I have been a short-time lurker if you will. I have a story as everyone does too. When I was younger (as I'm 37 now) my parents didn't teach me the values/importance of credit. I got a few cards at 18, charged em' up, and couldn't pay the bills.. You guessed it, I defaulted, and went into collections. This nightmare went on for a DECADE. I couldn't do anything, and lived off cash, or going without. Forward through time, at about 32 I'd say, I started to see that items were falling off my credit report, so I went for Orchard Bank. God aweful annual fee, and such, but hey they reported. I had that for a year, as I didn't want to incur anymore fees than I had too, but they reported to all three credit agencies. About this time, I went for my first unsecured card, a Target store card. 200$ limit, but I thought, and was happy that it was a card! I had this for a year or so, and went to the big time (As I thought) coming from nothing. "Rebuild" was my thought. I was 34 I think, and went for Capitol one ( Two seperate cards) with 750 limits on both. A short bit later I went for a Wally store card, and BJ's Visa. They were good to me, as Wally gave mt CLI most times when I hit the luv button. I had a carried balance on the BJ's card for the longest though.. I aslo went for a credit union card around this time and got my largest CL to date 2500! I was ecstatic, and it carried me through the rest of my schooling. I'm trying to recall the specifics, but it was a few years ago.
Carry forward to Apr 13' and I'm at a point where I have a few balances. I have a score in the 650's I'd best guess. I'm in the living room with my girlfriend, and looking for a way to hget my balances on my BJ's, and credit union card to ZERO percent, and I'm terrified to hit the app. button, as I have come from nothing, and sub-prime cards as I'd call them. I start with a Chase Slate, and approved on 2K. That takes care of one card, but I need one more to get the other balance. I app. for the Discover IT card thinking "Yeah right", but I got 4.5K CL there . I moved my only other balance to that, and not max out that card (Either to think of it).
I'm riding high, as I saw Credit Karma, and created an account. I see that my score is 673, and I'm finally in control. I couldn't be happier, so I look at other cards I'd like, and for the reason's I'd be able to use them/maximize their perks. I'm approved for: CSP, Freedom, BCE, CITI TY Preferred, and a product change/upgrade to my credit union Visa from classic 2500 CL at 12.9% fixed to Platinum 9.9% fixed 5000 CL. When I did my product change, the lady mentioned that I had a score of 758, and I was in shock! I took info. from this site, and looked into Credit Sesame. I created an account there, and saw my score was a 760! I fell to the floor, as I haven't had a score this high, EVER.. My UTIL is at 12% right now, and I PIF every month.
I forgot to add that I was a additional user on a AMEX Clear of my girlfriend, and when I got my BCE, I got that backdate. AMEX is a gift, and the AAOA is remarkable. To all those that are rebuilding, or coming up, it can be done with a little time, and patience.
Starting Score: TU: 566
