Next steps?

[Anonymous]

Long time lurker first time poster, hello everyone.

Currently I have 3 cards
C1 QS (PC'd from Plat) $500 SL
C1 QS1 $500 SL
Discover IT $750 SL

I been reading a lot about gardening, and was thinking since I got 3 alright cards (just closed my credit one account with $0 balance) to let these counts mature and grow. My current score is 660 across the board and would love to get a house loan in the future. Thoughts and opinions?

[pinkandgrey]

Your current plan is perfect. Just keep using those cards well. They’ll grow for you soon, especially that Disco!

[Anonymous]

I been thinking about using the cards for my everyday spending then PIF every month, I mostly use my debit card currently. Right now with the 3 cards I have I can do roughly $520 in transactions and stay under the 30% util

[Remedios]

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@Anonymous wrote:
I been thinking about using the cards for my everyday spending then PIF every month, I mostly use my debit card currently. Right now with the 3 cards I have I can do roughly $520 in transactions and stay under the 30% util

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You can actually use your cards up to your limit, you just dont want them reporting maxed out. 

Use as much as you need and make a payment before statement cuts to bring utilization down due to lower limits. 

Put the debit card away, you get nothing for paying with it 

[M_Smart007]

" You can actually use your cards up to your limit, you just dont want them reporting maxed out.

Use as much as you need and make a payment before statement cuts to bring utilization down due to lower limits.

Put the debit card away, you get nothing for paying with it "

+1

[Anonymous]

So it sounds like I need to figure out what I can spend safely each month not to over do it

[Anonymous]

If you want to ease into using them without going overboard, just spend up to 175 across them a month (I don’t know your other finances) You have effectively 1750 all together so that’s 10% your utilization. Example is: That’s a dinner or two out (50), gas for the month (50), and groceries for a month for one (~125). Very safe for your report and easily able to claw out of if your feel you are spending too much.

Only spend it on stuff you know you normally would spend it on and you will be fine. If you start putting stuff that you haven’t saved for on them, that’s where you start to get in trouble.

[Anonymous]

I could rotate cards out each month and put rent on it each month $450. Family of 4 groceries is about $100-150 each month.

[Anonymous]

Hmm... you could do that if you know that works for you. (Make sure you are accounting if they charge a fee for credit card payments vs check. Will easily negate your rewards)

But you do have that IT card so targeting gas on it this quarter net 5% cash back vs 1.5% on rent on the QS.

Sorry, my rewards hunting is showing Lol

[KLEXH25]

I’ve been trying to use my QS and Disco more to take advantage of rewards too. Normally use my debit too but there’s no advantage to that, except seeing what your balance is. The trick is to pay multiple times a month, at least once a week. Helps keep track of spending, and keeps utilization low. Doesn’t hurt to put a few monthly bills on one or two of the cards either, to keep spending consistent. Just be mindful of the statement cut dates for each card and what it reports.