I wouldn’t worry about having too many inquiries right now. That’s just a temporary mark and it has a low impact on your credit score.
Here are some tips to help build a good credit score:
Credit Cart Utilization: Keep your total % of credit used at under 30%. 10-20% is probably ideal. Also, try not to max out any individual cards. Raising the total amount of credit you have available is a good thing and it allows you to charge more while still staying in the sweet spot of card utilization.
Credit History Length: If you’re young, I would recommend applying for a new card every 6 − 12 months. This will pay off down the line as you’ll have a longer “average age of credit cards” and a higher “total amount of available credit”. Having 10-20 credit cards is not a bad thing. They all contribute to the age of your credit history and to your total credit limit.
Payment History and Derogatory Marks: Always pay on time. This has a big impact on your credit score. Set up a savings or checking account with some money in it as a buffer and set all of your credit cards to auto-pay the minimum from this account and set up overdraft protection using this account. I do this to avoid getting any bad marks on my card, but usually end up making a manual payment for the whole account balance before it has a chance to accumulate any interest. With this in place, you can use a credit card for most purchases to get the rewards and to contribute to your credit history. 0 late payments out of a small number of purchases is good, but 0 late payments out of a large number of purchases is better.
Total Accounts and Account Mix: This has a lower impact on your credit score, but having more accounts is better and having a mix of account types is better (mortgage, car loan, credit cards, student loans, etc.). It shows that you have been granted credit by many institutions and that you are equally reliable at different forms of credit.
Increase the credit limits of cards you’ve already been issued. Many banks will allow you to make a request to raise your credit limit without reporting it as a credit inquiry, you just have to ask them. It can increase the average size of your cards, increase your total available credit, and make it easier to stay under the 30% mark on each card.
I wouldn’t worry about having too many inquiries right now. That’s just a temporary mark and it has a low impact on your credit score.
Here are some tips to help build a good credit score:
Credit Cart Utilization: Keep your total % of credit used at under 30%. 10-20% is probably ideal. Also, try not to max out any individual cards. Raising the total amount of credit you have available is a good thing and it allows you to charge more while still staying in the sweet spot of card utilization.
Credit History Length: If you’re young, I would recommend applying for a new card every 6 − 12 months. This will pay off down the line as you’ll have a longer “average age of credit cards” and a higher “total amount of available credit”. Having 10-20 credit cards is not a bad thing. They all contribute to the age of your credit history and to your total credit limit.
Payment History and Derogatory Marks: Always pay on time. This has a big impact on your credit score. Set up a savings or checking account with some money in it as a buffer and set all of your credit cards to auto-pay the minimum from this account and set up overdraft protection using this account. I do this to avoid getting any bad marks on my card, but usually end up making a manual payment for the whole account balance before it has a chance to accumulate any interest. With this in place, you can use a credit card for most purchases to get the rewards and to contribute to your credit history. 0 late payments out of a small number of purchases is good, but 0 late payments out of a large number of purchases is better.
Total Accounts and Account Mix: This has a lower impact on your credit score, but having more accounts is better and having a mix of account types is better (mortgage, car loan, credit cards, student loans, etc.). It shows that you have been granted credit by many institutions and that you are equally reliable at different forms of credit.
Increase the credit limits of cards you’ve already been issued. Many banks will allow you to make a request to raise your credit limit without reporting it as a credit inquiry, you just have to ask them. It can increase the average size of your cards, increase your total available credit, and make it easier to stay under the 30% mark on each card.
Hope this was helpful.
Thank you, this is the most helpful reply.