How much would a secured card truely help me?

[lajntx]

Here is a scenario for the numbers crunchers & what if lovers on here

Currently my fico scores are: 557 EQ & 513 TU, EX's FAKO is 565

File CH 13 in `05 due to heavy medical debt ( 60K+++)

Derogs from that are:

an Auto loan for 16K on a new car I had bough 1 month before an extensive hospital stay and was about to go repo at the time of the filing. Due to help I got from a good friend, the loan was PIF after confirmation as the court let the full balance stay since the purchase was recent and the only car I had.. Lists as "Paid - was a charge off in Sept 05"

A single merchant account in the amount of $131, all other CC's were zero balance and closed.

Cell phone bill from Cingular for $1800

Oddly very few medical bills are showing - only 3K worth and one of them for $77 was paid by insurance.

FFW to 2007 and I lost everything due to business failure... I have 10 derogs from that in the amount of about 15K all of which is either past 2 years old or soon will be.

Positive tradelines:

Student loan in the amount of 44K that's never been late either by payments or defferements

Auto loan for 9k I took out this past march


The question:

I really dont want to get a credit card due to the bad luck I seem to come across, but it's almost a mandatory requirement these days to have. If I were to to get a secured card $200-$300 limit and only put my monthly credit monitoring fees ( 35ish ) and another monthly charge 15ish and PIF and lose the card in the sock drawer using it for nothing else.. ever. Would that really help my scores any? Or would it be like fighing a fire with a squirt gun?

[marty56]

Geting any credit card is a must have on your path to rebuild your credit.  PIF each month and only let 9% or less report on your CR.  If the limit is 300, then only let $27 report if you can.  If you have to charge more, you should try to pay down the balance prior to the CC's reporting date which should be on your statement.  Dont worry if you cant since your goal is to rebuild and there will be peaks and valleys along the way.

It goes without saying that you will never ever pay late.  Also remember it will take years to rebuild your credit and as you get older, time passes much fater than you want it to.  When my CC rebuild is complete, it would have taken me almost 10 years to rebuild.  I have 3 years to go.  B of F'in A added 5 years to my sentence.

[pattycake]

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@lajntx wrote:
Here is a scenario for the numbers crunchers & what if lovers on here

Currently my fico scores are: 557 EQ & 513 TU, EX's FAKO is 565

File CH 13 in `05 due to heavy medical debt ( 60K+++)

Derogs from that are:

an Auto loan for 16K on a new car I had bough 1 month before an extensive hospital stay and was about to go repo at the time of the filing. Due to help I got from a good friend, the loan was PIF after confirmation as the court let the full balance stay since the purchase was recent and the only car I had.. Lists as "Paid - was a charge off in Sept 05"

A single merchant account in the amount of $131, all other CC's were zero balance and closed.

Cell phone bill from Cingular for $1800

Oddly very few medical bills are showing - only 3K worth and one of them for $77 was paid by insurance.

FFW to 2007 and I lost everything due to business failure... I have 10 derogs from that in the amount of about 15K all of which is either past 2 years old or soon will be.

Positive tradelines:

Student loan in the amount of 44K that's never been late either by payments or defferements

Auto loan for 9k I took out this past march


The question:

I really dont want to get a credit card due to the bad luck I seem to come across, but it's almost a mandatory requirement these days to have. If I were to to get a secured card $200-$300 limit and only put my monthly credit monitoring fees ( 35ish ) and another monthly charge 15ish and PIF and lose the card in the sock drawer using it for nothing else.. ever. Would that really help my scores any? Or would it be like fighing a fire with a squirt gun?

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Yes, get a rebuilder card if you can.  I recommend Orchard, even though they carry an annual fee, they do report to the CBs.  You will likely be able to get a small limit, but you start small.  Also, I think Capital One still does secured cards.  It sounds like you know what you need to do, but I also suggest going to the rebuilding credit forums here to get some ideas on how to improve your credit.  

You'll do better this time - coming to these boards is a big step.  This is my third go-around, and I'm determined to do it right now!  Like Marty, I still have a couple of years to go - two and a half before my last baddies fall off.  

Good luck to you and keep posting!!!