Help me decide which card to get!

[Anonymous]

Hi All!

So I have been in the garden for the last 6 months. I think it's time to apply again, or not...

Cards I currently have:

CapOne Plat: $1400/$3000 (open 9/14)

CapOne QS1: 1200/2000 (open 11/14)

CapOne QS1: 1100/2000 (open 2/14)

Amazon Store card: 0/$5000 (open 4/15)

Barclays Reward MC: $300/$1500 (open 3/15)

Express: 0/$350 (haven't used this, I want to close it??)

Chase Slate: $200/$500 (0% 15 mo, open 4/15)

Jcrew: 0/$1050

OverStock: 0/$2600

Lexus Lease: $490/mo

So I've been thinking of a new card to obtain. My current scores are as follows:

EQ: 641 / TU: 664 / EX: 659

Inq: EQ: 5 / TU: 6 / EX: 20 (no new accounts or INQ in last 6 months)

Oldest Acct: 9 years / AAOA: 2-3 years

BADS:

Collections: 3/3 reporting to EQ and EX, TU has 2 collections (one was recently removed) 

1-30 day late (6 years ago) - 1 charge off (falling off 2/2016)

So since my TU score is the strongest with the least amount of INQ and collections reporting, I'm looking to apply for a new card. I would ultimately like to balance transfer all my cards with balances to 1 card to pay them off quicker. What is the likelihood of me being approved for a $4000-5000 card to BT my balances? Should I even consider BT'in my balances or just leave it as is and pay them off as I go? I have been using the snowball method and paying off small balances first then tackling the larger ones. Do I have a shot at getting approved with my scores and profile? 

[Anonymous]

Well with that scores i think is very hard get a good card with a good sl , need at least 700+ . what i think. 

[Anonymous]

I think you should stay in the garden for another six months.

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

I think you should stay in the garden for another six months.

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This may be the best plan of action...in 6 months all my bads will fall off, whether an EE or by itself..I should be 100% clean in 6 months.

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

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@Anonymous wrote:

I think you should stay in the garden for another six months.

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This may be the best plan of action...in 6 months all my bads will fall off, whether an EE or by itself..I should be 100% clean in 6 months.

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OOH! You'll have some sweet scores when that happens. Should be able to pick up a card ot two with nice limits and good terms.

[redbeard]

Why do you want another card?

I know they are fun to get, but stop and ask yourself what it is for, why you NEED it, what purpose it will serve?

You have plenty of cards already.  You can work on some credit line increases over the next 6-12 months, get your scores up a bit, then app for some cards that will improve your portfolio.  Right now though, all you will get is more of the same, credit limits in the 1-2K, interest rate of 20+%, etc.  

Get your scores into the 680's, then app for a discover card to do a 0% interest balance transfer.  Then be very, very careful about running the cards up, its easy to do, harder to pay off.

Dan

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

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@Anonymous wrote:

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@Anonymous wrote:

I think you should stay in the garden for another six months.

---

This may be the best plan of action...in 6 months all my bads will fall off, whether an EE or by itself..I should be 100% clean in 6 months.

---

OOH! You'll have some sweet scores when that happens. Should be able to pick up a card ot two with nice limits and good terms.

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That's what I am hoping for! I recently got a collection and charge off removed via EE on TU, got a +2 point jump lol...I'm guessing the real fun will be when the LAST one falls off, as everyone has been mentioning. I've been really good about INQ's and applying, letting all my accounts I opened last year age. I just started rebuilding back in Sep, 2014. Scores have already gone up +50-60

[Anonymous]

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@redbeard wrote:

Why do you want another card?

I know they are fun to get, but stop and ask yourself what it is for, why you NEED it, what purpose it will serve?

You have plenty of cards already.  You can work on some credit line increases over the next 6-12 months, get your scores up a bit, then app for some cards that will improve your portfolio.  Right now though, all you will get is more of the same, credit limits in the 1-2K, interest rate of 20+%, etc.  

Get your scores into the 680's, then app for a discover card to do a 0% interest balance transfer.  Then be very, very careful about running the cards up, its easy to do, harder to pay off.

Dan

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The reason I wanted one as stated in my original post is to do a balance transfer. I currently have 3 cards with balances, roughly $3500. I wanted to transfer all to 1 card and just make large payments, i.e. $600-800/month until I finish paying it off. I mean I guess I can tackle them one at a time, but mentally and visually having only 1 balance seems a little easier to manage and will encourage me to pay it off even faster...I don't know if that makes any sense..

But as CAPTOOL mentioned I should probably wait another 6 months when I have clean reports and try for something then...but that defeats the whole purpose of this post, but with that being said, I know my scores are not strong enough for a reasonable SL and decent APR...

[kdm31091]

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@Anonymous wrote:

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@redbeard wrote:

Why do you want another card?

I know they are fun to get, but stop and ask yourself what it is for, why you NEED it, what purpose it will serve?

You have plenty of cards already.  You can work on some credit line increases over the next 6-12 months, get your scores up a bit, then app for some cards that will improve your portfolio.  Right now though, all you will get is more of the same, credit limits in the 1-2K, interest rate of 20+%, etc.  

Get your scores into the 680's, then app for a discover card to do a 0% interest balance transfer.  Then be very, very careful about running the cards up, its easy to do, harder to pay off.

Dan

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The reason I wanted one as stated in my original post is to do a balance transfer. I currently have 3 cards with balances, roughly $3500. I wanted to transfer all to 1 card and just make large payments, i.e. $600-800/month until I finish paying it off. I mean I guess I can tackle them one at a time, but mentally and visually having only 1 balance seems a little easier to manage and will encourage me to pay it off even faster...I don't know if that makes any sense..

But as CAPTOOL mentioned I should probably wait another 6 months when I have clean reports and try for something then...but that defeats the whole purpose of this post, but with that being said, I know my scores are not strong enough for a reasonable SL and decent APR...

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Yes, but opening a new card for a BT is really just a bandaid. You need to get to the root of why you have these balances, and make sure it doesn't occur again (of course, outside of emergencies etc), not just open a new card and shuffle the debt around.

Anyway, I second gardening further. Your post basically reads "I'm bored and want a new card just because", more or less. Don't app just to app. Garden and pay your cards off.

[Anonymous]

I would agree with CAPTOOL; your scores should see a significant increase once the last baddies fall off.  Better to hold off now to get really nice cards you'll want to keep for a long time rather than apply now for mediocre cards you won't want/need any more in a year or so.

Something else to consider a little down the line is consolidating all those CapOne accounts into one (after they've been paid off ideally) and then PC'ing it to a regular QS.