I plan to remain in the garden initially, when I should fall to 0/12 & 2/24 by February.
My card portfolio is pretty good, and I will likely try for another CLI on my Apple/GS card which remains - by far - my lowest CL.
I have a couple of cards on my radar (Bilt & AAA Travel) but I am not at all keen on doing business with those two cards' issuers. I took all of my business - personal & work - away from Wells some years ago. So a "definite maybe" for now 
On January 5th I will have no new personal cards within 24 months.
I did add an AMEX BBP with $24K limit in May of this year and got a 50,000 point SUB. I also added a Southwest business card in early October for an 80,000 point SUB with $5,000 spend. I am being careful to not cross the final spend until after 1/1/2024. I will be adding a Chase SW personal card as well for the 75,000 SUB offered now. I will complete that spend in early January as well which will get us all of 2024 and 2025 with a Southwest companion pass. Our preferred flights from Vegas to Belize are on SW through Houston so this will be nice for 2024 and 2025. We generally go 3 - 4 times a year, sometimes more, so we will get good value from the companion pass. The SUB points basically cover the cost of the first 4 trips so that is a really nice perk too!
Aside from this almost all of our spend goes on our AMEX cards and maybe 2024 will be the year we get the black card invite. We just passed 3 years with my Amex Gold and Plat and our AMEX spend is between $300K - $500k per year so fingers crossed the decide to invite us this year . . . I have just always wanted one :-)
My only other goal for 2024 is to accumulate more AMEX MR points. We are currently at 2.4 million points. My goal is to be at 3.5 million by the end of 2024. AMEX has been making some extremely generous offers lately and we are paying closer attention to not miss them. For example:
50,000 points for opening a new business checking with them, we will be opening the account this week
50,000 points for doing a few international global payments with them which works with our business in Belize so we should earn them soon
25,000 points for spending $1,000 with a cruise line (3 different companies) so we will spend $1,000 with each of them as Christmas presents for people for a total of 75,000 points
15,000 points for spending $500 at Mitchell.com and some other good recent offers that will be utilized by Christmas.
We will end up with over 200,000 more points by the end of the year just on AMEX offers.
The current offer on the business platinum is around 150,000 points. In the past they offered me as high as 250,000, if they ever get back to that level I will open one of those as well, but it is not a high priority for us.
Hoping they offer 30,000 points per referral up to 100,000 points again next year, that is always a nice bump!
I've been gardening since December 2021(pretty sure) when I applied for the Chase Amazon Prime card as rumor had it they were approving people way over 5/24. I've never gone this long before and would like to continue to garden throughout 2024. I've spreed, I've regretted, I've gotten stressed out. Now I want to see what my score can do when I'm not bashing it against new apps all the time🤣
I don't really want to manage more than the 5 cards I've got, and I'm pretty content to keep my current mix of both cash back and points. I'm hoping to stay in a holding pattern for 2024 now that I've got a decent set up. I just plan to keep the rebuild progressing (keep PIF) and just garden with what I've got . As for my goals on each card it's really just CLIs on 3 of them, but am tempering my expectations.
- Amex BCP - try again for a CLI after I've hit 12 months of having this card. I was denied at 7 months. This is likely a pipe dream and I'm probably stuck at $5k until the BK7 falls off in 4 years, but will try again as there's been the extremely rare DP of a CLI with a BK7 reporting.
- Savor One - After a small CLI in May 2023 and a reallocating $1200 from QS to this card in July it's at $4500. This is another card I'll attempt a CLI on and still gets regular use as my primary dining and uber card. I'm not expecting much as this card does appear to be in a relatively low bucket.
- Venture X - I'll probably make my first CLI attempt on this late winter/early spring around the 7 month mark or so. Although I was on the low end for approvals I don't see this being in a low bucket. It's getting regular usage and I'm letting it report my statement balances organically, but I just don't know if I'm putting enough spend on the card to get movement from Capital One. I'd be happy to get it from the min $10 kto $15k (it seems like most VX cards all have CL's that are in $5k increments, I don't see anyone with $12k or $23k etc).
- Quicksilver - I don't really have any plans for this card 2024. It's now been relegated to just a few recurring subscriptions that would be better served putting on the VX, but this is an easy way to keep it active and I'm not too worried about losing 0.5% given that it's not a lot of spend.
- Discover: This is another low limit card but got a CLI on it in Oct so no real plans for this one in 2024. I typically now only use it for a few random non-grocery transactions per month. Currently using it for paypal due to 6% offer that'll be expiring at the end of Nov.
If all goes as planned and I don't apply for anything I'll be down to 2/24 (not that it matters too much since I'm not looking to get into Chase cards and they generally wouldn't approve with a BK reporting anyways.
I have no current plans to apply for any new credit in 2024. I'm settled comfortably in The Garden right now. 👩🌾
I'm also one of the people that doesn't have major plans for 2024, other than tending to what I've got. I like my card lineup and they mostly have pretty good limits, so I don't even think I'll need/want to seek CLIs. Although the idea of adding the Venmo credit card pops up in my head every now and then, it's not something that I'm actively planning on. We'll see if the stars align and I decide to move forward with that. Otherwise, the only thing I plan to do differently in 2024 is give more purposeful spend to my Discover It card. It was pretty dormant this year and didn't see much spend. In 2024, I'll pay more attention to the 5% categories and be sure to take more advantage of them.
@Aim_High wrote:It's that time again for what has become a standing My FICO tradition. We're rapidly approaching the last month and a half of 2023, so it's time to consider our credit and financial plans for 2024!
This annual thread began in 2020. (See these links: >2021<, >2022<, and >2023<.) Again, thanks to @Remedios for the suggestion of the original thread. Below are the highlights of my original message:
We often remind each other that "Credit is a marathon, not a Sprint," to try to pace ourselves, and to realize that we need to keep some self-discipline in the process. Self discipline requires a plan. Periodically, we may look on with horror (or envy) as someone tries to get away with a monster App Spree. We know that's not really the way to build good credit. Overly-seeking credit can be addictive and counterproductive to finances and FICO. As a general guideline, I usually suggest to newer members that slow and steady wins the race, and that planning to add about one new account every six months is a good long-term pacing that will usually keep them within the various lender limitations, especially for those with low-to-medium scores, thinner files or derogatories. The more they go over that, the more likely they'll start getting denials or low-limit approvals eventually, and that's regardless of the strength of their profile.
Having a good strategy requires taking inventory of our existing cards, an honest evaluation of our financial picture and needs, and a careful consideration of which credit cards (if any) would be most beneficial. Sometimes, chasing after the FOTM card (Flavor of the Month) or the latest, greatest SUB isn't the card we most need. And over-app'ing can be a disruption to improving our finances with the best card for us. At times, I've been guilty of the impulsive apps so I'm not pointing fingers. But I've also planned for new cards and I'm doing so right now. Writing down my card details and plan helps me to come up with strategies for the short term (~six months), medium term (~one year), and long term (~two years.)
As we approach the new year, and with the goal of making credit changes a premeditated and mindful decision, what are the planned changes for your card lineup in 2024?
1. On the personal side, if I have good shot at adding another credit union, non-rewards, no-balance-transfer-fee, no-cash-advance-fee, platinum card, I will. But no rewards cards, no matter how attractive they might be.
2. On the business side, if I'm 4/24 by the time October rolls around, I'll start looking for my opening to pick up a Chase Ink Business Cash card.
