Hi, I would appreciate any help!

I'm a single woman in my mid 30's, I feel very behind as it pertains to finances. I have been independent and supporting myself since 16 with no outside guidance, so I really did not get a great start to the world of credit. I had some debt, mostly medical bills but some credit, some of it paid and some of it aged off of my credit reports unpaid (years ago). Now after a lot of self- education, I am rebuilding my credit but have found that despite my best efforts, I am really not making much progress when it comes to increasing my credit score. I continue to get offers for low limit, high interest cards only, and a lot of those scammy personal loans with crazy interest rates.

Ultimately I am really wanting to level up, get a card with a decent limit, maintain a low utilization and increase my FICO score and my access to better financial opportunities. Any advice would be much appreciated!

CREDIT PROFILE

• Current credit cards: Discover IT, Limit $1500 (balance $550, will be paid by end of month), opened 01/2019 | Credit One Platinum, Limit $600 (balance $0), opened 06/2019, | Credit One Platinum, Limit $800 (balance $0), opened 06/2020 (all personal cards, no business cards)

• FICO Scores: Currently- From Discover Credit Scoreboard: FICO 8 Transunion 637 | From Wells Fargo: FICO 9 Experian: 633. My score has fluctuated from 660-630 for last few months. Prior to that, steady in the very low 600's

• Oldest credit card account age with you as primary name on the account: 2.5 years (Discover IT)

• Have not applied for any personal credit cards in the last 12 months (due to research on credit score requirements for the cards I wanted, most said they required 650-750) I have applied for balance increases on current cards in the last 3 months and have been denied

• Annual income $ 54,000

• Student Loans $62,000 (no payments made currently as I am in grad school)

CATEGORIES

• OK with category-specific cards?: Yes

• OK with rotating category cards?: Yes

• I really don't care about category specifics, I will add this info if needed but as it pertains to my current goals I am not particular about category rewards.

• Places I spend $ on monthly: Verizon, Costco, Amazon

MEMBERSHIPS

• Current memberships: Amazon Prime, Costco

• Current member of Wells Fargo "everyday checking"

• No military affiliation, no businesses

• I am in graduate school

I (26M) currently have two Capital One cards. One is $500, and the other is $800.

For context, I was supporting my wife for the last few years and didn’t have the resources to pay down some debts that were holding me back; making minimum payments or just enough to stay where I was but not actually pay anything down. She got back to work recently and I was able to dedicate a couple paychecks to sweeping those debts off the table. All that’s left is $5k on the car.

Now I should consider increasing my credit amount. Who would be the best?

Edit: I went ahead and requested an increase on the $500 to $5k. If that fails I’ll ask for $2k on the $300. If that fails I’ll just open a new account with Chase and ask them, I suppose?

Hello, I just started a new job and I’m now making 50k a year. I really need to pay off my credit card since I am being charged a ton of interest and have not been able to make a dent in 2 years. My finances have been rough the past couple year but it has improved and I am now in the position to pay off my debt but I want to do it in the smartest way possible. My credit score is currently 650 and I’m attributing to my high credit utilization (90%).

Notes:

My priority is paying down my credit cards. I have also been thinking of transferring my car loan to a credit union for a lower interest rate. Also have been thinking of getting another credit card to lower my utilization.

Credit Card #1 (BoFA) : 7,200 (25% APR) Credit Card #2 (Citi Bank): $850 (0% APR for first 18 months) Car Loan: 15k Student Loans: 25k

Any advice is appreciated.

What would be the best credit card to get with a 650 credit score? I spend about 250 a month on groceries (Whole Foods, Safeway) I feel like I don't drive my car enough to get a card for gas. Most of my money really goes towards groceries.