Okay here is my profile FCNB $900 limit Cross Country $350 limit Get Smart $300 limit Providian Gold $300 limit All of the above accounts are less than 3 months old...Paid off for my car in Feb..Beacon score as of the 14th of June 533...Now I hear a good mix of accounts is very important in improving your credit score..i want to buy another car in Feb and I need to get my beacon score to at least a 625...Is this a possibility..i have had 6 inquiries in the last 6 months...What other loan should i apply for...If I need another credit card I think I would apply for the Freedom Card because it seems that it may be pretty easy to get and i do not want another hard inquiry wasted..Or should I try a secured loan from my bank which is Suntrust...( I figure if I am going to apply for credit I might as well get those hard inquiries all at once) Advice needed
If I were you I would not apply for any new credit cards. What I would do is after you've had each of those cards 6 months or more with good history (no 30day lates) is work on getting a credit limit increase. Yours are very low right now. Don't call them by phone to do it, either, or you risk another HARD inquiry. Write them a letter, make a copy, send it certified return receipt. Ask for a credit limit increase citing your good history. SPECIFICALLY state that you do not authorize a hard inquiry for this request. Ask them if they could review your credit report with an AR inquiry instead. AR = account review and is soft inquiry. At that point, if they make a mistake such as pulling hard inquiry you have documentary proof that you specifically denied authorization. You might want to tell them that if a hard inquiry is necessary that you will in future take your business elsewhere. Good luck
thanks alot for the advice...But let me ask you how many accounts do you currently have and do you know your beacon score and at what point did you start rebuilding your credit or have you always had pretty good credit....I have read that the best way to max out credit cards are to have 4 visa mastercards and 1 retail credit card..Or even a loan from a bank for maybe only a $1000 dollars to show that you have a installment loan as well ??? thanks again for the info
Why would you need any advice? Keeping this "card" already suggests you don't listen to any Get rid of that devil card before it ruins what little credit you have. You do not need to apply for any more cards right now (especially not the freedom card). Providian and FCNB are good sources for building credit. A credit mix refers to having 1 or more of the following tradeline types: mortgage, car loan, credit card, store card and installment loan. Saar
Dinob12, Just throwing in my $.02. I agree with Saar...get rid of Cross Country (there are so many other cards out there that offer better terms and will not mess up your credit history). I would definitely keep the other three cards. Use them to their adavantage. In three months ask them for a credit increase (without a hard inquiry - good advice on how to do that already given). I also wouldn't apply for any new credit for six months to a year. The six inquiries, I believe, are affecting your score tremondously. Let them age. How bad is your report - lates, chargeoffs, bankruptcy, etc.? Credit rebuilding is time consuming (as you probably know), but keep your head up and you'll see your score and positive tradelines increase. That's my Miss Cleo prediction. Best of luck and keep us posted Dani
You'll notice that Saar mentioned "store card" in that list. I notice that all your cards are regular bank credit cards; there's not a Sears, Target, JCPenny, or department store card in the bunch. CRAs call them "retail charge accounts" -- and the easiest one to get is Target by far. Consider getting rid of Cross Country, and then visit your local Target and apply for their retail charge card. Randy
Ugh, hubby has a Cross Country and it is his oldest trade line so we are stuck...but, we are gonna pay if off and let it sit..if we only knew then what we knew now. BTW, they were giving him credit increases pretty regularly, then Cross Country gave him one in Dec.,then no more..he has a perfect credit payment record for, um, 19 months..Anyway..bummer.. Ok, I feel better now that I've confessed to "the card"..
My experience has shown that a Macy's card is a whole lot easier to get than a Target. As a rule of thumb, if Macy's won't approve you, no one will. Saar
saar ~ that's not true for everyone re: Macy's. I applied for Macy's and Target one the same day. Target yes, Macy's no.
So? You can also be approved for Amex Platinum yet denied for Providian Classic, if they pull from different bureaus. Saar
Thanks for the info...Yeah I know about Crooks Country but I thought that I saw on this board somewhere that 4 bank cards and 1 retail card is the way to get the highest beacon as far as ccs go..I figured that I would just use my Crooks Country for very small purchases once a month such as a Snickers Bar and then pay it off on a monthly basis My balance right now with them is actually -$18...Plus with all of my negatives such as 3 previous cc charge offs from about 5 years ago when I was 18 I felt that maybe the positives would help wipe the negatives.. Thought my beacon would have to be atleast 580 for the Target card and which bureau do they pull ??
Saar, Would not believe my luck..2 weeks ago my father asked me to apply for some credit cards for him...Today Getsmart Card came in the mail $1500 limit..Direct Merchants came as well with a $3000 limit ( card came as well in my name ) and Cap one approved $500..Should I have my dad place me as a Joint on the Cap One and the Direct Merchants instead of just a user...This would really look good for my credit limits would it not...Or maybe i will have too many bank cards ?? I would definetely cancel my Cross Country Account if I went as a Joint on the other 2 cards...What do you think ??
