No credit card required
Browse credit cards from a variety of issuers to see if there's a better card for you.
A few years back I orginally recieved a card through Capital One. A business startup I invested in fell through and I ended up in debt. Things were so bad I had to stop taking my college classes. So then the student loan debt kicked in after awhile too.
I finally started pulling everything back together towards the end of last year. I'm in college again to finish my degree. I am in the process of paying off the student loan now. I applied for a NFCU NRewards card November last year and put $500 on it. I also applied for a FingerHut Card last year and I think it came out to $250 and then it increased to $400 a month later. Now it's up to $800.
I started looking into the shopping cart trick. I applied and recieved a Victorias Secret Card $350, Boscovs $500, and Overstock $250 today. After that I found out about the Amazon Builder Card. I put $100 on it because that is all I have to spare at the moment. Everything else is in my savings to help pay off my school loan by June 1st.
Last November I decided to try Capital One again. I knew my previous card with them was written as a charge off on my credit report. I applied last November with them and they wanted more information. So I decided to leave the situation alone. A month after that I was sent a 1099 C and it showed the charge off as being a zero balance. So while I was still high off getting cards through the shopping cart trick. I decided to try Capital One once again. I was shocked to see that I was approved for a $300 credit limit on a Capital One Plantinum card.
So at this point I am just going to sit back and garden. My Credit Sesame score is I think 574. So I plan to maybe order one small thing on each card in July. ( Overstock, Boscovs, and Vicky's Secret. ) Then I will pay them all off over a 2 month period. Just so those cards see some use.
I already ordered something on my fingerhut card. I will finish paying it off in July. I will also have my Navy Federal NRewards card paid off in July. I have only been making the miniumum payments on my FingerHut and NFCU NRewards card. After I pay off my school loan. I will pay them both off in full all at once.
My credit score was literally in the 400's last year. So it being at 575 right now is a lot better. I feel so much better knowing my credit will start going up from this point forward. Maybe next year I will apply for card at PenFed. I have an account with them but I have never really used it. I tossed USAA to the side after going to NFCU.
Hi Decimo - welcome to the forums and congrats on your rebuild progress so far... I agree, it's definately time to garden
One thing I'd like to mention is (and you may know this already but you didn't reference it in your post so...) you shouldn't be monitoring your scores through Credit Sesame (Or Credit Karma, or Wallet Hub, or Capital One, etc.) becuase the scores they provide are not FICO scores, they are of the Vantage 3 model which is completely different. The overwhelming majority of lenders use some version of your FICO scores (classic 8, bankcard, auto, mortgage, or FICO 9) to make credit decisions. Vantage scores are essentially useless and may sometimes differ greatly (higher / lower) in comparison to your FICO scores; they also do not respond to various changes to your credit report in the same fashion as FICO as aspects of credit are weighted differently. If you are serious about rebuild - which I gather you are -- you need to monitor your FICO scores. Below are a few sources to do so:
Monthly Experian FICO 8 score (FREE): https://www.discover.com/free-credit-score/ -- You do not have to be a Discover cardholder, just sign up.
All three FICO 8 scores: $1 / 7-day Trial at creditchecktotal.com -- Just be sure to cancel before the trial ends. You can do this more than once (at least, until they catch on that folks abuse this...).
Experian.com offers a variety of FICO monitoring memberships. They have a free monitoring subscription that offers updates to all three FICO 8 scores monthly. The most expensive is CreditWorks Premium for $24.99 (or $29.99, not sure) / month which gives you daily Experian reports and FICO scores with monthly updated Transunion and Equifax reports and scores. Experian also runs creditchecktotal (mentioned above) so if you do the $1 trial, it will give you access to the Experian mobile app & website which is exactly what you'd get if you went directly through Experian.
myFICO is the most costly because it provides all 28 versions of your FICO scores, not just FICO 8. The other versions include mortgage, auto, bankcard enhanced models, as well as FICO 9.
It's important that you know your FICO scores before applying for new credit. If you intend to app PenFed next year, they will use your Equifax FICO 9.
Enjoy your new credit in the Garden!
Doing well and continuing to garden. My NFCU nRewawrds card unsecured. The limit increased from $500 to $2000. My Capital One card limit should go from $300 to $500 in the next month. According to what it says on their website.
Going to Add my Fico 8 scores to my signature block. I just signed up for the CreditCheckTotal free trail.
It feels good knowing my credit is increasing. Thank You for all of the advice.