Help planning where to go from here...

[Anonymous]

Hello everyone! I’m a long time lurker here, but this is my first post. I need some general “where do I go from here” advice.

I’m very new to credit. My current accounts are:

-Discover IT Secured, $500 limit, opened 4/28/20 (gets a lot of spend/payments)
-Capital One $99 partially secured, $200 limit, opened 4/28/20 (gets my recurring Itunes, subscriptions, etc)
-NFCU Secured, $200 limit, opened 6/6/20 (brand new… made one $30 charge and already paid it off)
-SELF secured loan, $520 for 24 months, opened 4/29/20

All accounts are PIF/on time, and I have no negatives on my reports. I have no FICO scores because I don’t have any accounts that are over 6 months old, and my vantage scores are 615-635.

I’m a member of NFCU (obviously lol) and DCU. I also have accounts with two local banks.

My credit-related goals are:

-I would like to finance a vehicle with a decent interest rate, and will probably have to do so before the end of the year.

-I would also like to continue to grow my available credit as much as possible, particularly with NFCU and Discover. The Cap One I plan to keep until something better comes along and then close it. My goal cards aren't particularly defined, however I would like something from Chase and Amex at some point.

-In terms of the long game, I also would like to prepare myself for a mortgage application in 3ish years.

Other data is that I'm 30, I make $70k a year without overtime, am in a very secure part of the medical field, and I live in a fairly high cost of living area.

So, the question is, where do I go from here? I know some gardening is in order at this point, but I’d like a little help from the experts to formulate a longer term plan.

Also, thank you guys so much! If it weren't for these forums I would have been totally lost about where to start.

(and please move this post if it actually belongs somewhere else, I couldn't decide where it fit best!)

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

Hello everyone! I’m a long time lurker here, but this is my first post. I need some general “where do I go from here” advice.

I’m very new to credit. My current accounts are:

-Discover IT Secured, $500 limit, opened 4/28/20 (gets a lot of spend/payments)
-Capital One $99 partially secured, $200 limit, opened 4/28/20 (gets my recurring Itunes, subscriptions, etc)
-NFCU Secured, $200 limit, opened 6/6/20 (brand new… made one $30 charge and already paid it off)
-SELF secured loan, $520 for 24 months, opened 4/29/20

All accounts are PIF/on time, and I have no negatives on my reports. I have no FICO scores because I don’t have any accounts that are over 6 months old, and my vantage scores are 615-635.

I’m a member of NFCU (obviously lol) and DCU. I also have accounts with two local banks.

My credit-related goals are:

-I would like to finance a vehicle with a decent interest rate, and will probably have to do so before the end of the year.

-I would also like to continue to grow my available credit as much as possible, particularly with NFCU and Discover. The Cap One I plan to keep until something better comes along and then close it. My goal cards aren't particularly defined, however I would like something from Chase and Amex at some point.

-In terms of the long game, I also would like to prepare myself for a mortgage application in 3ish years.

Other data is that I'm 30, I make $70k a year without overtime, am in a very secure part of the medical field, and I live in a fairly high cost of living area.

So, the question is, where do I go from here? I know some gardening is in order at this point, but I’d like a little help from the experts to formulate a longer term plan.

Also, thank you guys so much! If it weren't for these forums I would have been totally lost about where to start.

(and please move this post if it actually belongs somewhere else, I couldn't decide where it fit best!)

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@Anonymous Welcome to the MyFICO Forums.

You appear to have a very solid plan in place and since you don't have any derogatories you can afford to be very selective going forward.

I'm just curious why you don't have a credit history. 

[Anonymous]

I have no credit because I got married the day I turned 18, and recently got divorced. The particulars of that relationship are not fit for PG-rated forums, however the nice version is that I just was not allowed to have anything in my own name. 

So, now I'm single for the first time in my adult life, have no credit history and am starting from scratch with the obligations of caring for two children with no help from their dad. So I also have rent (in an apartment that my dad cosigned on for me), utilities, cell phone, etc. bills to pay besides any future credit obligations. I didn't realize how big of an issue not having any credit was going to be until about a year ago when my ex and I separated. Had I known, I would have tried to open a few secret accounts while we were still together, but I didn't relaize so much depends on your credit. I should have done that when I realized things were going to have to end which was more than 5 years ago, but like I said, I didn't think it mattered that much.

[Mr_Mojo_Risin]

Welcome Desert Yoga!

You have enough cards to work with for now. I wouldn't open up any more cards for about a year especially if you plan on applying for an auto loan by the end of the year.

[Anonymous]

@Anonymous I'm sorry to hear of the circumstances that have led you to this point; the good thing is that it can only get better from here.  You definitely have a good base of revolving credit accounts and lenders from which to grow, all you need is time to build a payment history and for FICO scores to become available (in November hopefully).

[KLEXH25]

I think you're off to a good start. Just garden and use your cards like debit cards. The more use, the better to grow. Your best bet for an auto loan down the road is NFCU or DCU (or maybe even CapitalOne Auto Navigator). You'll have to wait for your scores to generate by the end of October, but even then, it might be tough this early on without a co-signer so keep that in mind. If you manage to get the auto loan through one of the CUs, ask to apply for a CC using the same pull (I did that with DCU and got a $5k card!). After that, you'll want to garden for a while (like a year). Let the inquiries and accounts age and your scores grow. Then just space out your applications, until you're happy with your portfolio. 

As for starting late, you'd be surprised how many people are (or were) in the same boat (ahem 🙋🏻‍♀️). But it's never too late! Good luck!