I'm not sure if this should go here or in the January check-in thread.
I've blabbed about where I am and where I want to go, in general, on both threads without laying out specific goals. So here they are.
By the end of the first quarter (end of March):
AZE2 - All but two credit card accounts showing a zero balance.
Those two below 50% UTL.
Those two are 0% interest.
Aggregate UTL under 10%. (That will be the tough part.)
No (more) new credit cards.
EQ8 767, TU8 750, EX8 765 as of December 14
A new year. It's been a slower then hoped start into our take back our finances these past couple months.
My main goal is to pay down debt, lots of debt, mainly cc, though we have quite a bit of student loans. My utilization is at 87% I hope to get it down to 50%.
- paying off 5 smaller balanced cards
- paying the rest down to the next % groupings.
We are also trying to pay down a chunck of my husband's CC debt also.
The goal is to get my score up so I can qualify for a decent car loan and hopefully mortgage scores will go up so we can refiance.
Starting Score: 633
Hello all 👐🏼 This is my first challenge, I already posted in the January check outlining my goals..but I’ll outline my why’s here.
Last year at beginning of Covid I decided to finally take the reigns on my credit. With the help of YNAB I took responsibility for my budgeting and I raised my scores across the board an average 70pts by paying off the remaining ever lingering balances on two CCs. I was now in the mid 650-715 range. I only had a embarrassing low limit Macy’s store card, and an AMEX optima card. (I don’t consider my CareCredit 1/2018 since that was strictly for medical purposes).
So I started applying for new credit cards after not have any new lines of credit in almost a decade. I now knew take advantage of SUBs and cash back opportunities.
11/20 Discover blessed me $4500 SL and Chase Freedom Unlimited granted me $500 SL. That was the signal that something was still off and there was more for me to learn.
As if right now I have 4 relatively new credit lines (I also got Chase FF $500 SL and the Amex Cash Magnet $1000 in January 2021 ).
I’m not applying for anything new and will just garden my current cards by increasing their credit lines. I’m taking advantage of the 0% APRs on all of my cards (currently 3 of 4 have balances but I’m mindful of my utilization rate and they are all mostly under 30%).
By April the largest balance - Discover will be paid off entirely and I’ll only rotate at max two cards at a time and stick to the AZEO method.
I’d like to hit 775 and above range with my scores, lower my utilization rate and keep it in the 1%~9% zone.
I thinking it’s best to not apply for anything new until at minimum Nov 2021 if at all.
I’m so happy I found this forum it’s truly life changing! 🤗
Last year at beginning of Covid I decided to finally take the reigns on my credit. With the help of YNAB I took responsibility for my budgeting and I raised my scores across the board an average 70pts by paying off the remaining ever lingering balances on two CCs. I was now in the mid 650-715 range. I only had a embarrassing low limit Macy’s store card, and an AMEX optima card. (I don’t consider my CareCredit 1/2018 since that was strictly for medical purposes).
So I started applying for new credit cards after not have any new lines of credit in almost a decade. I now knew take advantage of SUBs and cash back opportunities.
11/20 Discover blessed me $4500 SL and Chase Freedom Unlimited granted me $500 SL. That was the signal that something was still off and there was more for me to learn.
As if right now I have 4 relatively new credit lines (I also got Chase FF $500 SL and the Amex Cash Magnet $1000 in January 2021 ).
I’m not applying for anything new and will just garden my current cards by increasing their credit lines. I’m taking advantage of the 0% APRs on all of my cards (currently 3 of 4 have balances but I’m mindful of my utilization rate and they are all mostly under 30%).
By April the largest balance - Discover will be paid off entirely and I’ll only rotate at max two cards at a time and stick to the AZEO method.
I’d like to hit 775 and above range with my scores, lower my utilization rate and keep it in the 1%~9% zone.
I thinking it’s best to not apply for anything new until at minimum Nov 2021 if at all.
I’m so happy I found this forum it’s truly life changing! 🤗
My end goal for 2021 is to be in a good place for my wife and I to get approved for either a mortgage (if the market swings back to buyers) or a construction loan so we can buy land and build, so in order to be set up for that I hope to increase my income from "starving artist" salary to something more steady and predictable, pay down my student loan more aggressively, and continue to use the cards I have responsibly and make them work for me. I have a decent rewards rotation setup at the moment so I plan on finding just the right usage strategies to get cash back for making all the purchases we would normally be making anyway. After a fairly modest app history of 1 in 2018, 1 the beginning of 202, and 1 in October 2020, I jumped on two apps in the same day. Approved for one, and waiting on the results of the other that has gone to an underwriter (@ US Bank, fingers tensely crossed), but no matter the outcome of that one, I'm going to stick with what I've got and not add any more inquiries this year until it's time to start contacting loan lenders. Into the garden I go! I really love the mantra "finances over FICO" because I have witnessed how money can be a ball and chain if you let yourself have to constantly work for it, rather than making it work for you.
US Bank Cash + $8,700
Hi!
New Member here and ready to move forward to my best credit ever