Large Christmas Purchases- Do or Don't?

[GApeachy]

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@longtimelurker wrote:

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This!   One downside of forums like this is that while they provide lots of useful knowledge, they also let you know lots of bad things that have happened to a few individuals, and without knowing the full context for any AA, it is reasonable for people to think "Wow, that could happen to me!"    and start worrying about and planning how to avoid.   These things usually don't happen to most people!

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You read my mind....  

It is reassuring to have yours and everyone's feedback, cuz yeah....it is very concerning to read of others plight.  Thanks again.

[Anonymous]

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@longtimelurker wrote:

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@Anonymous wrote:

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Honestly I have stopped stressing about it. If a card gets shut down, it gets shut down. Most of them report the limit that you had when it was open so it doesn't even affect your score anyway and if they don't, you just pay it and that's that. It's better to find out if a lender is reliable when you don't actually need them than when you do and while rewards cards are great and all, losing some rewards shouldn't make or break anything. 

I will add that I was stressed about starting to carry balances after all my PIF history and not one of my lenders has shown any signs of being bothered by it -- even AMEX opened the door to a second card through a preapprovals with significant balances reporting and I'm even pre-approved for a third revolver (EveryDay) right now with them. 

Just use your cards and stop stressing. I was having the same problem when I was about to have a huge shift in habits and the sky didn't fall and the world didn't end with a zombie apocalypse. If anything, my lenders have been happier with me showing use and proper management of revolving balances. 

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This!   One downside of forums like this is that while they provide lots of useful knowledge, they also let you know lots of bad things that have happened to a few individuals, and without knowing the full context for any AA, it is reasonable for people to think "Wow, that could happen to me!"    and start worrying about and planning how to avoid.   These things usually don't happen to most people!

And once you have a decent amount (known to the outside world as "way too many") of cards, in the worst case losing one isn't going to be dreadful from a real-world impact (you might feel annoyed/angry/disrespected, but such is life!)   Things are different of course if you are in a less secure place financially, and then it might be more appropriate to play it safe, but still not worry about the edge cases you see here.

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Exactly. I don't want to build a habit of calling lenders for my spending, no matter how big it is. I threw a $2417 charge of my 3 month rent on AAPS 25 days after account open, absolutely no problem.

[Anonymous]

I put 2K through my AMEX Gold Card at jewelry store when I got it. I had a meager 1K CL with my Cap1 at the time. They didn’t mind lol

So I just go for it now. They will call me if they have a problem with my spending. I have put 2K through my CSP in a month, but I did go ahead and pay the first statement the day it cut in full as I usually do to give them a “hey, I know what I am doing” message.

[Anonymous]

I think at worst, you could get a call to make sure those are your charges. I've opened a new card with a brand new lender (did it twice, Chase and Wells) and ran up a quick balance (4K in a few weeks on Chase in 2017, then 7K in a few weeks on Wells in 2018), without any prior relationship with them. Both called me to be sure my card wasn't stolen lol. But no AA. I even maxed out both cards.

I got auto CLIs on both cards, 1 at maxed out balance and the other after PIF when the 0 expired. 

If they call, tell them the economy is good, and you will pay all balances in full when due.

You follow through, and your relationship with them will be better than ever.

[GApeachy]

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@Anonymous wrote:

If they call, tell them the economy is good, and you will pay all balances in full when due.

You follow through, and your relationship with them will be better than ever.

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I certainly will reassure them if they do call. And I'll certainly follow through.  The only thing I can't do that you do, have done, did (all that good stuff) is have your profile...which is pretty darned impressive.  I'll trade my cards for yours.....deal?

[GApeachy]

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@Anonymous wrote:
I put 2K through my AMEX Gold Card at jewelry store when I got it. I had a meager 1K CL with my Cap1 at the time. They didn’t mind lol

So I just go for it now. They will call me if they have a problem with my spending. I have put 2K through my CSP in a month, but I did go ahead and pay the first statement the day it cut in full as I usually do to give them a “hey, I know what I am doing” message.

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Good to hear, I don't have a personal Amex but I'd hope my ccc would do that for me as well.  Thank you and glad to know.

[GApeachy]

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@Anonymous wrote:

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 I don't want to build a habit of calling lenders for my spending

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I lawdy, me either....yuck!

[Anonymous]

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@GApeachy wrote:

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@Anonymous wrote:

If they call, tell them the economy is good, and you will pay all balances in full when due.

You follow through, and your relationship with them will be better than ever.

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I certainly will reassure them if they do call. And I'll certainly follow through.  The only thing I can't do that you do, have done, did (all that good stuff) is have your profile...which is pretty darned impressive.  I'll trade my cards for yours.....deal?

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Yeah, your's might be mostly babies right now but they grow up fast with lots of use and PIF, they'll be pretty impressive in no time.

[staticvoidmain]

I am actually in this same boat but was really just concerned about utilization's effect on my score. Pretty sure my score would take a hit even though my aggregate is still below 9%. I ended up prepaying before my statement, just to be sure. That way, when the banks report, I have lower utilization. I am actually waiting for the statement to post before making another big purchase.

This forum made me more obsessive-compulsive.

[AverageJoesCredit]

I just got AA from reading myFico