@Anonymous wrote:
First, congratulations on your progress. They are great people on these forums and I think you will gain a lot
and see your scores improve over time. You will. If you open too many accounts in a short period of time,
it will negatively effect your credit in a few ways; hard pulls = lower scores, and possible declines as a result
of too many inquiries. ("why is this person desperate for so much credit..?") . Inquiries (hard pulls) stay on your
file for 2 years. And when you go for a big lending item (car, house etc), it will be weird to have someone looking
at your file, counting all of those credit card inquiries.. I know..."for some reason.."" lol
HPs are the least of issues when it comes to scoring. True, excessive HP can cause denials, but in reality, most damage comes from excessive number of new accounts.
Alright, let's get on with it!
Capital One started me with $500. My limit with them now, is $4000. It is the oldest card on my file.
I note this because the length of your credit history makes up 15% of your credit score.
Ask yourself, 10 years from now, if one of these cards has the highest CL and the longest history, what would Nothing, unless it affects utilization. Closed account stays up to 10 years on CR and contributes to aging. OP's cards are almost identical in age and when they become dead ends, they can be safely closed.
happen to your score if you got rid of the card? (utilization is 30% of your score, history is 15%..) I think you know where
I'm going here. There may be a legitimate reason to remove the card/s, but make sure it is strategical. (some mortgage lenders
requests borrowers to close certain accounts as a condition, I get it..) . The argument to get rid of Indigo at some point might
be compelling since they do not offer a CLI. CLI is completely irrelevant when it comes down to paying AFs, monthly fees, fees to get CLI. A card that costs you money is not a keeper card. It's okay to start with, but should be gone when better opportunities present itself. Indigo is actually great compared to First Premier and even QS1 due to AF and being notoriously difficult to PC.
Did you know that nearly 2/3rds of your FICO score comes from 2 metrics? (payment history and utilization; 35%, 30%)?
Your utilization on those cards are at 15%? I believe, but getting them under 10%, should help a little. Also, remember, one late Nope, for maximum scoring benefit, individual and aggregate utilization should fall below 9%. At 10% there is already a scoring penalty, albeit a small one. It gets rougher when aggregate exceeds 9%, and starts getting really bad once 29% is exceeded
payment on one of those cards, could crush your score.
Looking at your card lineup, it would appear to me that the cards referenced as "garbage" are not garbage but
extremley powerful tradelines that, if not managed carefully, could ruin a person
Any card with missed payment will do that. Late payments - 35% of your FICO will remain
on your credit file for 7 years, if I am correct. An act of Congress cannot get them remove. Yes, a garbage card can destroy you.
While lates can be difficult to remove, there are hundreds of examples of GW removal. I would not count at that as a way to remedy a late payment, but accurate info given to OP is also important. Also, lates are not specific to card type. Garbage or not, FICO does not care which card has a late. The end result is same. Anyway, autopay is a very effective in managing multiple cards.
Lastly, 10% of your FICO score is made up the mixture of our credit (Credit mix). All of your credit, based I what I see is credit cards.
I am not suggesting you go out and get an installment loan, but this is a tradeline (auto loan, mortgage, personal loan, etc) that qualifies to
help with that mix.
OP is enrolled in Fingerhut Fresh Start. It will report as installment till paid off. It's in the posts above. No need for them to run out and get another one. Remember, the hard pull will pull your score down a few points if you go for an auto loan or any other installment
loan. (consider the pros and cons of the Self Lender)
It's not just HP that will lower scores, it's fully utilized loan and damage to AAoA that will cause score drop at first. Those points are recovered as payments are made but again, OP already has a loan (unintentional, but same effect)
I think you will be fine as long as you are careful not to run up your utilization and no lates. Push for CLIs with Capital One; Fingerhut will auto CLI for you over time.
Best of luck!
