1 or 2 secured cc?

[Nessa_r4]

Hi,

I am interested in getting a secured credit card. I am thinking of using B of A. I have 500 dollars for it. But what I am wondering, is maybe getting two secured cards at 250 each better, or one at 500? And if two is better, any recommendations on where to get it?

also, i heard before that i should get a secured loan instead, but won't that initially hurt my credit, or not be as good? what would be the difference between them?

[cap1kid]

I've hears BoA is getting harder to get secured cards- Is there a Credit Union in your area you can join? are you former military?(if so NFCU is great). I recommend if you have $500, put it a CU and keep adding 100 bucks a paycheck into it until you reach $1000. Then get a secured card. It gives you a few months to establish a relationship with the CU- creates good saving habits, and I think 1G looks much better as a tradeline than 250 or 500- and your less likely to get in trouble with utilization- keep the balance below 300 and you'll have a great builder card.

[cap1kid]

What is your credit like now? When you open a new account, you may get a slight decrease in FICO because of the Average Age of Accounts, on the other hand if you have a lot of debt, it can drop your utilization percentage and cause an increase. The only sure things to increase credit scores is time, on time payments and low utilization <20%. I really don't like those 200- 500 cards- because in order to keep your utilization down, you have to barely use them. If you follow my advice about the CU, and keep doing the $100 deposit every paycheck ( assuming you get paid every two weeks) in 18 months you will have:

1. $4400 in savings- (your initial $500 + $100 x 39 weeks)

2. An awesome tradeline (assuming you pay on time everytime & keep Util low)

3. A great relationship with a credit union

4. good habits

Another thing- I think if all your report is showing junk cards 500 limits etc. you are more likely to get only more junk. Show your responsible with a higher limit card and your credit future should open wider.

[Nessa_r4]

That makes sense. Thank you

Do you know of any national credit unions? We might get a job transfer to a different state, and don't wanna have to switch, or wait...

Also, is a credit card gonna bring the score down? Right now, the scores are low because there are a few unpaid collections, that i am working on getting off, but nothing new and nothing open now. And, the score thing said things that hurt my score are not having any revolving accounts... And it sucks, because we have all these bills, and rents and car payments that are good and current, but none of those are being reported! =(

[cap1kid]

Do you have any family in the military? NFCU would be an excellent choice. With the internet almost any CU can work if you get direct deposit, and use the account for just credit building- I would not link it to a checking account you use for everyday purchases. Don't worry about the temporary drop in score (unless you for see trying for a mortgage in the next 6 months). The long term benefits of establishing a good revolving account will far outweigh it.

Nessa do the following to get a baseline of your credit :

go to www.annualcreditreport.com and get the free reports (Federal Law allows you to get one free report a year from the three CRAs. DON"T GET FOOLED by pay for services that offer merged reports , monitoring etc. go to that site and just get the reports- don't buy any of the extras. Use these reports as a basis for credit repair.

Go to www.myfico.com and get your scores from EQ and TU - they no longer sell the EX score-(don't worry about EX anyway- most lenders don't ude them) they should be 15.95 each and you should be able to find a 25% discount code on this forum- These are the FICO scores that most lenders use- other websites offer scores which they calculate in a different and you can't compare FICOs to FAKOs. Again use this as a starting base for your general credit health- Now heres the tricky part- do not get caught up in 'the score'. If you create good habits- pay on time- every time, limit your inquiries and keep credit card utilization down- they will increase your scores.

At the same time you want to clean up bad thins on your report- collections, late pays etc. Not everything will be able to be cleaned. You are on your way.

You say you have no revolving accounts? Before you apply I would like to know what your scores are- you may be able to get something soon. But if they are real low- I would wait- (SO YOU DON'T WASTE INQUIRIES) and try the credit union thing.