@Anonymous wrote:Hello everyone! I'm fairly new here, decided to make an account today to ask you guys some questions I've had...
So as of right now I'm at a 730-740 Credit score and I'm only 18, (I turn 19 in about a week). I haven't been using my parents for credit with them making me an authorized user, in fact their credit is kinda poor because of past events.
So I'm here because I would like to raise my score even higher! And get more benefits out of having a credit card and just to learn the vast knowledge you all retain.
Some of my most burning questions are...
1. I only have 1 credit card currently, it's the Discover it card, so far I've loved it and have had no problems or complaints about this card, my main question is, is should I be looking for another card? I know it's good to have multiple cards because you will have a higher utilization and therefor have higher credit by staying under the 9% while spending a lot (if you do). But as of right now I don't have that many bills, I don't pay everything with my credit card either, so I don't know if it would be wise to get another card as of right now if I don't technically need one.
2. This comes to my second question where I was wondering, If I applied for a card, and even if I got accepted would I still get a hard inquiry? I currently have 3 hard inquires on my account that still have 16-18 months left and do not want another one... So I would need to confirm this before ever getting a 2nd card.
3. My third and final question is, and let me know if this isn't allowed on this forum... I glanced through the rules and didn't find anything against talking about churning? I've done a lot of research into it and I'm very interested. I plan on once I have more bills/move out and am more financially independent to be making all my future cards that I apply for my churning cards... I would lose a little of credit in order to make money and earn points and I would also maybe even get a little credit from having so many accounts open for churning until I close some of them to rinse and repeat. I guess this isn't really a question more than it is a statement that I'd like to get your guys' a opinion on... Thanks.
My current stats as stated above earlier are:
Credit Score: 730-740 (Different apps tell me different scores)
Credit cards: 1 (Discover it)
Credit Limit: $1200
Total Accounts: 2 (Car Loan and Discover Card)
Payment History: 100%
AAOA: Only 7 Months.
Hard Inquiries: 3 (2 from discover, 1 from Amex)
1. If you don't need more than 1 card, you don't need more than 1 card. Period.
2. Yes if you apply for a card you will have a hard inquiry, sometimes even 2 or 3 (Cap One often pulls all 3 bureaus, Chase sometimes pulls 2 bureaus)
3. You should not "churn" cards. If you see a great signup bonus on a rewards card that will be good for you, it's ok to go ahead and get it. But you could damage your credit by churning.
@Anonymous wrote:Hey! Thanks for the reply. I read what you linked and it sounds promising, just a few questions.
You said a lot of people reported that their score went up 28 - 33 points? Would that still apply to me if I'm already fairly high sitting at 730-740?
Also, I don't know what an installment loan is, but I have a car loan currently, would that mess anything up? You said in the thread something about other loans but never really addressed car loans.
Also another question is, is there anyway to get my hard inquires that I have now taken away? Or do I have to wait the full 24 months? And I've heard that it's -5 credit per hard inquiry? Is that true?
One last question is, if I were to churn in say 5 years, when I hope to have more expensives and be independent and all my current inquries will be gone. Do churners just have 5-15 hard inquires at a time??? I know the 5/24 rule and all of that but if you apply and cancel and churn on a bunch of cards you'll still have the inquries for 24 months correct? And most churners churn a lot in 2 years? So I'm little confused on that part? Because wouldn't you be losing a decent amount of credit? I know churners can afford to lose credit and inquires are low impact but still?
Does having multiple accounts (credit thinkness) help your credit loss for all the hard inquires you would get from opening so many credit cards?
If you have a car loan you don't need another installment loan to get the bonus credit mix points, and you won't get any points by adding a loan. To optimize your utilization with the car loan, get the balance down to 9% of the original amount. When you pay it to zero you'll lose points, so at that time you might want to add a share secure loan and pay it down to 9% just before paying off your car loan.
Stop with the churning; I don't know why you think that's a good thing.
@Anonymous wrote:So right now my loan through my credit union for my account is just a regular loan right?
It's an installment loan
What is the differnce witha share secure loan?
No difference. A share secure loan is one type of installment loan... an installment loan secured by a savings account. Many of us, who don't have open installment loans, open one of those so we will have an open installment loan in our "credit mix" without getting ourselves into actual debt.
And how would I go about switching to that once I get to my said 9%?
You don't have to switch when you get to 9%. Just when you're about to pay the car loan down to zero. The way many of us go about it is: Join Alliant Credit Union, take out a $500+ savings account, take out a $500 share secured loan secured by the savings account with a 48 or 60 month term, decline or cancel autopay, transfer $455 from the savings account towards the loan balance bringing the balance down to $45. Pay that off slowly over the balance of the term. Once the $45 balance reports the positive effects will be felt. On the downside, you will be getting a new account, which has a slightly negative effect on your scores.
And I don't know why you think it's a bad thing? If you have everyday expenses why not travel the world for free and pay those said expenses like you would anyways....
I don't care, do whatever you want to do. But (a) it's unrealistic to think you will travel the world for free, etc, unless you're a major business traveler, in which case you don't need to "churn" anything, and (b) if you do go into "churning" don't come crying to us when a bank takes adverse action against you some day.