Where to go now with 6 months of credit history?

[Anonymous]

Hello all, I finally have my fico scores, so I will list them below; I hope that you all can give me some suggestions on what to do next.

I do not have my eqiufax fico; score are there any sites that provide it for free?

I have my transunion fico; reported to me by Discover; it is currently 702 I have 8 inquires on my transunion according to credit karma.

I also have my Experian fico; reported by discover score card; it is currently 728, with 0 inquires and 5 open accounts. My overall utilization on Experian according to score card is 2%.

I have 6 months of credit history as mentioned above. What would you guys do next? I do not really need anymore credit cards, however I would like a nice rewards card, with an okay starting limit and no annual fee. ( I find myself putting my spend on my capital one secured card; which is doing nothing for me because it has no rewards.) I put spend on my discover card; but that leaves me paying them off atleast twice a week because of the 200$ limit; I really do not want another secured credit card.

I keep a low reporting balance on almost all of my cards most of the time; the only exception is my VonMaur card, I usually have a balance between 100-125 each month ( This is because I only pay them off once a month.) I dont know that this causes much of a problem because they do not report a credit limit.

My current cards are:

Discover it secured: $200 Owed $0 when statment cut

Fingerhut: $550> owe $26> Owed 14$ last months statment, paid it off and charged the 26$

Cap1 secured: $525 Owed $0 when statement cut

Kohls: $300 owed $4 last months statment> planning to report 0$ this month

VonMaur: Owed 118.50 this statement, however VonMaur is one statement behind on reporting, so this month they should report the $8 balance I owed on the statement before this one.

I hope all of these datapoints have helped you all; I hope that you all can continue to guide me in the right direction.

Thanks in advance

[RonM21]

Really, it seems like you are making all of the right moves. At this point you want to grow what you have. You could get another card, but then again do you truly need it? I assume the 5 cards you have, you got within the last 6 months? That is another reason I'd garden a bit. Just my opinion though.

[Anonymous]

---

@RM21 wrote:
Really, it seems like you are making all of the right moves. At this point you want to grow what you have. You could get another card, but then again do you truly need it? I assume the 5 cards you have, you got within the last 6 months? That is another reason I'd garden a bit. Just my opinion though.

---

Thanks for the advice RM, Yes I got all of them in the last 6 months; between January and February; have not done anything since then. I do not truly need one I was just hoping for a card with rewards, that fit my lifestyle, currently I only have the discover for 1% cashback and 2% cashback on food and gas. I was hoping for department store or grocery rewards, however I can always wait until 1 year to get a rewards card. I dont hav enough experience thats why I come to you all. I will most likely follow ur suggestion and garden. How long would you suggest to garden?

[Grafton88]

---

@Anonymous wrote:

Hello all, I finally have my fico scores, so I will list them below; I hope that you all can give me some suggestions on what to do next.

I do not have my eqiufax fico; score are there any sites that provide it for free?

I have my transunion fico; reported to me by Discover; it is currently 702 I have 8 inquires on my transunion according to credit karma.

I also have my Experian fico; reported by discover score card; it is currently 728, with 0 inquires and 5 open accounts. My overall utilization on Experian according to score card is 2%.

I have 6 months of credit history as mentioned above. What would you guys do next? I do not really need anymore credit cards, however I would like a nice rewards card, with an okay starting limit and no annual fee. ( I find myself putting my spend on my capital one secured card; which is doing nothing for me because it has no rewards.) I put spend on my discover card; but that leaves me paying them off atleast twice a week because of the 200$ limit; I really do not want another secured credit card.

I keep a low reporting balance on almost all of my cards most of the time; the only exception is my VonMaur card, I usually have a balance between 100-125 each month ( This is because I only pay them off once a month.) I dont know that this causes much of a problem because they do not report a credit limit.

My current cards are:

Discover it secured: $200 Owed $0 when statment cut

Fingerhut: $550> owe $26> Owed 14$ last months statment, paid it off and charged the 26$

Cap1 secured: $525 Owed $0 when statement cut

Kohls: $300 owed $4 last months statment> planning to report 0$ this month

VonMaur: Owed 118.50 this statement, however VonMaur is one statement behind on reporting, so this month they should report the $8 balance I owed on the statement before this one.

I hope all of these datapoints have helped you all; I hope that you all can continue to guide me in the right direction.

Thanks in advance

---

It looks like you are doing a great job.  Do your secured cards unsecure after a certain time period?  When credit cards unsecure you can get CLI (credit limit increases) and do PC (product changes) to reward cards.

Do you have any loans?  A loan can be beneficial for a credit mix.  Some of us have gotten secured loans and have paid a majority of the balance off quickly.

What are your goals?  A car.  A home?

[Anonymous]

---

@Grafton88 wrote:

---

@Anonymous wrote:

Hello all, I finally have my fico scores, so I will list them below; I hope that you all can give me some suggestions on what to do next.

I do not have my eqiufax fico; score are there any sites that provide it for free?

I have my transunion fico; reported to me by Discover; it is currently 702 I have 8 inquires on my transunion according to credit karma.

I also have my Experian fico; reported by discover score card; it is currently 728, with 0 inquires and 5 open accounts. My overall utilization on Experian according to score card is 2%.

I have 6 months of credit history as mentioned above. What would you guys do next? I do not really need anymore credit cards, however I would like a nice rewards card, with an okay starting limit and no annual fee. ( I find myself putting my spend on my capital one secured card; which is doing nothing for me because it has no rewards.) I put spend on my discover card; but that leaves me paying them off atleast twice a week because of the 200$ limit; I really do not want another secured credit card.

I keep a low reporting balance on almost all of my cards most of the time; the only exception is my VonMaur card, I usually have a balance between 100-125 each month ( This is because I only pay them off once a month.) I dont know that this causes much of a problem because they do not report a credit limit.

My current cards are:

Discover it secured: $200 Owed $0 when statment cut

Fingerhut: $550> owe $26> Owed 14$ last months statment, paid it off and charged the 26$

Cap1 secured: $525 Owed $0 when statement cut

Kohls: $300 owed $4 last months statment> planning to report 0$ this month

VonMaur: Owed 118.50 this statement, however VonMaur is one statement behind on reporting, so this month they should report the $8 balance I owed on the statement before this one.

I hope all of these datapoints have helped you all; I hope that you all can continue to guide me in the right direction.

Thanks in advance

---

It looks like you are doing a great job.  Do your secured cards unsecure after a certain time period?  When credit cards unsecure you can get CLI (credit limit increases) and do PC (product changes) to reward cards.

Do you have any loans?  A loan can be beneficial for a credit mix.  Some of us have gotten secured loans and have paid a majority of the balance off quickly.

What are your goals?  A car.  A home?

---

I believe the FIngerHut freshstart account, appears on my credit report as a type of loan/installment contract.

My cap1 secured is going to be secured for the rest of its life. and the 300$ increase will most likely be the only increase I ever get on it.

Discover should unsecure in feb, or not I have read that for some it has not unsecured after almost 2 years. Which is sad because I love discover and would be satisfied with them being my only non-store credit card. With the secured card I do not get the revolving 5% sadly.

I do not expect my Kohls to grow as it does not grow for most people with okay credit. Fingerhut is okay but I do not really use the card they are so overpriced; I really just applied because i heard it grows fast; and at the time no one was approving me. VonMaur doesnt report a limit, and by now I imagine I am at the internal limit with them although I somewhat doubt that.

[Grafton88]

Sometimes it is just best to garden.  Build a history with each card.  It looks like Discovery is your favorite.  Treat the card well.  After a year I would call them and ask about unsecuring your card.  Ask about their other products.  Your scores at that time should look great.  Your INQs will have aged so they won't hurt.  I imagine Discovery will be glad to have your business.

[takeshi74]

---

@Anonymous wrote:

I do not have my eqiufax fico; score are there any sites that provide it for free?

I have my transunion fico; reported to me by Discover; it is currently 702 I have 8 inquires on my transunion according to credit karma.

I also have my Experian fico; reported by discover score card; it is currently 728 

---

You need to not only consider the CRA but the specific scoring model.  FICO doesn't have just one model.  If you have a Citi account you can get an EQ FICO but it's a FICO 8 Bankcard which is not the same model as FICO 8.

---

@Anonymous wrote:

I have 6 months of credit history as mentioned above. What would you guys do next?

---

At 6 months you're just starting out and your credit profile isn't going to support much credit seeking activity.  5 new accounts is a lot of new accounts for your credit profile.  Building credit is a long, slow process so be prepared to be in it for the long haul.  What you need to do next is continue to responsibly manage the accounts that you have.  Don't just poll us on what to do.  You have to determine such things based on your needs/wants and an understanding of credit and how it is assessed.  If you're looking for something to do in the meantime then continue to read up and educate yourself.

---

@Anonymous wrote:

I do not really need anymore credit cards, however I would like a nice rewards card, with an okay starting limit and no annual fee.

---

Finding a card for rewards depends on your spend.  Determine where the majority of your spend is going and then find cards that maximize rewards on that spend.

Limit is going to be based on what your credit profile and income quqalify for.  While the critieria can vary from one creditor/product to another impacting limits, you cannot rely solely on the card for the limit.  As I said, at 6 months you're just starting out and you already have 5 new accounts.  These are red flags to creditors and all that will impact the limits that you stand to qualify for.  These sorts of things are what you need to educate yourself about while you're building your credit and before you think about applying for anything else.  The low limits on your unsecured cards are an indicator that those creditors have concerns with your credit profile.  The concerns at this stage are that your profile is very young and you have a lot of new accounts.

Don't just look at annual fee.  Run the numbers for your spend and consider total cost versus benefit.  My biggest rewards come from cards with AF's.  I'm not saying that will nevessarily be the case for you but you need to to do the math and consider overall benefit versus simply avoiding AF's.

Don't overlook existing discussions as resources as well as the various subfora and the stickies in each subforum to educate yourself.

[Anonymous]

---

@Grafton88 wrote:

Sometimes it is just best to garden.  Build a history with each card.  It looks like Discovery is your favorite.  Treat the card well.  After a year I would call them and ask about unsecuring your card.  Ask about their other products.  Your scores at that time should look great.  Your INQs will have aged so they won't hurt.  I imagine Discovery will be glad to have your business.

---

Thanks for the advice Grafton; I will graden as I have been for the last few months, and wait for my Discover to unsecure. I do not have the desire to go with another company. Hopefully once I unsecure I can apply for the IT that has rotating catagories. My It secured is the chrome version.

[Anonymous]

---

@takeshi74 wrote:

---

@Anonymous wrote:

I do not have my eqiufax fico; score are there any sites that provide it for free?

I have my transunion fico; reported to me by Discover; it is currently 702 I have 8 inquires on my transunion according to credit karma.

I also have my Experian fico; reported by discover score card; it is currently 728 

---

You need to not only consider the CRA but the specific scoring model.  FICO doesn't have just one model.  If you have a Citi account you can get an EQ FICO but it's a FICO 8 Bankcard which is not the same model as FICO 8.

---

@Anonymous wrote:

I have 6 months of credit history as mentioned above. What would you guys do next?

---

At 6 months you're just starting out and your credit profile isn't going to support much credit seeking activity.  5 new accounts is a lot of new accounts for your credit profile.  Building credit is a long, slow process so be prepared to be in it for the long haul.  What you need to do next is continue to responsibly manage the accounts that you have.  Don't just poll us on what to do.  You have to determine such things based on your needs/wants and an understanding of credit and how it is assessed.  If you're looking for something to do in the meantime then continue to read up and educate yourself.

---

@Anonymous wrote:

I do not really need anymore credit cards, however I would like a nice rewards card, with an okay starting limit and no annual fee.

---

Finding a card for rewards depends on your spend.  Determine where the majority of your spend is going and then find cards that maximize rewards on that spend.

Limit is going to be based on what your credit profile and income quqalify for.  While the critieria can vary from one creditor/product to another impacting limits, you cannot rely solely on the card for the limit.  As I said, at 6 months you're just starting out and you already have 5 new accounts.  These are red flags to creditors and all that will impact the limits that you stand to qualify for.  These sorts of things are what you need to educate yourself about while you're building your credit and before you think about applying for anything else.  The low limits on your unsecured cards are an indicator that those creditors have concerns with your credit profile.  The concerns at this stage are that your profile is very young and you have a lot of new accounts.

Don't just look at annual fee.  Run the numbers for your spend and consider total cost versus benefit.  My biggest rewards come from cards with AF's.  I'm not saying that will nevessarily be the case for you but you need to to do the math and consider overall benefit versus simply avoiding AF's.

Don't overlook existing discussions as resources as well as the various subfora and the stickies in each subforum to educate yourself.

---

Thank you Take; from now on I will refrain from polling you guys on what to do; while also refraining from asking advice. (You all have a vast amount of knowledge and years of experience that I cannot gleam through hours of research)

I do read the forums religously around here, just to stay abrest of things going on in the credit world. I find myself spending entirely to much time reading about things that do not even concern my credit profile: such as the Synchorny issue, that is becuase I am truly intrigued. 

As for the limits on my 3 unsecured cards: The small limits really dont shock me because I opened them when I did not have any credit history. 

From what I have read VonMaur is vary strict with starting limits even for those with good credit standing.

I have also read that Kohls tends to be strict with credit limits.

As for Fingerhut, I can't complain that $550 is more than I'll need with them. I read on here about what card is best for building and FingerHut has been suggested in a number of forums here and that is where most people started. I think $550 is awesome seeing how they approved me when most companies denied me, granted I also started as a freshstart member. (Yes I understand it was because of a problem with my credit report; that problem being I had NO HISTORY)

Everyone has to start somewhere, U'll be happy to know I found a card all by my big person self to apply for.

[Grafton88]

---

@Anonymous wrote:

---

@Grafton88 wrote:

Sometimes it is just best to garden.  Build a history with each card.  It looks like Discovery is your favorite.  Treat the card well.  After a year I would call them and ask about unsecuring your card.  Ask about their other products.  Your scores at that time should look great.  Your INQs will have aged so they won't hurt.  I imagine Discovery will be glad to have your business.

---

Thanks for the advice Grafton; I will graden as I have been for the last few months, and wait for my Discover to unsecure. I do not have the desire to go with another company. Hopefully once I unsecure I can apply for the IT that has rotating catagories. My It secured is the chrome version.

---

I am with you.  Once I find a good company and establish a financial relationship I like to focus on what I can do to make them happy with my business.  You make them happy and generally they will do the same for you.  I only have a few cards but I am trying to do what I can to foster the relationship.  I want to join the PenFed family soon.

Good luck in the future.