My limited understanding is almost exclusively the result of these forums, and I want to understand what I should expect.
With a 652 score, 2 baddies, only one late pm, lots of student loans in deferrment, and no cards at the time, I started applying & got my first bunch of cards. Walmart $400, Amazon $600, Capitol One Journey $300, Cap One secured $200 (can deposit more & increase), Discover It secured $200, and 3 retail cards from the shopping cart trick, $250 each.
So I'm gardening, but wondering about the next steps. I'll put small additional deposits on the Cap One secured ($50 a month) to raise the limit & hope to encourage auto CLIs. And after the 4 months, I'll ask Walmart & Amazon for CLIs.
I'm wondering, since the goal is a small ratio of available credit to actual debt, and AAoA, does it make sense eventually (6 months to a year) to get rid of the 3 little retail cards if I can replace with "real" cards of sizeable limits? I would think that if I am keeping essentially the same limit, getting rid of some newer accounts will increase my AAoA which is now around 15 years. Thoughts?
