@SoCalGardener wrote:
@CreditMarathoner wrote:
The only thing I may do, depending on what interest rates do, is refi the house mid-year or so.
Keeping in mind that I know virtually nothing about housing/mortgages/financing issues in today's world, I'm wondering why you'd wait. Aren't interest rates already really low? Like at their lowest in....forever? When I see ads for refinancing at 1.XX%, I just think, shoot, makes me wish I had a mortgage to refinance! Back in 1989 when I got my one and only mortgage, a 1-something interest rate was UNHEARD OF.
If you wait until mid-year, who's to say those rates won't have gone up by then? If you're thinking about doing it, I'm just wondering why you wouldn't do it now rather than gamble with interest rates going up.
It's not time yet. I have a brand new account (CSP), fresh inquiries, I need to garden a few months at least before attempting a refi. Plus I have other large expenses coming up and don't want to add closing costs on top of that.
2022 for me will mostly be setting myself up for Chase in early 2023. I got into no AF cashback cards before joining here/Reddit and was at 5/24 when I learned what it was, so I decided to get basically every other card I wanted before circling back around to them.
Will apply for Citi Custom Cash in June or July of 2022, then go for a second MCP right after, then back in the garden until I hit Chase. Those two apps will only add two months to when I'll be under 5/24, but any more and the date jumps.
Several cards on the chopping block: P2 is letting her BoA card close to inactivity, I am AU and not bothering removing myself before then, will be soon enough. I'm going to close my vanilla Platinum in January 2022. I'd be open to a good retention offer but won't be upset if I'm not offered one. I'll likely close my no AF Hilton card at some point, maybe summer 2022, to free up an Amex card slot, and would even consider grabbing the Hilton business card if I'm not in pop-up jail.
Will request a CLI on Propel in January and on my MCP once it is old enough. Already happy with other limits.
Last but not least, my 120 day late will fall off in June 2022, and I am hoping for a nice jump. My credit mistakes hit their peak in 2015 but I haven't made any since 2016, so I'm starting to get close. I would love to see my FICO 8 scores above 800 and 2022 may be the year I get there.
P2 
P2 Future 
Chopping Block 
@SoCalGardener wrote:
@CreditMarathoner wrote:
The only thing I may do, depending on what interest rates do, is refi the house mid-year or so.
Keeping in mind that I know virtually nothing about housing/mortgages/financing issues in today's world, I'm wondering why you'd wait. Aren't interest rates already really low? Like at their lowest in....forever? When I see ads for refinancing at 1.XX%, I just think, shoot, makes me wish I had a mortgage to refinance! Back in 1989 when I got my one and only mortgage, a 1-something interest rate was UNHEARD OF.
Where did you see that? I can't find anything anymore that isn't well above our 2.5% for a 30-year mortgage. Maybe was a 15 or 10-year mortgage rate you saw. Or a VA mortgage.
Early in 2022 I plan to get the DCU Platinum Visa because I'm pre-approved for $10k, AmEx Green for rewards on transit and travel, and then Synchrony Care Credit and Lowe's Advantage for the 0% interest offers.
After that I'll be sitting tight -- no more card apps until I refinance my mortgage in late 2023.
I also plan to close my two Credit One cards, my two Capital One credit cards, and my Kohl's retail card. I'm hoping for some large CLIs once my major baddies fall off in early 2022 to make up for the account closures.
My 2022 strategy is >~5% cashback in ALL categories (migrated to cashback, due to uncertainty due to Covid):
- Online shopping: BOA CCR (3%*1.75=5.25%, 2.5k/quarter), Amazon (Chase, 5%), Walmart (Cap1, 5%).
- In-store (Samsung pay): USBank co-branded cards like Ralph (5%, each card~3k/year).
- Bill/utility: PCMCU (5%, 1k/month), PP (5%, coverage by CFF/Discover, each card~1.5k/quarter), Cash+ (5%, utility).
I get rid of Amex cards with AF (downgrade BCP to BCE --> SD). I keep CSP (AF coverage by Gopuff). I may downgrade USBank Connect or close.
The quarterly 5% cards will be used occationally (Discover, CFF, Cash+).
To achieve this plan, I will shop a few cards at the end of the year: PCMCU, USBank Ralph/Kroger, Citi CC (0.5k/month).
Fico8: EX~EQ~TU~840 (12 month goal~850).
For 2022 I need to just garden my days away.
New this year (in order from oldest to newest) we have;
Synchrony Car Care 4,500 29.99% (0%)
Capital One Quicksilver 10,000 25.49% (0% until Dec. 2022) no FTF
Citi Custom Cash 4,500 19.99% (0% until Feb. 19 2023) w/ FTF
FNBO Evergreen 10,000 18.99% (0% until Nov. 2022) w/ FTF
TCL on these new cards for the year is $29,000
Other non CC approvals were car loan and mortgage.
I did not app for a card in 2020 but I did take out a car loan in June 2020 that was paid for earlier this year.
Credit cards that are at least 2 years old right now;
VentureOne 7,150 18.99% no FTF (oldest card, PC'd from Plat.)
Citi Double Cash 9,500 22.99% w/ FTF
Synchrony Newegg 10,000 29.99% (0%)
Chase Amazon Rewards Visa 5,000 19.24% no FTF
No cards have an Annual Fee.
Total TCL on these cards is $31,650 for a total TCL of $60,650 on annual income of $65,000.
Goals for 2022 are to garden and grow my TCL as high as possible using softpulls only. I feel like I have a good mix of cards and firmly on team cashback. The one outlier is the Venture card...Why I PC'd to that instead of the QS I don't know. I should have PC'd to QS and cold apped for the Savor instead. Oh well. I added my sister as an AU to the account and locked both cards (I hold both) and will keep it around as a backup as long as C1 wants to let me have it. Currently I plan to let C1 close it due to inactivity on their own terms.
Long term goal is the AOD 3% CB card if it's still around then.
Credit scores are in the mid to high 700's across the board, hopefully gardening this year will recover them and then some all things considered. I'd like to see 800 or higher by the end of 2022, fingers crossed.
8/22/24
3/09/25
what are your credit goals for 2022?
Once our home equity loan closes, I plan on closing several cards:
Amazon Prime Store Card
PayPal 2% Cashback Card
Sam's Club Store Card
The Amazon Prime card is redundant since I'm an AU on the DHs' Chase Amazon Prime Visa card. The PayPal 2% Cashback Card was mainly useful when it had no FTF. I have the Citi Double Cash Card that replaces it for the 2% if I need it and the Capital One Quicksilver for no FTF. The Sam's Club Store Card is essentially useless since it offers me nothing for using it. Yes, I could, maybe one day get a MasterCard upgrade but I'm not willing to wait. It's no coincidence they'll all Synchrony cards either. I've decided to limit my footprint with them.
The DH is going to add me as an AU to his Discover card. I've basically been paying the bill for years anyway so I might as well have it showing on my credit report, even if it's not really mine per se. It's got a $22K limit and I think it's 22 years old? Or 12? One of those. 🤷
I was waiting for Socks Bank but I haven't really decided if anything else will be picked up next year or not. Once my baddies fall off towards the end of next year I'll probably reevaluate what I want to do. I expect a score jump and a more favorable look to creditors. Until then I'm chilling in The Garden. 😀
My 2022 goals: (like to have in place before 2022)
Pay down current balances to utilize AZEO (looking to app now for Discover to help with this)
App for FNBO %2 to use for everyday rewards (
App for FNBO %2 business card
Citizens business card since it's just a SP on personal
%99 sure I'm going to app for Discover to use their BT promo to help pay down some balances. I have the prequal already.
What I'm curious about is if it would be better to app for Disco now and then wait until after I do my BT to app for the other 3 cards I'm after or should I just do a mini spree and app for them all now? Current info in my sig. No inquiries for over 2 years, no baddies. Just have higher utilization right now.
