Post BK rebuilding guidance

[Thechallange]

Hello board, I am seeking advice on rebuilding my credit. Early 2013 i decided to file bk. i filed my wife did not file her credit is bad but fixable with a couple of pfd and 1 judgement that will be deleted in about 18months. We had no joint liabilities. FF i was dc 4months ago. I have begun to rebuild. I have used the bk to 700 as a blueprint.
So far I have a Capital One Credit steps 300.00CL, First premier 700.00CL ( i plan to cancell using in place of the Credit One Card) and comenity retail account for 250.00CL. PreAppoved no HP. My question is should i now at 4-5 months later obtain a secured loan? I have no positive installments except for student loans they are reporting current but i was 90-120 late several times in the past. Should i establish a clean installment account? I carried no auto loans throughout my bk, auto is in my wifes name not looking for a new ride now. My biggest question is when can i pull the trigger on a NFCU account? Im interested in the navcheck LOC and a CC my scores are low at 630T, 640Ex and 580EQ. According to 700guide my next step is to apply for a 2nd Capital One but for me that would be in Dec/Jan.

[ezdriver]

I am in rebuilding mode too. My Ch 7 discharge was in April of this year. Using 4 credit cards [3 secured and 1 unsecured] and one secured installment loan. I'm paying close attention to payment times and amounts. Seems to be working fine.

[mrsjr]

In my opinion, I would not do the secured loan.  I understand that having a good installment record is important, but if you do that, you WILL pay interest.  Rebuidling your credit takes time.  I would wait until you need a car to do an installment loan.  I'm just not a fan of paying interest if you don't have to.  Also, I would consider dropping both FP and Credit One.  Since you have another credit card, I'm confident that you can get a better credit card, like barclays, if you keep your utilization low.

[ezdriver]

---

@mrsjr wrote:

In my opinion, I would not do the secured loan.  I understand that having a good installment record is important, but if you do that, you WILL pay interest.  Rebuidling your credit takes time.  I would wait until you need a car to do an installment loan.  I'm just not a fan of paying interest if you don't have to.  Also, I would consider dropping both FP and Credit One.  Since you have another credit card, I'm confident that you can get a better credit card, like barclays, if you keep your utilization low.

---

Depends on your priority. I could not care less about the tiny amount of interest that the credit union will make on my 12-month, $1,000 loan. I've got bigger fish to fry. It is worth much more to me to have a good tradeline mix than the interest. It all depends on what objective one is trying to achieve and the best path to getting there.