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New card, or better my current

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joeydtx
Regular Contributor

New card, or better my current

I have a Continental Finace and a secured Orchard Bank card for a year each.  I am due a CLI for CF im thinking this week, and my Orchard is sitting nicely at 550 cl, but wonder what I should do if I should try looking for another secured or up my limit with Orchard.  Does increasing the CL raise points to your FICO score?
~JD
Message 1 of 5
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BungalowMo
Senior Contributor

Re: New card, or better my current


@joeydtx wrote:
I have a Continental Finace and a secured Orchard Bank card for a year each.  I am due a CLI for CF im thinking this week, and my Orchard is sitting nicely at 550 cl, but wonder what I should do if I should try looking for another secured or up my limit with Orchard.  Does increasing the CL raise points to your FICO score?

Greetings....

 

I'd first ask for a CLI from both!  It will raise your score a bit if you have a balance owed.  For instance, lets say together, both cards have a 1k limit & right now one card has 0 bal. & the other has $350.  Your overall utilization is 35%....too high for a sweet fico.  Now lets say that between the cards you get a total CLI of $500 & still have that $350 bal.  Your total util is now 23% (still alittle high for fico happy face)  Now...pay down to $140.  Util goes to 9% & you now have a happy FICO!  You don't want more than 9% balance posting to attain the best fico possible (as far as util. goes)  But...you don't want it to be zero either.  We had a couple folks here test this theory & you need a small balance to make this calculation work.

 

As far as apping for another card.... with scores in the mid to upper 5's, leave that alone for now.  I'm guessing you might have some negative info posting that needs to be addressed first.  Don't waste inq's because right now, all you can get is another rebuilder card.  Try for the CLI's with both because higher limits beget higher limits down the road.

Message Edited by BungalowMo on 01-19-2010 08:07 AM
BK 7 discharge 06.24.2020 No Fico score at all. Smiley Sad
Message 2 of 5
joeydtx
Regular Contributor

Re: New card, or better my current

Wowzers, I just paid my two to 0 on Thursday probably need to charge something small on both... 10-20 dollars on each?  Well all my baddies the latest is maybe 1.6 years old and currently in the process of repairing.  Collections are 10 on EX (thinkinking about freezing that CR, and their FAKO to me is 505), 5 on Eq and 8 on TU but the earliest ine is over a year, currently attacking two of them which are medical which may take me a bit of time following the process on whychat.  TU is 598, Eq is 565 but both are before some disputed info on a couple accounts and me paying my cards to 0 so not sure what impact that had yet so waiting a big to see if I either get a FICO alert here or Feb pull a fresh report,

 

I don't mind upping Orchard, they been really nice but even calling backdoor numbers here to see if I could get a CLI without adding my own money always get a oversees person that doesn't seem to understand what I am asking.  

~JD
Message 3 of 5
BungalowMo
Senior Contributor

Re: New card, or better my current

JD...one more piece of info.....use one card only & do a gas fill up or something.  Don't have a balance, even small, on both.  Then in a couple months, use the other card for gas or something & pay the other to 0.  Swap back & forth between the two to keep both companies happy that they're using their card.
BK 7 discharge 06.24.2020 No Fico score at all. Smiley Sad
Message 4 of 5
joeydtx
Regular Contributor

Re: New card, or better my current

Sounds good to me BungalowMo thanks for the advice, I will go ahead and up my Orchard and wait for CF...  they do it after 6 months and was already told I would get one they usually do it once the statement closes which is what they did before which should be today. 
Message Edited by joeydtx on 01-19-2010 09:41 AM
~JD
Message 5 of 5
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