Not sure if this is the right place to post but I've been meaning to make an introductory post for the last month and only gotten around to it today. I've already made a few other posts before this because this took forever to sit down and write.
So I've started pretty late in establishing my own credit history mainly because from January 2008 when it was opened until near the end of 2018 when she passed away when it closed I was an AU on my grandmother's Discover (I'm the one who called the day after and informed them) and used it whenever needed instead of looking too much into establishing my own history which in hindsight was a pretty obvious mistake. I should've worked on it a long time ago instead of waiting until December of last year before finally getting serious about it, I did get a benefit in my TU and EX FICO8 scores being around 700 but I'd still be in a better spot had it been my own accounts, for whatever reason it was never apparently reported to EQ which explains why when I tried a few years back I couldn't get a report from them.
Moving on, I should've checked pre-qualifications but I didn't have any confidence that I'd get approved for anything unsecured and after some reviews I applied for Discover's secured It card due to it offering rewards and my familiarity with them, was approved and only paid the minimum $200 deposit since my goal with the card was to start establishing credit history and hopefully graduating as soon as it's available to. That's probably where I should've stopped with the secured cards instead near the end of December I applied for Capital One's secured Platinum and was approved with the minimum $49 deposit, I chose the card because of what I know now was outdated reviews about it graduating and that after five months it'd get a $300 CLI and could be PC'd. A couple days after I made the deposit I started lurking here and learned that they've discontinued graduating the card, not particularly happy about it and especially not the triple HP, I guess at least I have a foot in the door if I look for another CapOne card later. Speaking of hard pulls, last October I foolishly hit the "Bill Me Later" button on a purchase and applied I didn't really need it for because what I was buying was on was only $80 however I didn't realize it would result in a HP let alone one each for EX and EQ, didn't find that out until a couple months later when requested a copy of my credit reports. Got the Discover in the middle of December, the Capital One card in the second week of January and not long after started getting Credit One pre-approvals in the mail that went right into the shredder.
Back in February my mother offered to make me an AU on her cards, she offered both of her two cards (she has a ton of mostly store card accounts that she'd use once or twice and then forget about and they'd close) I accepted on her Sears MC since she doesn't use it often and hadn't in so long that it went dormant until it a couple days before I was added on a small purchase since it had almost been a year. That added about 12 years to my "history" and $6,000 to my TL. Not using the card more than once every few months to keep it active.
On things I also wish I did a little sooner, joined NFCU on 3/3 through my mother's service (she's not an NFCU member and isn't apparently interested since there's no locations here), opened my savings account and a few days later decided to open a free checking account out of convenience since I'm going to be keeping most of my money with them. Deposited the $3,000 for an SSL which I set up on 3/24 at $3,010 and going by other topics about this and everyone else getting the full 60 I must've gotten an UW who didn't like me because I was only offered 36 months. Begrudgingly accepted it, figuring that I'll need another installment loan by the time it ends in 2023. Still would've preferred the longer term due to my low average age, oh well.
Used a CCT trial today after my TU report updated this morning on WalletHub I think where my scores already are is good example of how easily a thin, clean of baddies report can be potentially inflate FICO scores with the aid of an AU or two. I didn't even realize how quickly it could go up with the AU, my goal was to reach 750 across the board which I expected to take at least the better part of the year and I've already blown past that. TU FICO8 hit 803 last month thanks to an 82(!) point bump that included my being added as an AU and from the update I got today it's now 835 with the SSL at 8%. From December 26th 2019 to April 2nd my EX FICO8 has increased by 103(!) to 807, the bump from last month to today was 51 points. Was really looking forward to seeing my actual (non-VS) EQ score was since it's the one that apparently was blank aside from an inquiry until my Discover account opened and with the SSL and everything but the original AU from my grandmother's Discover it's at 774. I'm also in an accidental AZEO period because the balance I left on my Discover was only $1.59 and Disco just gave a small balance credit and reported at zero, CapOne reported with a $1.95 balance. Of course I know the scores won't mean much with someone actually reviewing it and seeing that without the AU my oldest account is only about four months old.
I wasn't thinking about applying for another card until after my Disco (hopefully) graduated this Summer while I was planning to build a new computer in the Fall and wanted a 12+ months 0% interest with preferably a cash back after spend SUB before I started leaning towards pushing that back a year. With delaying that and joining NFCU a month ago I figured maybe I should go ahead and apply for the CashRewards card now so I can get another card that's closer in age so it can age with the Discover and CapOne cards and maybe aim for the MoreRewards after 3/91 or something. I'm not really interested in the SUBs because I think the spend requirements for such a low amount is ridiculous and there's no way I'm putting that much through in three months. So my goals have changed, first the CashRewards and then the auto CLI after 5 months on the CapOne card, hoping my Disco graduates on time and then after that applying for a second NFCU card, then I'll be looking to chill out on applying until late 2021.
I've been working on this post for way too long so long that I had to go back and update some of it to reflect changes since I started writing it the other day, there's also a new HP on TU I'm not including on the list yet for the NFCU CashRewards app I did this evening, was approved for $1,000 at 14.49% will be making a post out it on the approval forum. Going to lose another year or so on my AAoA. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
EDIT: Removed summary because I've put it in my signature.
It sounds to me like you're laying some very fertile soil for your profile. Keep tending what you have, treat your accounts well, and I bet if you wait until after your CapOne gets its steps CLI and Disco graduates, you'll get a monster SL on your second Navy card. Keep it up - you're doing it right 
Nice write up
Tell your Mom she doesnt need a physical bank to take advantage of something shes earned. No one will treat her better
@AverageJoesCredit wrote:Nice write up
Tell your Mom she doesnt need a physical bank to take advantage of something shes earned. No one will treat her better
I've told her but banking online is still a foreign concept to her and she doesn't like not having a branch to go into, she's stubborn but maybe if everything goes as planned, after my second card she'll start changing her mind. 
Thanks all for the encouragement.