What's the best rebuilding advice you got

[Remedios]

In a different thread, someone jokingly mentioned "I just gave the worst advice", but that got me thinking about what's the best advice (other than pay on time lol). 

I'm curious about what was said to you that made an impact and why, because more often than not, we only hear what we want to hear

For me, even though I wasn't rebuilding it was "For cards sake, stop applying!!!"

I did, and it got me where I wanted to be, but at the time, it was the last thing I wanted to hear 

[recoveringfrombk7]

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@Remedios wrote:

In a different thread, someone jokingly mentioned "I just gave the worst advice", but that got me thinking about what's the best advice (other than pay on time lol). 

I'm curious about what was said to you that made an impact and why, because more often than not, we only hear what we want to hear

For me, even though I wasn't rebuilding it was "For cards sake, stop applying!!!"

I did, and it got me where I wanted to be, but at the time, it was the last thing I wanted to hear 

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Same.  It's a long haul and a few good starters and some patience early on would have been really helpful.  I now have 4 cards, down from 8 because I just was in a rush to get a card with a decent limit to use as my daily spend.  My activity/use of the Discovered secured card (recently graduated) is what dictated the huge CL I got on my second card 12 months later.  I wish I had just done more research in the beginning (didn't find this place until a lot of the damage was done, but even then wasted apps after that), and planned my rebuild path before incurring all of the inquiries.

[SarahJo]

"BUDGET means you stick to it and DON'T BUDGE!"  

Amazing how much more money you've had and not even know it...when the numbers are tracked, allocated, and you see what you've had "leftover" all along with no income increase it's amazing. Great thread idea! 

[Remedios]

Budget is very important. I think the problem is, whenever we hear that word, we think *be frugal*, which is not what the budget is.

You still get to have fun stuff, except you have to account for it beforehand 

[Anonymous]

In my early days here I saw somebody start a thread saying "when should I apply for card X? Here's my DPs, should I do it now?" Data points were solid enough and approval probably was likely. 

@Remedios I think you may have been the one who said something to the effect of "with those DPs, you'll probably get approved, but if you're asking, then you'll only strengthen your case by waiting six months. There's nothing you can get now that you can't get with better terms by waiting six more months."

That was some of the most solid advice I saw here.

[Remedios]

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@Anonymous wrote:

In my early days here I saw somebody start a thread saying "when should I apply for card X? Here's my DPs, should I do it now?" Data points were solid enough and approval probably was likely. 

@Remedios I think you may have been the one who said something to the effect of "with those DPs, you'll probably get approved, but if you're asking, then you'll only strengthen your case by waiting six months. There's nothing you can get now that you can't get with better terms by waiting six more months."

That was some of the most solid advice I saw here.

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Haha probably was

I always sound like our overly cautious grandmas, but that's from personal experience.  

I've shot myself in both feet a couple of times, then wondered how come it hurts to walk. 

[Anonymous]

Watch your utilization. Those low limit starter cards can look maxed out if you aren't careful with paying them off before they report.

[Peazmom]

The best advice I've heard is the mantra repeated on these boards over and over again...."rebuilding is a marathon, not a sprint".  As stubborn as I can be, I need to hear it over and over again!

[Remedios]

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@Peazmom wrote:

The best advice I've heard is the mantra repeated on these boards over and over again...."rebuilding is a marathon, not a sprint".  As stubborn as I can be, I need to hear it over and over again!

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That's the fact! 

I'm curious what made that stick, because that's exactly what I was talking about with  "things we dont want to hear" lol 

[Anonymous]

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@Remedios wrote:

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@Anonymous wrote:

In my early days here I saw somebody start a thread saying "when should I apply for card X? Here's my DPs, should I do it now?" Data points were solid enough and approval probably was likely. 

@Remedios I think you may have been the one who said something to the effect of "with those DPs, you'll probably get approved, but if you're asking, then you'll only strengthen your case by waiting six months. There's nothing you can get now that you can't get with better terms by waiting six more months."

That was some of the most solid advice I saw here.

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Haha probably was

I always sound like our overly cautious grandmas, but that's from personal experience.  

I've shot myself in both feet a couple of times, then wondered how come it hurts to walk. 

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Lol yeah I should have said "the most solid advice that I ignored", as I opened 15 accounts in the ensuing 18 months. But hey, I already had 11 years AoOA and 7 years AAoA at the time with 9 consecutive years of on-time payments, so that helped buffer me. Now I've got almost every card I want and am just letting them age