@Anonymous I really didn't even notice how i neglected my credit during those dark years. I'm thankful that I isn't lose employment re: COVID. But the money that would have normally been spent on vacations has gone to "the great pay down"
overall UTIL is under 20%, I want to get it below 10% before I start apping for mortgages.
012019 Fico8/Mortgage Score: 
I've been rebuilding for roughly two years, and will be completely clean sometime in January, as well was be under 5/24. My plan is a Chase Freedom Unlimited in January, and then a Chase Sapphire Preferred in the summer. I'm debt free minus my car note, and plan to stay that way. I've learned my lesson in the past. Twice.
@Aim_High wrote:
For the community, how do you set limits for yourself on new cards or inquiries and do you have a process before applying for new credit? How long do you plan or do you impulsively app? Is impulsive or excessive app'ing a problem or a concern? We're in the last three weeks of 2020. As it draws to a close, what are your credit goals for 2021?
For me, it's kind of TBD what limits I'll end up setting for myself or what my 2021 will end up looking like in terms of app activity. I only found this forum in early August, so I'm kind of at the place some of the above members talk about as being a couple of years behind them: new to cc's as a hobby, and the candy store is open. Before August 2020 I'd been more of a typical credit card consumer, in that for many years I'd just had my Disco It that I used for everything, plus a couple of older cards gaining age in the sock drawer. But then I came across MyFICO while looking for info on helping my spouse with their credit scores (it's been a treasure trove for that!) and I've apped for two new cards in the last four months.
I don't think I'll app at any kind of furious pace in the new year, but I still may pick up a few more cards in 2021 if I think they'll be beneficial. I did do a good amount of planning and research before my two recent apps, especially for the BCP. I spent three months looking up the rewards structure, terms, etc. of about every grocery card I could find that wasn't behind a geofence and then ran the numbers on grocery spend & cashback gain and compared other card and issuer pro's and con's, so I doubt I'll become impulsive or excessive with future apps to any great degree. Some other things that will probably keep me from going too crazy are:
1) The few cards I already have pretty much cover the cashback categories that our spend justifies apping for, and we have no use for hotel or airline points. There are still some things that might be useful rewards-wise, like adding another rotator or a 2%+ off-cat card, but I could be perfectly content with the earn rates I have now. Our overall spend is also not that high, so spreading it among more rewards cards would get pretty marginal pretty quickly.
2) One of the changes that 2020 brought for us was that I became a homemaker, so unlike in the past I've used household income for my recent cc apps and a CLI request. I'll probably be working at least part time by the middle of 2021, but my individual income would still be pretty small and I don't know that I would want to pile up a whole lot of available credit on my spouse's earnings. Not because I don't think their income will be reliable, but it feels kind of like taking on obligations for them rather than for myself. (They, on the other hand, have told me to open as many cards w/ household income as I want...)
3) I don't think I'd enjoy managing very many cards. I keep track of balances and due dates and make the payments for my cards as well as my spouse's, and the relatively small number we have now is already kind of on the edge of what I want to deal with, so that will probably keep me from adding too many more in the next year.
Now, all that said, I'm currently contemplating whether to be a true MyFICOer and app for a Cash+ in mid-February, which should be right before my BCP reports to the bureaus and kicks me up to 2/12, or be more reasonable and wait to be 1/12 again next fall, so we'll see what 2021 actually holds for my wallet.
I am in the "I have all the cards and credit limits I could resonably need" camp. However, a lucrative signup bonus can cause my ears to perk up. I am currently working on meeting the minimum spend for Capital One Venture's 100k SUB. After that, well there's nothing in particular on my radar for next year. I might downgrade or close some airline cards due to lack of flying. A significant nerf with a current card could also upend things and have me on the hunt for a replacement.
