No apps until January ...Atleast!!
I'm still here. Pass a Hefeweizen, as this waiting is driving me nuts.
Still gardening my lil' patio garden (2 secured cards) and joined a CU a couple of weeks ago. Take that, Big Evil Banking Entity! My biggest derogs were four defaulted student loans that I have been patiently rehabbing since January. I made my ninth rehab payment 9/17, and am waiting for them to be picked up & put back into non-default status. I checked the Default Resolution Group's website over the weekend, and they are reporting a zero balance - fingers crossed that means I've been picked up! Am still on track to be debt-free by June 2013.
In other news, have tentatively taken first steps toward researching a home purchase. Have a friend who's a realtor, who has been kind enough to answer some questions over lunch. Have an appointment with a mortgage broker, who knows my rebuilding process and is going to at least give me some advice. Homes are cropping up in the neighborhood I want that are definitely within reach for me financially....I'm not pulling the trigger on that anytime soon but it's at least nice to dream & start working toward that goal. Now all I have to do is stay patient, and don't rush into anything too quickly.
My short term goal has been to get to 700 (which is a long way from the 617 I had back in June). between my backdated Amex and my most recent late payments aging past the 1-year mark, my score has reached 668. With overall util around 40%, I should be able to come close to my goal once I get those balances back down close to zero next month.
I've already started to see the fruits of my gardening: just last week, Wells Fargo spontaneously gave me a CLI from $3000 to $4200.
My long-term goal is to buy a house in the next 18 months or so. I don't think I'll be able to get my scores up to that magic 760 by then, but I'll happily settle for 720, which should be attainable. In the mean time, I don't have any burning desire for new credit. Down the road, I may try again to get back in with Chase, but for now, I have more credit than I need; it's kind of nice having one card in the sock drawer.
Starting Score: 617 (EQ 6/10/2012)
Well, I'm still in the garden, but I'm edging toward leaving the garden to get a credit union credit card due to my ongoing unemployment. It hasn't come to it yet and I've been holding off on any apps because I want to get a mortgage next year, but I've been unemployed for three months now so I have to take every possibility into consideration. If it becomes necessary, I'd rather have to carry a balance on a high CL, low interest credit union credit card rather than my high interest rewards cards.
I'm still clutching my platinum spade right now, though, and I really don't want to have to lose it. :-(
lithium78 wrote:Well, I'm still in the garden, but I'm edging toward leaving the garden to get a credit union credit card due to my ongoing unemployment. It hasn't come to it yet and I've been holding off on any apps because I want to get a mortgage next year, but I've been unemployed for three months now so I have to take every possibility into consideration. If it becomes necessary, I'd rather have to carry a balance on a high CL, low interest credit union credit card rather than my high interest rewards cards.
I'm still clutching my platinum spade right now, though, and I really don't want to have to lose it. :-(
I wish you the best in finding a job!!
Tommy5746 wrote:
lithium78 wrote:Well, I'm still in the garden, but I'm edging toward leaving the garden to get a credit union credit card due to my ongoing unemployment. It hasn't come to it yet and I've been holding off on any apps because I want to get a mortgage next year, but I've been unemployed for three months now so I have to take every possibility into consideration. If it becomes necessary, I'd rather have to carry a balance on a high CL, low interest credit union credit card rather than my high interest rewards cards.
I'm still clutching my platinum spade right now, though, and I really don't want to have to lose it. :-(
I wish you the best in finding a job!!
Thanks! All those politicians who say that unemployed people are just lazy have no idea what they are talking about. I've been trying to find a job that will pay the bills for 3 months and I've had 7 interviews and no offers. The competition is so fierce, especially in my field (education), which has faced drastic layoffs over the past four years. I really want to be careful not to screw up my credit.
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