excessive AMEX soft pulls

[Anonymous]

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@HeavenOhio wrote:

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@Anonymous wrote:
What are the different reasons shown on your EQ and TU reports? Just curious what they might say.

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Equifax: Soft Inquiry, Account Review Inquiry, Promotional Inquiry

TransUnion: Promotional Inquiries, Account Review Inquiries

My Credit Karma TU inquiries are categorized as account review inquiries and also state "Permissible Purpose: CONSUMER REQUEST."

Re trying to get some cards to report zero, I physically sock drawer the cards so I don't have them with me. I keep my higher limit cards with me, though, just in case I need a fallback.

One thing I do is make a payment when I hit 25% of a card's limit. Or I'll decide to pay because I've hit a certain dollar amount. Sometimes, I pay to zero. Other times, I'll throw on an "even" amount, e.g. $1,500. That tack works especially well when I want to let a positive balance report on a card because all I need to do ensure that the balance is below a certain amount. At that point, I can continue to charge as long as a transaction isn't abnormally large.

In your case, your scores are at a spot where optimizing is "borderline optional." I'd definitely fully optimize when applying for a loan. For normal usage, I'd try to improve the current situation a bit without necessarily optimizing to the fullest extent. But I'd try it out just for practice just so you know the drill when you need to implement it.

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I wish EX categorized the reason for the soft pulls since there are a lot from many places. I researched most and they seem to be for marketing purposes.

I also pay throughout the month but was a bit lazy with it last month, which dropped my scores about 15 points to where they are now. I will once again implement that strategy, especially before I appley for CSP in hopes of a decent SL.

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

If I didn't have her as AU's on the cards she would use our debit card for everything. I am fairly new to the points/cash back game but when we both use them we get back a pretty nice amount of UR's and CB. I have a lot of family in Germany and a flight out of BTV to FRA is usually about $1,300 RT per person in the off season. With a bit of flexibility I can do the same with 60k United miles. I would never accumulate enough points without her cooperation so I must tread lightly to keep it.

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Very well! i was just curious.

My wife and i do the same, when we apply for new cards, we help each other to meet the spending...because we don't have much bills and what we have is not much, we live below our means.  When not meeting spending on a card, she loves paying with her Hilton AMEX to collect points and i usually responsible for collecting miles/cash back.  I'm currently working on meeting spending on AMEX Delta Platinum ($3k), AMEX ED ($1k) & US Bank ($500).  That amount ($4500) is the most i can handle in a period of 3 months without any manufacturing spending, all on bills only, period.

To your post, the SPs i had on my reports most likely resulted in AMEX sending me the offer for the Delta Platinum that i'm working on now.  So whenever you get an offer by email or mail etc, it is because most likely the bank ran SPs on your report to see how you're behaving with you credti.

[A1Credit]

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@Anonymous wrote:

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@A1Credit wrote:

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@Anonymous wrote:

All my due dates on all my cards are for the 28th, this helps me to pay them all to $0 when statement closes on the 3rd.

My wife does not use my cards unless she's helping me meet a spending.

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So what do you use in the mean time?  Debit, cash?

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I don't use either. 

My last bill comes out of my credit card on the 20th.  From the 20th until due date/closing stements, the payment clears witih plenty of time to report $0

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Food, misc. expenses needed before the statement cuts?

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

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@Anonymous wrote:

If I didn't have her as AU's on the cards she would use our debit card for everything. I am fairly new to the points/cash back game but when we both use them we get back a pretty nice amount of UR's and CB. I have a lot of family in Germany and a flight out of BTV to FRA is usually about $1,300 RT per person in the off season. With a bit of flexibility I can do the same with 60k United miles. I would never accumulate enough points without her cooperation so I must tread lightly to keep it.

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Very well! i was just curious.

My wife and i do the same, when we apply for new cards, we help each other to meet the spending...because we don't have much bills and what we have is not much, we live below our means.  When not meeting spending on a card, she loves paying with her Hilton AMEX to collect points and i usually responsible for collecting miles/cash back.  I'm currently working on meeting spending on AMEX Delta Platinum ($3k), AMEX ED ($1k) & US Bank ($500).  That amount ($4500) is the most i can handle in a period of 3 months without any manufacturing spending, all on bills only, period.

To your post, the SPs i had on my reports most likely resulted in AMEX sending me the offer for the Delta Platinum that i'm working on now.  So whenever you get an offer by email or mail etc, it is because most likely the bank ran SPs on your report to see how you're behaving with you credti.

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We also live within our means just not WELL within them. We are both in our early 30's and have a new mortgage (housing prices are insane in VT compared to income, not to mention property taxes), a new child and we do enjoy some frivolous spending from time to time. 

I also use our few credit cards to earn the most cash back and points on all purchases and bills. It would be much easier to plan payment if we only payed our recurring bills with them, not to mention we both buy at least something with our cards everyday like gas and coffee.  I might lay off of the militant way I use my cards once the rush wears off, I'm still new to this game.

Thanks for your help!

[Anonymous]

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@A1Credit wrote:

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@Anonymous wrote:

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@A1Credit wrote:

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@Anonymous wrote:

All my due dates on all my cards are for the 28th, this helps me to pay them all to $0 when statement closes on the 3rd.

My wife does not use my cards unless she's helping me meet a spending.

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So what do you use in the mean time?  Debit, cash?

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I don't use either. 

My last bill comes out of my credit card on the 20th.  From the 20th until due date/closing stements, the payment clears witih plenty of time to report $0

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Food, misc. expenses needed before the statement cuts?

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This is Exactly my problem, always seems to be something that needs buying...

[HeavenOhio]

I'll sacrifice a bit on rewards to control statement balances. For instance if my Chase Amazon is "resting," I'll take a 1.5% Quicksilver reward for a restaurant meal rather than the 2% reward I get from Chase. There's no way that I'll give up a 5% Amzaon reward, though. I usually pad my Amazon account with gift points to cover possible purchases at the end of the statement period. If the gift points don't cover me, I'll likely delay the purchase.

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

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@A1Credit wrote:

Why don't you change your due date on a couple of cards so that you can pay the some down to zero and stop putting charges on them while using the other cards until their due date?  I use my cards for all of my spending as well but it's hard when all of my cards have the same due date because then I have to stop using them for a period of time to ensure that there are no pending payments and all the statements cut at $0 except for the one I choose to show a balance on.

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I could give that a try. My due dates are spread throughout the month so that shouldn't be too hard. 

The only potential problem I see would be telling DW to stop using this card on this day and that card on that day. It was already difficult to get her to use different cards at certain places for max rewards. It was and still is kind of a touchy subject, but I'll bring it in passing. Maybe i'll just take the cards out of her wallet and then sneak them back in 

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Dude, we have the same wife!

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

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@A1Credit wrote:

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@Anonymous wrote:

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@A1Credit wrote:

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@Anonymous wrote:

All my due dates on all my cards are for the 28th, this helps me to pay them all to $0 when statement closes on the 3rd.

My wife does not use my cards unless she's helping me meet a spending.

---

So what do you use in the mean time?  Debit, cash?

---

I don't use either. 

My last bill comes out of my credit card on the 20th.  From the 20th until due date/closing stements, the payment clears witih plenty of time to report $0

---

Food, misc. expenses needed before the statement cuts?

---

This is Exactly my problem, always seems to be something that needs buying...

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The only month i have to worry about the statement cutting on time with $0 is in February as there are only 28 days on that month.  Even if i buy something on the 28th, it will take a day or two to clear and that doesnt get reported on the statement.