Looks like we have similar circumstances. A lot of it sounds familiar. I had other debts too, like hospital bills and student loans and old collection accounts that added up because I would be unable to pay bills due to, to put it bluntly, an unstable income. From 2004-2013 there were months I didn't know if I was going to have a roof over my head. I was actually homeless in Austin for a day.. I had moved there from Phoenix to try to start a better life. I thought things would have been different, got a really nice job offer.. but the job ended up only lasting a month. My seemingly good success turned around and at that point, I had hit rock bottom. My bailout from that situation was a 28 hour train ride to Chicago, and my car was basically trucked there and then I let the bank repo it. because I couldn't keep up with their 25% interest rate. It was the best thing to do.
Bankruptcy allowed me to help me get a clean slate. With a stable income now since May 2013 and even a reserve amount of savings, I am starting over. I don't really have anything to my name in terms of property, so it pretty much is a new start.
My BK journey started taking a productive route in around September of 2013. I have visited a local attorney, he wanted $3000 for me to file BK 7 in the Chicago area. Money I definitely did not have. I started the process anyway, taking the debt courses online and getting the certificates. I then contacted our locar bar association and got assistance from another attorney in March of 2014. All I had to pay was the ~$400 (not quite that much) in filing fees and then about a week later, in the beginning of April 2014, my petition was filed. The 341 meeting was the most interesting thing I have ever been to in my life, as far as going to a court. I arrived 30min-1hour early, nervous about the whole idea. I had heard that it was a rough thing to go through. I think maybe if I had property, a larger income and maybe a collateral like houses, cars and boats still, it would have been a nightmare. Instead, it took all about 5 minutes of questions and that was it. I was shocked. Two months later, in the beginning of July, my debt was discharged. I waited a month before I applied for credit. I started out with a Credit One card and, two weeks later I contacted my CU and asked about credit builder loans.. instead they said their product was a secured Visa so I went with that. In place of the secured loan, I have a secured Visa card.. joy right?
Today I decided to open another credit account, but this resulted in no inquiries and come to find out, I should have increased the length of the loan. It's something called Self Lender. I'm surprised more people here aren't buzzing about it. I have seen one mention of it (I'm sure there are more, if I was actively searching for the term) but learned of Self Lender through a post in the "From BK to 700 in 24 months" thread.
It's going to be a long journey, and I wish you the best of luck.. and thank you for sharing your story with us as well!
Awesome job and congrats on your progress so far! It might be worth giving Capital One another shot to get a 3rd revolver in your portfolio. Get the 3rd revolver and lower the util to 9% on one card and you will see your score shoot up 
Hi everyone , i dont post often but i read often and take in everything u all have to offer ..... i have had quite the roller coaster of credit my whole adult life, i will try and explain as brief as i can ....... Im 42 , was with my ex husband since i was 21 until about 3 years ago ...... he had and still has terrible credit , was and still is terrible with money and it dragged me down for many many years ...... i had several baddies , some of which still have not dropped off just yet , because of my situation . I was able to rebuild my credit all on my own when we split through 2013 and 2014 on HALF the money , pay all my bills on time , and THEN .... it happened , right when i had about 5 or 6 good accounts for almost a year i was forced to file chapter 7 out of the blue because one of the baddies from 2008 tried to put levy on my bank account . fortunately i was protected from them taking any money because my two disabled children have ssi which is linked to it so that saved me from that at least , but none the less i had to file . Destroyed all my hard work. Well now since discharge last February i have gone on a monster spree of credit , yes i know , i should have restrained more but this was the first time in my adult life i was able to qualify for so much credit and i went a little nuts, i fully aknowledge , so whats done is done lol , but here are my current questions ...... i now have these 10 new accounts all in the past year , with really kinda low scores and a bk so i must say im surprised, esp by the Barclays ???? but anyway getting back on track ..... i have learned i MUST garden and now i want to know what y'all think about me keeping all these accounts ? im afraid to close any becasue my AAOA is like less than a year now. Every one of my payments are on time and higher than the minimum ...... i also have an installement loan which will start reporting in feb . on a side note ....... The card i have the least need for is the 250.00 jcrew , which is also my lowest limit , but im like do i just let it sit now ? I seek your wisdom ...... thank you in advance . with utilization i have 8800 in limits and im right now on the books for right under 2 k i believe ..... and in like 5 months my merrick will double its limit as well
Starting Score: 590
@juggalo9er wrote:if you just got approved for capone cancel the fp
use the money you are not paying them in monthly fees to open a secure card is you need it
i went from chapter 7 to prime cards in 3 years and you can do the same
last night as a matter a fact i was approved for arrival plus wemc
have faith and give it time, never charge more than you can pay in full!!!!!!!
Congrats on the Arrival! I think its my favorite card