Like the OP, I came here a couple of years ago. I was going through the end of my BK13 payment plan and wanted to start building my scores back up. I had zero open accounts outside of my student loans and at the time I did not want any cards. I learned I needed them and since then I opened 4 CC accounts, since closed one and just focused on growing the other 3. I went through a time when I was tempted to apply for just about any card someone was talking about but was able to constrain my impulses, even though some were just because of denials.
I'm now to the point where I think of credit just as tool and my main focus is building real money in the bank. My goal now is to get all my scores over 800, so that helps me as one of the things I need to do that is to get my youngest over a year. Setting realistic goals that get you closer to financial independence is the key, at least for me, to control those impulses to apply for a new card. Of course, increased limits on current cards are not part of that and I do take the CLI's( and even ask for them) just for the utilization buffer in case I do need to make a larger purchase one month.
Am I addicted to my credit score?
You betcha! Absolutely!
With that said, I found myFICO when I was starting out for the third time to rebuild my credit. I had just graduated from nursing school and just got my first nursing position which paid well. I wanted to start out right and not make a mess of my credit as I had before. I learned that credit building is a marathon and not a sprint, that slow and steady wins the race.
After getting my first unsecured credit card with a $300 SL, I was denied for several others. I found the strategies, here on myFICO, to use to build my credit file and become financially secure.
One of the most important principles I learned is to build an emergency cash fund and not depend on credit for an emergency. I feel, for my self, that if I were to use credit to handle financial emergencies that I would find myself back into credit problems.
Anytime I got a cash windfall or disposable income beyond what I budgeted for, I would put it into savings. I now have enough savings that I can weather not being able to work or losing my job for six months without having to stress over finances.
I knew I had arrived, credit-wise, when I was able to go into the car dealership back in July 2018 knowing my FICO scores were 710-720 and that I could lease a vehicle without worrying about my credit score.
So am I addicted to credit? NO! I am addicted to keeping my credit healthy so it can work for me when I want it to!
