I opened 2 secured cards in March 2015 to help with my rebuilding.
OpenSky 750 CL
SDFCU 1250 CL
Fico 08 scores are now between 684-706.
I have one derog left, reporting on EQ only and due to come off in March.
I'm an AU on 2 Cap1 cards with $1500 CL's that always report a zero balance and were opened in 2004.
I have an Eddie Bauer card that always reports zero that I opened in 2005.
My current bank cards are:
Cap1 QS1 - $3000 CL
1st Premier - $1000 CL
Merrick - $1500 CL
1st National CC - $600 CL
Milestone - $300 CL
Store cards:
Walmart - $2000 CL
Amazon - $2300 CL
Lowes - $2000 CL
Firestone - $1000 CL
Eddie Bauer - $850 CL
AU cards: these cards get very limited use and always PIF before statement cuts
Cap1 - $1500 CL
Cap1 - $1500 CL
Sync BP - $2000 CL
Sync Steinmart - $3500 CL
Closing the secureds won't hurt my AAoA or utilization and I can think of better ways to use that $2000 other than letting it sit there earning no interest.
What do y'all think?
PS: I was thinking about closing the 2 turds also.
I would close without hesitation. I closed my CapOne Sec. Card recently, myself. You can see in my sig/macros my newest cards, and acquiring those prompted me to go ahead and close out the cap one. Getting half of my mortgage payment back in the mail was a sight to behold. Too bad it's gone lol.
CreditXpert Scores: EX [672] | EQ [681] | TU [677] | American Express FICO 8: EX [698]
Let's see...
Close OpenSky
Close First Premier.... (I consider FP the cheap corner street walker of subprime credit cards....)
Close Milestone (subprime)
Close First National (if theres any fee) (subprime card)
Close Merrick (if there is a fee) (Consider Merrick a *better* rebuilder than others but still in the subprime zone, hence why its further down the list)
Check for prequalify once your baddie falls off... or dont wait...
How long have you had your Personal COne card? (not AU) (f im reading it right, your AU on 2 1500$ CL cards and have your own 3000$ CL card, if not.. id check for a preapproval)
Could see if theres an offer in your account... or check prequal for another card...
Reason i didnt say close SDFCU is albeit for a secured card, it has your deposit. it has a relatively low APR if you ever NEED it ...
I dont see any cards comparable yet in your lineup for that level of low APR...
Just rip off the bandaid now... and when your final baddie comes off youll be in a place to work on cards you have that are better or apply for prime cards...
And hope you plan on pruning the store cards as well..
Thanks for the replies. FP will be the first to go. It was nice of them to remind me that the $79 AF comes up on the next statement.
@joltdude wrote:Let's see...
Close OpenSky
Close First Premier.... (I consider FP the cheap corner street walker of subprime credit cards....)
Close Milestone (subprime)
Close First National (if theres any fee) (subprime card)
Close Merrick (Ditto) (subprime)
Check for prequalify once your baddie falls off... or dont wait...
How long have you had your Personal COne card? (not AU) (f im reading it right, your AU on 2 1500$ CL cards and have your own 3000$ CL card, if not.. id check for a preapproval)
Could see if theres an offer in your account... or check prequal for another card...
Reason i didnt say close SDFCU is albeit for a secured card, it has your deposit. it has a relatively low APR if you ever NEED it ...
I dont see any cards comparable yet in your lineup for that level of low APR...
Just rip off the bandaid now... and when your final baddie comes off youll be in a place to work on cards you have that are better or apply for prime cards...
And hope you plan on pruning the store cards as well..
I chatted with Cap1 CSR last night. No offers in my account. I'll have to unfreeze EQ and EX to see if I pre-qualify for anything.
Re: SDFCU, you might be able to reduce the line on it if you don't want to tie up $1250 for the deposit.
That's what I did with my DCU secured card at any rate, $2500->$500 and since it's really unlikely I'm going to need the $500 (and it's there if I ever do it need it in the future) I expect to simply leave it open for as long as they'll let me keep it. If we get another financial collapse in my lifetime my thinking is any or all of my other cards might get cancelled, but this secured one would be seriously unlikely to be closed (fractional reserve banking and all that).
I may be a little overzealous in this to the point of paranoia, but I want a card I should be able to keep forever to anchor that darned age of oldest tradeline part of the calculation even if the rest of my report gets obliterated. Not all future models may be as friendly as FICO 8 and seemingly FICO 9 is to less aged files.
@Revelate wrote:Re: SDFCU, you might be able to reduce the line on it if you don't want to tie up $1250 for the deposit.
That's what I did with my DCU secured card at any rate, $2500->$500 and since it's really unlikely I'm going to need the $500 (and it's there if I ever do it need it in the future) I expect to simply leave it open for as long as they'll let me keep it. If we get another financial collapse in my lifetime my thinking is any or all of my other cards might get cancelled, but this secured one would be seriously unlikely to be closed (fractional reserve banking and all that).
I may be a little overzealous in this to the point of paranoia, but I want a card I should be able to keep forever to anchor that darned age of oldest tradeline part of the calculation even if the rest of my report gets obliterated. Not all future models may be as friendly as FICO 8 and seemingly FICO 9 is to less aged files.
I actually like the stats for the SDFCU secured card.. Do i wish it would graduate? Yes...... Its actually a secured card you can reasonably put a balance on if you need to....Kinda think Revelate has a good point/idea... At some point, perhaps id consider applying for one (DCU is relatively local, SDFCU is no HP) for that alone...
-J
I got the useless First National card closed just in time. Annual fee was about to hit in 3 days.
RE: SDFCU - I might just keep it. for the time being. 7.24% is cheap money if I ever need it. I have my utilization close to zero so as soon as it reports I might just app for their unsecured EMV card. If they approve me I might close the secured at that point.