First Post: My New Journey

Anonymous · ‎12-11-2015

Three months ago while applying for the USAF I was made aware to the fact that there were a handful of medical collections accounts and numerous derogs on my credit reports. My CK Fako (TU) was 448 and I did not qualify for a single card out there except for a capital one platinum secured.

Fast forward just three months...after dozens of hours researching and educating myself on the credit system thanks to the over abundance of knowledge located on these forums, I finally removed all derogs from my report and my credit profile currently looks like this.

Walmart (TU) Score - 668

Amazon Visa Chase - 1,000

Walmart Store Card - 5,000

Express Store Card - 750

Amazon Prime Store Card - 3500

Citi Double Cash - 800

Capital one Platinum - 500

Capital one Platinum - 200

Paypal Smart Connect - 800

Three months. I went from zero to where I am now. Not bad if I say so myself. Hard work does pay off. As it stands I have about 10 inquiries on all reports, so needless to say my spree is done and it is time to garden.

Suggestion, thoughts, concerns, ideas?

Anonymous · ‎12-11-2015

@Anonymous wrote:
Three months ago while applying for the USAF I was made aware to the fact that there were a handful of medical collections accounts and numerous derogs on my credit reports. My CK Fako (TU) was 448 and I did not qualify for a single card out there except for a capital one platinum secured.

Fast forward just three months...after dozens of hours researching and educating myself on the credit system thanks to the over abundance of knowledge located on these forums, I finally removed all derogs from my report and my credit profile currently looks like this.

Walmart (TU) Score - 668

Amazon Visa Chase - 1,000
Walmart Store Card - 5,000
Express Store Card - 750
Amazon Prime Store Card - 3500
Citi Double Cash - 800
Capital one Platinum - 500
Capital one Platinum - 200
Paypal Smart Connect - 800

Three months. I went from zero to where I am now. Not bad if I say so myself. Hard work does pay off. As it stands I have about 10 inquiries on all reports, so needless to say my spree is done and it is time to garden.

Suggestion, thoughts, concerns, ideas?

Welcome to the forums.

Very nice job on rehabiltating your credit. You already made the right decision in taking time off from applying for new accounts. Use your existing accounts, keep the balances down and in 6 months or so you'll see those limits grow and be in a position to apply for just about any card you want. Good luck in your continued progress.

Anonymous · ‎12-11-2015

Thank you for your reply, friend. My mindset going into this was to try and get established with as many big banks as possible early on. I have no need for any other cards at this point and my goal as of right now is to be in a position to apply for an AMEX EDC and a chase sapphire preferred. So I will take your advice and revisit my prequals in June. My utilization is at 1% with two cards reporting and will remain that way for the next 6 months =]

I Look forward to my update this summer. I'll keep you guys posted. I'm literally the result of YOUR knowledge. ^_^ Consider me example A if you will.

Anonymous · ‎12-11-2015

@Anonymous wrote:
Thank you for your reply, friend. My mindset going into this was to try and get established with as many big banks as possible early on. I have no need for any other cards at this point and my goal as of right now is to be in a position to apply for an AMEX EDC and a chase sapphire preferred. So I will take your advice and revisit my prequals in June. My utilization is at 1% with two cards reporting and will remain that way for the next 6 months =]

I Look forward to my update this summer. I'll keep you guys posted. I'm literally the result of YOUR knowledge. ^_^ Consider me example A if you will.

Those are two very good cards to aim for. In your credit journey I'd also encourage you join a credit union and consider one of their credit cards. It's a great way to diversify your credit file and open yourself up to other credit products besides cards. There are a lot of very good and large CUs that are available to join. I'm not sure from your first post if you eventually joined the USAF but if you did then you should take advantage of resources like NFCU.

I'm happy that the site has been helpful to you and dont hesitate to visit the other forums and ask questions.

Anonymous · ‎12-11-2015

I am currently in the process of comissioning as an officer so yes, my end game is still the same. I will take your advice. I have already taken the liberty of joining Pentagon Federal Credit Union and I have been a member of Vystar Credit Union for six year. I will apply for the vystar card this summer to broaden my horizons, per your suggestion.

Anonymous · ‎12-11-2015

@Anonymous wrote:
I am currently in the process of comissioning as an officer so yes, my end game is still the same. I will take your advice. I have already taken the liberty of joining Pentagon Federal Credit Union and I have been a member of Vystar Credit Union for six year. I will apply for the vystar card this summer to broaden my horizons, per your suggestion.

Well done. PFCU is a very good one and I'm a member there as well. Thank you for your service and good luck with your new career.

Anonymous · ‎12-11-2015

Before I go to bed I'd like to ask one question.

Since all of these accounts were opened in the last month, is there any current risk of any of these lenders closing my account with them? I've seen horror stories of too many apps in a short time span and having the rug pulled out from underneath them. Any thoughts, questions, concerns? This has been a very real concern of mine.

Anonymous · ‎12-11-2015

@Anonymous wrote:
Before I go to bed I'd like to ask one question.

Since all of these accounts were opened in the last month, is there any current risk of any of these lenders closing my account with them? I've seen horror stories of too many apps in a short time span and having the rug pulled out from underneath them. Any thoughts, questions, concerns? This has been a very real concern of mine.

Well there always is a possibility of some type of adverse action when you open up a lot of new accounts in a short period of time there are things yu can do to minimize those chances. Keep your balances low and make more than monthly limits. You've already decided to garden and that's the first step to prevent anything from happening. Use your accounts wisely and in my opinion its unlikely anything will hapen to your accounts. What's done is done and all you can do is move forward intelligently (and you are) and try not to worry too much.