Originally Posted by
mnscout
My [unorthodox, LOL] opinion is that the best card is the one that gives you more in sign up bonuses. What kind of card is irrelevant, IMHO.
I agree about starting slow. This is what I would suggest.
1. Don't bother with manufactured spend yet except Amazon Payments because it's a supereasy way to add $1K a month to your spend capabilities.
2. Sign up for Credit Karma and Credit Sesame first to monitor your credit score. Credit Karma monitors Transunion while Sesame monitors Experian.
3. Apply for a couple of cards first to get your feet wet. I liked the suggestion about Arrival and CSP.
4. Watch how your credit score plunges 5-10 points then recovers 3 months later. Get a feel of how it works.
6. Meet spend requirement.
7. Enjoy your bonus. Even if you choose the most primitive redemption in cash (you shouldn't), you have just earned $840 at a minimum. Try that with cashback!
8. Read, read, read and do not be afraid to ask questions. Yes, there are folks here who love nothing better than snap at newbies. Don't mind them.
9. Repeat 4-6 months later with more cards.
I agree completely about picking the card with the best sign up bonus, thats
all we do. Our spending is around 1600 per month, and very rarely I don't have some spending threshold to meet on a new card. As far as Credit Sesame, at least in my case , it paints much rosier picture, than reality.I
just bought my actual Experian score for comparison, and it was 50 points lower than Sesame. Still 760, but gave a me a pause for sure.I found
Credit Karma tracks Transunion more closely. I think its important to remember , that the score will be affected more, if the credit file is thin
and history is short. I don't know the OP situation, but its just more prudent to start slow, regardless.Also, try to charge everything you can on the cards:
power bill and so on. It may even be worth it to pay a fee occasionally, if
you can meet the spend easier.