@Anonymous wrote:100% yes to the idea of paying off your credit cards as soon as possible. You get no scoring advantage from paying them off slowly. Ignore what the simulator says in that respect. Feel free to raise that question on another thread, namely:
Is it better to pay a credit card off slowly? Simulator says yes.
That way you can hear what other people besides me say. I am almost certain they will tell you that there is no scoring advantage to doing it gradually.
Once your CC balances are paid down to $0, then continue to use them every month, let that generate a statement, and then pay it off.
Asking your CC issuers for CLIs is fine, as long as you bear in mind three things:
(1) Make sure that the issuer agrees to NOT do a hard inquiry as a pre-requisite for the CLI. If they say that their policy is to do a hard pull, just give them a friendly "no thanks, let's not do it then" response.
(2) A credit line increase (CLI) does not in itself help your score. In other words, suppose Bob and Fred each have two credit cards. Bob's have a credit limit of $500 each. Fred's have a credit limit of $25,000 each. As long as Bob keeps his utilization low (easy to do) he can have a score just as high as Fred. Thus part of your "preparing for a mortgage" plan does not need to involve getting CLIs.
(3) Wait until your existing cards are reporting with low balances before requesting a CLI. You will increase the chance that the issuer will view you as a safe risk if you do that.
Thanks! I've asked a simulator question before and was basically told to ignore it. I think I had become completely dependent on the simulator (on EQ) and then later here. I've been trying to weane myself off of it, so to speak. 
I think I will ask the question the way you phrases it - maybe I'll get more responses than the way I posed it before. 
My main reason for asking for a CLI is not for the mortgage - as I pretty much gathered that the low uitl is important, not so much the available credit - but I'm finding more and more I prefer to charge things on the card - and pay it off each month. With the CL I currently have, I have to pay it down midway through the month to do this. It would be nice (and more convenient) if I had a larger CL so I don't have to charge it up & pay it down more than once a month.. But I suppose when I apply for a second card, maybe this won't be such an issue, although I haven't quite decided exactly how I'm going to use that card (ie. just for monthly subscriptions) or what.
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@Anonymous wrote:Yup! CLIs are awesome for convenience, just as you said.
You have two credit cards now, right? A major credit card (VISA, MC, whatever) and a store card. So when you talk about applying for a second credit card, that will actually be your third card I think.
I think your idea of putting a small recurring monthly purchase on your third card is awesome. I know that Netflix seems to be a big favorite for that, though it can of course be anything. It doesn't have to be "small" either. As long as you are keeping each individual card's utilization to < 49% and your total (aggregate) utilization to < 29%, then you should be fine.
You'll have a few times in the next 18+ months when you'll want to squeeze out extra FICO scoring points. I am listing them in what sounds like chronological order.
* Before you apply for your third card
* Before you check your mortgage scores
* Before you apply for mortgage pre-approval
* Before you begin final underwriting for the home
At least 30 days before each of these milestones you'll change your credit card use style to the All Zero Except One approach. Otherwise I'd just do the steady "use the card, let it produce a statement, pay it off" style for every card (which will help with establishing yourself as a Transactor).
My guess is that you might be hard pressed to find something you are sure you really need to buy with that store card every single month. So personally I wouldn't feel obligated to do that after Jan 2017 -- not every month I mean. Once every four months should be fine.
Sounds like a plan. Thank you CGID. Much appreciated.
Once all this is done - I can join the Gardening Club and see how big my seedlings grow.
Geesh, I love this site... so much info... I never get bored!
Oh, and regarding your question about the second CC, I guess I consider the store credit card different than a regular (Visa, MC, Amex, Discover). I think I read some where on this site, that there are Credit Cards and Charge Cards. I forget the difference, but I don't know why I don't consider the store card a regular credit card. Looks like I need to do some more reading on the Credit Card forum. LOL.
But you're right, the card I will apply for in Jan would technically be my third card. I actually never seen the store card, so I don't know what exactly it looks like. I'm still waiting for it to arrive.
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But you're right, the card I will apply for in Jan would technically be my third card. I actually never seen the store card, so I don't know what exactly it looks like. I'm still waiting for it to arrive.
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