How to build credit from this?

[eveline49]

Yes I am absolutely aware the harm I did with opening so many I was not aware of that a couple months ago though...
I have autopay, but that's actually a reason why I got the late payment - the payment was returned and I didn't realize that due to medical emergency of mine and a family member. So I log in to check what is going on the accounts now at least a couple of times in a month.

[mgood]

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@eveline49 wrote:

That's definitely something I will do! I assume though they won't offer me any other cards within at least a year due to the 5/24 rule ?

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Probably.  But sometimes their preapprovals can bypass 5/24. Don't count on that. Just think of it as building for the future. 

[unsungivy]

Like everyone else has said... pay off Discover and then garden garden garden. It's hard to be patient and do nothing, but that's really your best tactic atm. There should be a 2025 planning thread soon (@Aim_High ) ... take a few deep breathes and plan WAY ahead when you will next make a move. Even if that means doing NOTHING for 2 years past your most recent app. Let everything clear out, and calm down. You've got this.

[FicoMike0]

Ditto on paying off disco, it's killing you.

Do azeo on the rest. Low limit cards build credit just as well as high limit. The low existing limit thing is an amex thing. Keep trying them anyway, no hard pull if not approved. Once in with amex, they go big on credit increases.

As others have said, garden for six months. Credit unions are often good for higher limits. 

You mention you had an installment loan that's paid off. You can get 30-40 points from an open installment loan paid to 9%. Look up share secured loan. Only navy and penfed do them. If you don't qualify for navy, anyone can join penfed.

[FlaDude]

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@unsungivy wrote:

Like everyone else has said... pay off Discover and then garden garden garden. It's hard to be patient and do nothing, but that's really your best tactic atm. 

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Several posters have said this and this is the advice you really need to follow. Time is your friend. It will eventually cause inquiries to drop off and it will improving your aging metrics. Allow time the chance to do its work.

[SouthJamaica]

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@eveline49 wrote:

Hi All! I am now well aware of how dumb I was the past year. I am asking for advice on how I can improve my credit portfolio. I am new to US and I did not use any credit cards before in my life.

I opened my first cc in August 2023, it was a Discover card with 1000 limit on it. Unfortunately, in May they sent me a request to validate my information and I failed to provide the documents as I was travelling urgently outside of the country at that time. They closed my account and I have 600 usd balance there that I am paying off monthly.

My second cc was Capital One Platinum card, if I remember correctly, opened in Oct 2023. They gave me 300 usd limit. I accepted it as I did not know that I will end up with this card being bucketed. I sent couple CLIs, all denied.

Then I opened a Credit One card with another 300 usd limit… I believe it was February 2024. I think I applied for a CLI and it was denied.

In July 2024 I opened another Capital One card (Quicksilver) and also got 300 usd limit. Here the story gets more complicated as I missed one payment due to extraordinary circumstances. I had a 30 day late payment which they agreed to not report.

Two weeks ago I applied for Amazon Prime Visa and they approved me for 500 dollars. It’s not reporting yet on my report.

I also have a credit builder chime card and one affirm installment loan (only 3 months, paid off).

In terms of inquiries I have 7 from last year (cards I opened plus some store cards I got denied for as I did not know how the inquiries work). Plus 2 inquiries from this year.

When I read through this it seems like a terrible choices and a hard situation to get out of, as the cards seem to be bucketed.

I report small balances on the cards but the 600 dollars on the closed discover card is ruining the utilization. I want to get a serious credit card with a decent limit as it’s simply needed sometimes - sometimes a security deposit on a car rental is bigger than my limit. I got several denials from Amex stating the reason that my limit on cards are too low.

Could somebody please help me with tips how to improve this situation? I will take any advice, also critical because I know I was reckless.

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At this point IMHO you need to

- pay off your existing balances

- each month let only one card report a small balance before you pay it off

- make no new applications

[SouthJamaica]

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@eveline49 wrote:

I will pay off Discover in the upcoming 2 months Also, yes, I don't have any derogatory marks.

My worry then is that I'll get denials let's say in 6 more months due to not enough CL on open accounts and from what I understood I cannot change that. So when the Discover card is paid off, what should be my next steps? I mean in terms of where I should try applying - Apple Card perhaps?  Should I now open any checking account with some specific bank to increase my odds (I use Chime for now).

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You should not be applying for any new accounts.

No getting a new checking account won't help.

[eveline49]

Hi, thank you for your inshights! I certainly did not know some of these before.

"You can get 30-40 points from an open installment loan paid to 9%. Look up share secured loan. " - does it mean that such loan would help my score?

[pizzadude]

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@eveline49 wrote:

Hi, thank you for your inshights! I certainly did not know some of these before.

"You can get 30-40 points from an open installment loan paid to 9%. Look up share secured loan. " - does it mean that such loan would help my score?

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Yes, some people have reported that having an open installment loan paid down below 10% results in a FICO score boost similar to this.   However in your case I don't believe it would result in the same benefit if your Affirm account is already reporting as an installment loan. 

[eveline49]

But the affirm one is closed and paid off already