I'm looking to increase my credit score and I'm not sure if getting a credit card would help. I know that I would be able to use the card responsibly, keep the utilization low, and pay all monthly bills in full and on time. However, I have two concerns. My first concern is that my age of credit is currently very low at just over 2 years. I have two open accounts-- a store credit card that I rarely use and a car loan that I pay monthly-- and seven closed accounts from loans that were already paid off. My second concern is that earlier this year I already took a hard inquiry when I prematurely applied for a credit card and was denied for having a low credit score. I've brought my credit score up and back into the "good" range since then, and I've done some research on secured credit cards and would likely apply for one of those instead. My question is, does the benefit of having more available credit with low utilization outweigh the damage of having an even lower age of credit and a second hard inquiry within a few months? The whole purpose of the card would be to increase my credit score, so I don't want it if it will do more harm than good. Also, if you have any other advice that would apply to my situation I would be so grateful! Post-college life has handed me some tough financial lessons that I've been trying to figure out all on my own.
Submitted May 01, 2019 at 08:24PM by jellyjade29 http://bit.ly/2J68OCE
