@UncleB wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:So you think sticking with a 1% cash back rewards debit card is a better idea right now?
There may be different opinions on this, but if it were me I would use debit until you're able to get things paid down.
If you're able to use a 1% card that's great (any reward is always good) but I wouldn't get too hung-up on rewards right now... my main focus would be that outstanding debt - I wouldn't allow anything to distract me from that.
Back when I only had one credit card, I used the Paypal debit card; it does an ACH-pull from your existing checking account and you get 1% cash back on all non-PIN purchases. It worked out quite well for me, and I didn't have to change banks to use it.
My card has always been declined with no funds in my Paypal account for some reason. The backup in stores is my debit MasterCard... I wonder if I have to do my checking account directly?
@Anonymous wrote:
@UncleB wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:So you think sticking with a 1% cash back rewards debit card is a better idea right now?
There may be different opinions on this, but if it were me I would use debit until you're able to get things paid down.
If you're able to use a 1% card that's great (any reward is always good) but I wouldn't get too hung-up on rewards right now... my main focus would be that outstanding debt - I wouldn't allow anything to distract me from that.
Back when I only had one credit card, I used the Paypal debit card; it does an ACH-pull from your existing checking account and you get 1% cash back on all non-PIN purchases. It worked out quite well for me, and I didn't have to change banks to use it.
My card has always been declined with no funds in my Paypal account for some reason. The backup in stores is my debit MasterCard... I wonder if I have to do my checking account directly?
Hmm... I never had that problem. I had (and still have) mine set up with my checking account as the 'backup' source, and I never kept funds in my Paypal account, so each time I used the debit card it caused a ACH debit to checking. Note that the backup for the debit card isn't the same as the backup for the overall Paypal account (I don't think you can set another card to be the backup for the debit card unless it's a Paypal credit product.)
One thing that you do have to be careful about is when you use the card it must be swiped as 'credit' (no PIN entry). The only way the card will work with a PIN (as debit) is if you have funds in your actual Paypal account, otherwise it will decline. I always had issues at Wal-Mart in particular, since the terminals there are set up to 'encourage' folks to use debit/PIN. I would have to hit an extra button (cleverly hard to notice) after swiping to bypass the PIN entry.
At most other stores there was no issue; I would even swipe as 'credit' for transactions close to $1k and it would always be approved, which always amazed me since at that time I certainly didn't qualify for a $1k credit line with them, yet they were trusting that I had that much in my checking account for a few days.
OP, I think you are not far off from making serious progress. You'll be amazed at how much your score will move when you pay down your utilization, if that's what you decide to do with that money. Once the score rises, other doors start opening up. I have a feeling you'll be in a much better position.sooner than later.
@RM21 wrote:
OP, I think you are not far off from making serious progress. You'll be amazed at how much your score will move when you pay down your utilization, if that's what you decide to do with that money. Once the score rises, other doors start opening up. I have a feeling you'll be in a much better position.sooner than later.
Thank You.
In addition to the AMEX, I was also thinking about applying for my local credit union's Visa Signature card (one of the rare ones that actually requires $5,000 limit or more). Although I'll still keep my Double Cash, Discover, and my future American Express to go along with it... It'll be a hard choice to decide which card(s) to use as my main one 
.
I'm trying to grow my relationship with my local credit union, and really appreciate the closer/more personal customer service and lower fees that are offered with those cards. I figured if I'm going to have a card with a relatively large limit for my lifestyle, it might as well be one with a lower APR than the typical commerical bank card---although that doesn't mean I'm going to purposefully get myself in the hole again---but the 1 point per dollar doesn't exactly match up to any of the rewards my other three cards will be offering.
Right now, APR on Double Cash is 14.49%. The credit union's offering is between 10%-15%, or 8% and 13% for their non-rewards card. My Discover card, while 0% right now will have a 20.24% interest rate when the promotion is done-- perhaps I should sock drawer the Discover card and only use it on the 5% rotating categories and pay it off immediately
Also, not sure which AMEX to add to my portfolio for sure at this point. Could either be the $95 a year BCP or EDP, the no annual fee verison of those cards... Or possibly the Gold PR charge card.
@Anonymous wrote:
@RM21 wrote:
OP, I think you are not far off from making serious progress. You'll be amazed at how much your score will move when you pay down your utilization, if that's what you decide to do with that money. Once the score rises, other doors start opening up. I have a feeling you'll be in a much better position.sooner than later.Thank You.
In addition to the AMEX, I was also thinking about applying for my local credit union's Visa Signature card (one of the rare ones that actually requires $5,000 limit or more). Although I'll still keep my Double Cash, Discover, and my future American Express to go along with it... It'll be a hard choice to decide which card(s) to use as my main one
I'm trying to grow my relationship with my local credit union, and really appreciate the closer/more personal customer service and lower fees that are offered with those cards. I figured if I'm going to have a card with a relatively large limit for my lifestyle, it might as well be one with a lower APR than the typical commerical bank card---although that doesn't mean I'm going to purposefully get myself in the hole again---but the 1 point per dollar doesn't exactly match up to any of the rewards my other three cards will be offering.
Right now, APR on Double Cash is 14.49%. The credit union's offering is between 10%-15%, or 8% and 13% for their non-rewards card. My Discover card, while 0% right now will have a 20.24% interest rate when the promotion is done-- perhaps I should sock drawer the Discover card and only use it on the 5% rotating categories and pay it off immediately
Also, not sure which AMEX to add to my portfolio for sure at this point. Could either be the $95 a year BCP or EDP, the no annual fee verison of those cards... Or possibly the Gold PR charge card.
Growing your relationship with your CU is a really good idea, IMO. If I were you, I would try to find out what credit scores they look for on their credit card applications; they might even tell you the cut-off for each APR, which would help you to set a goal for yourself. Getting approved is always great, but if you know for a fact that you're just a few points away from a better APR, it might be worth the wait!
Historically, Amex charge cards are easier to get than the credit (revolver) cards, and people have had various experiences applying for them with lower credit scores. There are people who have reported getting a charge card (Green, PRG, etc) with scores in the 630 range, but not many (score is only part of the approval 'equation' with Amex). A few people on here have reported being approved for a Delta Gold revolver with scores sub-650, but they are very much the 'exception' to what you usually see, not the rule.
If you want to get an Amex revolver (ED, EDP, etc.) you'll probably have better luck the closer to 670-ish you are. Again, this isn't a "rule" - people with lower scores have been approved, and folks with higher scores have been denied - but it's a general guideline. If you check the Approvals sub-forum you can search for Amex approvals, and many times people will tell what their EX FICO is and anything else that might have made a difference.
Once you get your utilization in check, the first thing I would do is see about a CLI on Discover; it will probably be a SP (they will tell you if it's going to be a HP and you can cancel if you want) and they can be very generous, especially if there has been a significant positive change to your FICO or you've made significant payments (I have experienced this personally).
All of this hinges on getting your utilization below 100%, though... ideally below 30%, but I would aim for 100% first (you have to crawl before you can walk). Once that utilization is down, you will be more likely to get CLIs and approvals, which will further help your utilization. 
@UncleB wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:
@RM21 wrote:
OP, I think you are not far off from making serious progress. You'll be amazed at how much your score will move when you pay down your utilization, if that's what you decide to do with that money. Once the score rises, other doors start opening up. I have a feeling you'll be in a much better position.sooner than later.Thank You.
In addition to the AMEX, I was also thinking about applying for my local credit union's Visa Signature card (one of the rare ones that actually requires $5,000 limit or more). Although I'll still keep my Double Cash, Discover, and my future American Express to go along with it... It'll be a hard choice to decide which card(s) to use as my main one
I'm trying to grow my relationship with my local credit union, and really appreciate the closer/more personal customer service and lower fees that are offered with those cards. I figured if I'm going to have a card with a relatively large limit for my lifestyle, it might as well be one with a lower APR than the typical commerical bank card---although that doesn't mean I'm going to purposefully get myself in the hole again---but the 1 point per dollar doesn't exactly match up to any of the rewards my other three cards will be offering.
Right now, APR on Double Cash is 14.49%. The credit union's offering is between 10%-15%, or 8% and 13% for their non-rewards card. My Discover card, while 0% right now will have a 20.24% interest rate when the promotion is done-- perhaps I should sock drawer the Discover card and only use it on the 5% rotating categories and pay it off immediately
Also, not sure which AMEX to add to my portfolio for sure at this point. Could either be the $95 a year BCP or EDP, the no annual fee verison of those cards... Or possibly the Gold PR charge card.
Growing your relationship with your CU is a really good idea, IMO. If I were you, I would try to find out what credit scores they look for on their credit card applications; they might even tell you the cut-off for each APR, which would help you to set a goal for yourself. Getting approved is always great, but if you know for a fact that you're just a few points away from a better APR, it might be worth the wait!
Historically, Amex charge cards are easier to get than the credit (revolver) cards, and people have had various experiences applying for them with lower credit scores. There are people who have reported getting a charge card (Green, PRG, etc) with scores in the 630 range, but not many (score is only part of the approval 'equation' with Amex). A few people on here have reported being approved for a Delta Gold revolver with scores sub-650, but they are very much the 'exception' to what you usually see, not the rule.
If you want to get an Amex revolver (ED, EDP, etc.) you'll probably have better luck the closer to 670-ish you are. Again, this isn't a "rule" - people with lower scores have been approved, and folks with higher scores have been denied - but it's a general guideline. If you check the Approvals sub-forum you can search for Amex approvals, and many times people will tell what their EX FICO is and anything else that might have made a difference.
Once you get your utilization in check, the first thing I would do is see about a CLI on Discover; it will probably be a SP (they will tell you if it's going to be a HP and you can cancel if you want) and they can be very generous, especially if there has been a significant positive change to your FICO or you've made significant payments (I have experienced this personally).
All of this hinges on getting your utilization below 100%, though... ideally below 30%, but I would aim for 100% first (you have to crawl before you can walk). Once that utilization is down, you will be more likely to get CLIs and approvals, which will further help your utilization.
Good post, and good idea on asking what the cut offs are for on the APR, but then again, every lender has a slightly different formula when it comes to recieving a credit score, so I'm not sure how much that will help me, other than using a ball park statistic. I've also heard credit unions are more willing to lower APR's and increase credit limits (at the same time even) once you grow with them and improve your credit portfolio.
Regarind the Delta revolver AMEX, as much as I perfer Delta as my airline, I feel like there's cards out there that will give me more value for my everyday spending (like my Citi DC) that will give me more rewards dollars to pay for those flights. I think before I was as educated as I am now about credit cards, Delta was actually one I was looking into... But not anymore.
Also great point about the Discover, I was going to see about a CLI on that card. Hopefully to around $2,000 or so, or even $1,500 to match the max 5% on categories. Right now it's at $500 but I actually like their customer service, so it's not a card I'll be getting rid of unless the APR isn't lowered 5 years from now, or they treat me like garbage (unlikely knowing Discover's CS reputation).