I'm laying low on credit apps right now and saving my inquiries for the most rewarding cards in 2011. I'm planning on applying for the PenFed Platinum Rewards Visa on January 1, 2011.

While I am new here, I have been around the "credit" block a few times. But, I figured I would take the time to get into the thick of the forums LOL!

I am an Assistant Trainmaster for Norfolk Southern Railroad, at the Conway Terminal outside of Pittsburgh Pa. While not quite a glorious job, it is a $109K a year job!

Anyhow, nice to meet you all, and I'm sure you will see a lot of me. After helping my brother through a bad divorce and credit rebuilding program...I feel good helping people understand how all of this really works!

Cheers!

Welcome Espee, we are so glad to have you here. Nice credit cards that you have + nice job. I am not for sure about the next card that you want to get being hard or not, but I have been hearing less and less approvals coming through. So I guess that a lot of cards are becoming harder to get. Keep up the good work, it will pay off in the long-run.

Thanks guys. With reading everything here (and to tell you the truth, I have been lurking on this site for...oh...about a year now LOL), I have actually considered applying for the Total Merrill Plus Black card. But from what I understand that is a hard one to get.

I'm hoping that my credit is good enough. Plus I have considered dabbling into investing LOL. Hey with the stock market in the proverbial crapper, and the way I just sit on things...I figured hey...why not buy some stock in a decent company and just sit on it for 15 years LOL.

I will keep you all posted as to what I do, and if I get approved or not.

I work in the engineer dept at a hospital and meet people from all walks of life.when i look at the economy and see all the companies folding and job that are being lost but at my job and hospitals in general they are looking for nurses at a premium.the referral programs for nurses at the hospital i work at could pay you as much as 5 thousand dollars if your referral stays for at least 2 years.

I agree eugene66, the same is true here in Atlanta. I wish I could stomach being a nurse. They have all kinds of incentives. My friend's mother is a LPN and works weekends only, and her bring home pay is triple what most bring home for the entire month. Not to mention that she goes in during week when they help and makes extra.

I see your point Meya. There are some days that I just want to say " I quit!" Lol. Of course that's not an option but yeah it does get really crazy and hectic. My husband wants me to be stay at home until he retires in about 7 more years. That's not fair cuz they will be much older by then but then he will have to deal with the whole teen years thing, hehe

I think that's a good deal. I'll take the changing diaper days and feeding bottles anyday over the teen years. I am so dreading them.

I agree, that's a nice collection of cards you have possessed over time.

Wow espee, you have a lot of very strong revolving credit.

Welcome to the crew! And sorry to hear about the divorce.

A hobby? LOL WOW! I guess it was just the way I was raised. I honestly prefer to live below my means. I'm not a very trusting person. Don't worry not a conspiracy theorist or anything to weird ...but I want to make sure that if anything ever happens that I am not in a position where I can't easily make a move financially.

I have 3 separate standard interest bearing savings accounts. 5 CD's that I just continue to roll over. As well as about $20K US I-bonds. Now keep in mind that I have done this over the span of 12 years. And trust me...it takes a lot of discipline...but it can be done!

As far as my credit cards go, I have...
Tier-1...
Fifth Third Bank-Platinum Mastercard-$8500 (as of today $250ish balance)
US Bank Worldperks-Visa $10000 (no balance)
Cap One Mastercard-$5000 (as of today $60 balance...was paid off then i bought gas)
Chase Platinum Mastercard-$9000 (no balance)
Chase Platinum Visa-$5500 (no balance)
Store...
WFNB Abercrombie Card-$700 (no balance)
GE Best Buy-$1500 (no balance)

Then just my Fifth Third and BOA Debit cards MC and Visa respectively.

As far as I am concerned for someone who is 27 years old $40200 in combined credit is WAY more then enough, thats close to half my yearly income!!! I have had all of those cards Accept the US Bank Worldperks (about a month and a half) and the Abercrombie card (about 5 months) for over 5 to 8 years!!! Sometimes I run a balance if I get "new toy happy" but for the most part i try and keep them paid off...or very low balances.

Truth be told...my "top card" is my Fifth Third debit card LOL. I use that for EVERYTHING!!!! LOL. Then again i never carry cash so go figure!

Most people don't know that applying for too many cards and opening new accounts within a short period of time hurts your score and doesn't look good on your reports. They believe that they need a lot of open accounts to help them rebuild credit but that's not how it is. You can build a great credit report/scores by having 2-3 cards that you consistently make payments and don't carry a large balance.

Some people have a lot of cards because most of their limits aren't high and having a lot of available credit balances out your utilization. That will only help your score, not your reports. If your report is manually reviewed, then the analyst will see that your debt to credit limit ratio is too high so there's a chance that they might not approve you.

Finally, there's the type of people that consider it as a hobby to collect credit cards.

Thanks hjm...I'm just glad it wasn't me! He is ok now, well, financially LOL. And I learned NEVER get married HAHA!!!

It has been kinda addicting! What honestly surprises me is how some people on here have like 15-20 credit cards! Geeze!!!!! I have only ever had 5 i guess they are called Tier-1 cards, 2 store cards, and my 2 debit cards. And that is really all I want!!!! Is there really any added value to a credit score/report to having that many?

Sorry to hear about the divorce but we can definitely help you with the credit rebuilding process. You will love it here and get addicted to this site just like the rest of us which isn't a bad thing.

Welcome to FG!

While I am new here, I have been around the "credit" block a few times. But, I figured I would take the time to get into the thick of the forums LOL!

I am an Assistant Trainmaster for Norfolk Southern Railroad, at the Conway Terminal outside of Pittsburgh Pa. While not quite a glorious job, it is a $109K a year job!

Anyhow, nice to meet you all, and I'm sure you will see a lot of me. After helping my brother through a bad divorce and credit rebuilding program...I feel good helping people understand how all of this really works!

Cheers!

ok sis tell me later i need all the help i can get my daughter is 15 i would let her babysit but her and her little brother who is 4 (soon to be 5) does not get along and they get on my nerves so bad sometimes that all i want to do is pull my hair out. then sis i will have to drive all the way to California just for you to put hair plugs in.......hahahahahahaha

Pretty cool. So, you develop systems for healthcare companies? What are some of the insurance companies that you've worked with?

I have never actually worked for an insurance company, mostly government projects and private health care companies Kaiser being one - HATED IT! My favorite was a health care company that started out providing mental healthcare as their niche that sold SOME software - then they became a healthcare company that sold a lot of software. My current project is developing a software for a federal agency - if I told you the name my PC would probably blow up and I'd have to disavow any knowledge of this website! LOL - just kidding, it's not that top secret, but it is confidential. I'm not the real brains - those are the developers, the guys that can code for hours on end...my contribution to their work is I keep them from having to talk to human beings and lets them get their work done.