with good history. Same with Credit One if it has an AF I'd cancel. If not I'd sock drawer.

Something else, unless you travel a LOT your'e wasting $650 a year on the AF for the Amex Platinum. If you do travel a ton and can use the other perks then it's worth it. If you don't then I'd personally downgrade the Gold which is only $250 a month and has 4X rewards on groceries and dining. Much better card for non heavy travelers. If you travel but lightly, maybe 2-3x a year then I'd consider the Green card at $150 for that.

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@bigseegar - did you mean $250 AF (as in per year?). I don't think any folks would apply if it were $250 per month.

As far as the downgrade part, the OP appears to have been recently approved for the Platinum last month (see signature). So, not exactly a wise choice to downgrade at this point. Perhaps they can entertain the option after having the card for >12 months if the card isn't meeting their needs 🤷‍♂️

[HeavenOhio]

@Anonymous, go ahead and close the two cards you've mentioned.

Then garden until your newest card is at least a year old. During the year that follows, apply for no more than two cards. You'll be positioned for Chase once that second year passes.

[Anonymous]

I already hit the bonus in the first two weeks on regular spending ... so the 100K point more then covers the first year AF... free clear which I was already signed up for now free (179) Uber I use regularly 200 a year ... 200 flight incidentals already recieved 150 of it ... 2 first class delta flight 5 x points ... the I've already covered 2 years worth of AF for the platinum AMEX ... like I said it's a keeper for the forseeable future ... it'll pay more then I do