Personal blog on early retirement, tradelines, and analytics projects. I write about what I learn as I am learning it.
People ask me all the time how to increase their credit limit — whether there’s a fast way to get a higher number. The honest answer is: sometimes yes, sometimes no — and the “yes” cases are usually the ones where someone already understands how credit limits actually get set. Let me walk through what’s worked, what’s a waste of time, and where authorized user tradelines fit into this.
AU tradelines — authorized user tradelines — come up constantly in conversations about building or rebuilding credit. The concept is simple enough: someone adds you to their credit card as an authorized user, that account’s history posts to your credit report, and your score reacts to the new data. But “simple concept” and “no nuances” are very different things, and there are enough quirks in how this actually works that it’s worth going through them properly.
Continue reading “AU Tradelines: What They Are and How They Work”
People throw around “credit card hacks” like it’s a category of internet tips you read once and forget. But some of these are genuinely worth knowing, and a few of them — specifically the ones involving authorized users and tradelines — I’ve been running as an actual side income for years. So here’s my take: the stuff that works, the stuff that’s more trouble than it’s worth, and the one thing I’d tell someone just getting started.
There’s a specific question I get from people who’ve already done some shopping around: “why are tradelines so expensive through the big brokers, and is there a cheaper way to get the same thing?” It’s a completely reasonable thing to ask. The answer is yes — and understanding why prices vary so much is actually pretty useful if you’re trying to spend your money well.
Continue reading “Cheap Tradelines: What You’re Actually Paying For”
Buyers ask me about American Express cards more than almost any other issuer. The brand has a certain weight to it — people assume that a 15-year-old Amex card with a $30,000 limit is the crown jewel of authorized user tradelines. I understand the logic. But being an AmEx authorized user comes with a quirk that changes the math entirely, and most people selling tradelines won’t bring it up unless you ask directly.
Continue reading “AmEx Authorized User: What It Actually Does to Your Credit”