ProfessorMom

Thanks for the info. I'm not in a big rush so this will be fine. I'll get my ID scanned soon and get signed up. I really appreciate the assistance!

Yes, you can. Thank you very much!

Thank you. I looked at that site first thing. I'm wondering though... can I order a check made to someone else sent to me? I need to actually get the check to mail it because I have to include a certain request form with the check/draft. Thanks for your help.

I need to purchase something from a government office in the UK for 5 pounds. They do not accept credit cards. The instructions state the following: Fees from abroad should be paid by International Money Order, cheque or draft, payable through a United Kingdom bank, and must be made out in £ sterling. We are currently unable to accept payments by credit or debit card, nor are we able to receive search requests by telephone. I tried to call Amex to see if there was anything I could do through them. Travelers checks are only in 25 denominations. Bank of America could make an international draft but the fee is $25. Penfed did not offer any solutions. I tried to check out Paypal and I can convert my dollars to pounds and get issued a check in pounds but it would be made out to me. That, unfortunately, doesn't help. I'm tempted to go to a local exchange bank and get a 5 pound note, wrap it up in paper, and mail it. I'm just not sure if they'd accept cash. Any ideas?

I asked a similar sort of question a month or so and never really got a clear answer. What happens if the estate has already been settled? Then what?

This is good. Really good. We probably all should make it a point to try to do a little better every day. The world would be a better place for it.

If you already have Amex and one of the new cards you want is an Amex, get it backdated to your original "member since" date. Also, if you want to dilute the effects of a new card, you could get a new card from whoever and then get one from Amex backdated, which would only effectively lower your AAofA by about half (estimate - not enough info to calculate exactly) of what it would have without that older card to balance it out.

I recently realized I had this problem, too. One day I freakout out because my computer wouldn't turn on. Luckily, my hubby reseated the memory and all was fine but it was enough to knock some sense into me about what would happen if I lost my recent data. I signed up online for Carbonite. Mozy is also good, apparently, but I chose Carbonite because it has an iphone app. There are many other services that are less expensive or let you back up multiple computers or whatever but I prefer the unlimited data backup. It's been a couple weeks and it's still on the initial backup but once that's done, it just backs up new items in your selected folders. Reviews were good and so far, so good with the initial backup working in the background.

I figured so. On a related note, I have two inquires last month on EX (CapOne and a business merchant account). Now I'm about to get a third when I refi my mortgage. Will I see the negative effect of those three inquiries diminish after the six month mark? I guess I'll have to wait and see, but was hoping to app for either AmEx or PSECU this fall. Anyone have any insight as to how they will look at three inquiries just over 6 mos old? In the practical experience of many on this board, the impact will likely decrease at six months.

It may or may not happen that way. His statement is without merit. The effect of anything at any point in time depends on far more factors than an Amazon rep could ever compute off the top of his head like that.

Hmm, never heard of that one, is it a good book? Well, my grandpa used to recommend it on days when I was acting like the little girl with the little curl right in the middle of her forehead. You know of her, right? When she was good, she was very very good. Unfortunately, when she was bad she was horrrrrrrrrrrid.

If you want the opinion of an $8.50 an hour myFico employee, why bother posting here in the first place? Perhaps your first purchase on your new card can be the book "How to Win Friends and Influence People". The second purchase I would recommend for you would be "Webster's Dictionary".

I agree that paying down the Optima is your best first option. When that reflects in your reports, you may or may not see the needed points. I haven't been keeping up but I'm guessing 640 is still the current standard for mortgages? Secondly, I would look to get rid of any possible bad items that you can. Third, if the other measures don't work (quickly), I would go for the secured card. With only two lines of credit, a new line most likely will help rather than hurt but of course no one can predict which way it will go. Usually it would be beneficial but I would not want you to bet the farm on it. You have to be prepared that it could go either way. Even if it did hurt a little, I can't imagine it would hurt that much and my gut instinct is that it would probably help. You do not, however, want to rack up inquiries to get that new card. You really need to research and make a good choice about where you apply.

OP, I took the time to answer you in your other thread before I noticed that you posted again because you didn't like what everyone had to say the first time. This certainly isn't the way to "win friends and influence people" here at CB.

There's no need to close your existing accounts. It will not help you. The only downside to keeping them could be if they have annual fees that make it unfeasible to maintain them. Closing any of your established cards will decrease your average age of accounts and thereby, lower your score. This would likely have an especially significant impact for you due to the small number of existing accounts. For someone like Bob, who maintains lots of accounts, the impact of closing an account would likely not be very significant. The inquiries and lowered average age of accounts due to new accounts will quite possibly lower your score a little bit but it will recover with time. The loss of points is almost certainly worth the benefit of cards that offer great perks. Also, as you establish more accounts, it gives you more freedom to do so in the future because it essentially dilutes the effts of new accounts in the future. I understand that you want to be "the best" but realistically, anything above 800 *is* the best. Like the others have said, keep reading...