General Credit Topics

[pattycake]

Thank you, Marty. I occasionally use my other cards - I have quite a few, but am never late on any of them, nor do I go over 30% usage on any of them, except Home Depot. Here's what I have: Chase MC - $1000 limit; balance $0 (last used July 2007) Mobil - $200 limit; balance $0 (this doesn't even show up on my reports anymore) Merrick Bank Visa - $2100 limit; balance $4 each month, PIF each month Kay Jewelers - $2400 limit; never used Home Depot - $2800 limit; $980 (0% interest, no payments due until January) Wal-Mart - $480 limit; balance $0 (haven't used since May 2007) Capital One Visa - $500 limit; balance $0 (haven't used since June 2007) Capital One Visa - $2500 limit; balance $500 (first time used since June 2007; PIF this wk) Orchard Bank Visa - $1100 limit; balance $0 (haven't used since July 2007) Citibank MC - $7800 limit; balance $1300 (work travel expenses, awaiting reimbursement) Chase Professional MC $10,000 limit; balance $22 (new card) Target Visa - $2000 limit; balance $195 (PIF next week) I have not had a single late payment in more than 2 years, all these accounts are and have been in good standing. I also make my car and student loan payments on time every month.

[marty56]

I think you need to show a small  usage on your older accounts.  In this way they staff on your report which is good and show that you use credit (noot too much) which is also good.

[Noah_Bodie]

reeltime wrote:

Do you recommend to folks to live off of a credit card?

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I'm doing OK living off of Ted Underhills' AMEX. Want the number?

reeltime wrote:

Are you saying it's unwise to keep an emergency fund?

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Silly goose. That's why the Caiman Islands were founded.

reeltime wrote:

Is free miles and cash back a good strategy to build wealth?

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It's an OK strategy. Society cat burglar is a better one, although I've not yet figured out where to fence a cat.

reeltime wrote:

Is playing the lottery a smart use of money?

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Better to play roulette than lotto. Girls at the table are way hotter.

reeltime wrote:

Is it wiser to get 2% cash back on a credit card, or use compound interest to save?

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Go through the neighbor's mailboxes, collect their 2% refund checks, and put THAT to work compounding interest. It's among my current strategies.

reeltime wrote:

Should people rely on Social Security to retire?

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Heh, Ponzi made millions for the better part of a year. It can work. Besides I find a few Social Security checks in the mailboxes I go through. They are starting to compound nicely.

reeltime wrote:

Is leasing a new car a smart move or is it better to purchase used, pay off, and own your vehicle?

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Well, you can go that whole leasing or financing thing for a new car, but a pistol and 25 pounds of determination at a stop light can get you a new used car every month, if not more frequently.

reeltime wrote:

Should you measure wealth by net worth (defined earlier) or FICO score? Or is your credit limit the best measure?

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Net worth is determined by your willingness to do that which others won't do. I'm currently hiring high school students to go through mailboxes for me. I cut 'em in on the spoils, they get charged as juveniles, it all works out.

reeltime wrote:

How do you define winning financially?

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Why getting away with it, of course. Duh.

reeltime wrote:

Should people spend $300 dollars each month on a car payment, or invest $200 dollars a month in an index fund?

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You obviously didn't read the chapter of my book on carjackings.

reeltime wrote:

Is charging off an account, applying for bankruptcy, or walking away from your bills a proper way to conduct your personal finance?

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What's wrong with bankruptcy? Corporations do it all the time.

[FICO_Focused]

Some of you may or may not know that when I came to the MyFICO forums, I had created a worst case scenario out of my credit profile... You name it, I screwed it up while I was trying to establish my career. I bought cars to keep up with peers (two repos in 5 yrs.) Defaulted on Student loans, filed for BK13 in 94 (failed to make plan payments - discharged in 95.) Charge Offs galore during the 90s (with no attempts to repair during that time.)

Long story short - I began building a house for my family of 7 with cash in fist in March of 2004. I ran out of money and needed a construction completion loan (~ $280k) to finish. When I tried to get a loan, I was denied regardless of the equity position I was in... in Jan 07 I had nearly decided to sell the lot and the half finished house but after speaking with my wife; we decided to try and fix our credit problems and that's when I began my journey... Feb 15th 2007.

ALL FICOs were high 400s

$29,000 / 18 PFDs later - we started applying for CCs like crazy we overdid it quite a bit and when all was said and done we have more than 20 CC accounts all paid on time and ~ 21% Utilization on more than $40k available.

In September I applied to Chase National Construction Lending for a construction completion loan and asked about a Construction to Perm loan... The day before Thanksgiving 11/21/2007 I CLOSED ON MY LOAN!!!!!!!!!!! With NO ORIGINATION FEES / CLOSING COSTS!

My FICOs are all ~650 and my rate is locked at 6.00% for 30 year fixed mortgage!

I increased TU by 180 points - EQ up 159 - EX up 201!!!

I have spared you the details of my FICO journey, but they are pretty much documented here on the forums.

My hope is that all those that would choose to fix their FICO health have the same feeling at the end of the day that I have!

One piece of advice I can offer to all is simply - NEVER GIVE UP on your dreams!

Take Care.

Rob

[demi]

Just got an alert for a score increase from 674 to 682...this is after a decrease of 2 points two weeks ago from my mortgage hard pulls.  Yeh hah....debt management plan payment must have just gone thru !

[Victoria]

Hi, everyone!

I was surprised by the success stories I've encountered here and I am glad that you guys  can be so helpful. I found this forum not so long ago, when I found out that my score is low and started to browse internet for answers to my problem.

I made a regular credit check in July of this year and found out that my FICO was 499!!! I don't have huge credit lines, the reason for that score was late payments on Chase credit card, late car payments ( even 60 days last year) and a forgotten electric bill, that I had to pay off last year, and another credit account form 2004 with no late payments. Until recent I didn't know how to check my credit nd didn't keep an eye on it.  

So, after that I paid off and closed Chase with the small credit limit, got never late on car payments again, keep on paying off credit card in good standing and paying off that electric bill, and my score raised till 565 since July!!!! I got very excited about that.

The next year I am planning to change my car, but afraid that with late payments and still low score of 565 I'll be rejected. What is the best way to raise my FICO score up to 700s till the next summer? 

[teamfico]

This is the kind of success story that brings chills!! I am so very proud of you guys hanging in there!  Never, ever give up!  This is what we all need to see to encourage us to keep going, that there is a light through the tunnel of ficoland.

Message Edited by teamfico on 12-05-2007 09:32 AM

[stevets]

When I first found this forum about a month ago my credit report had a lot to be desired. I had 5 collection accounts, two of which were duplicates and no revolving credit accounts. After days, and days, and days of reading various posts covering almost every imaginable topic concerning credit, I started to take some steps toward repairing my credit. Since then I have had three collections deleted from all three of my CR's just by disputing them with the CRA's. My FAKO's have jumped about 40 points on EX and EQ and about 15 for TU, when my student loan reports in a few days for the sixth month I will be able to get an actual FICO score, I must say I am anxious to see what that turns out to be. After getting some of those collections off I went ahead and applied for an Orchard Gold card, for once I was approved for a non secure CC, it should be here in about a week or so and I have to say that I am pretty excited for that as well. I only have one unpaid collection left, which I am trying to PFD, and one other PIF baddie (the most recent) that I am sendng a GW letter for. If it were not for the vast amount of knowledge and advice which people so generously share on this site I would not have had the first clue of how to get to where I am now. Thanks to everyone who contributes to this site.

[pattycake]

Hey, all - I spent some time on the phone with my creditors asking for CLIs and here is what happened:

CapOne - raised my CL from $500 to $4500 (they had sent an email asking if I still had their card, since I had not used it)
Home Depot - raised my CL from $2400 to $3300
WalMart - raised my CL from $360 to $480

So, I'll see if that helps my score. I just pulled a new FICO for Experian, and my score is 682 (very close to my FAKO one), my EQ is 665 (keeps going between 663 and 669, teasing me!!!). I have not pulled a TU, since I'm trying to get some inaccuracies removed, but my FAKO has it in the 640 - 660 range.

I just sent a GW letter to Mervyns to ask that they remove some lates from 2005, when I kept trying to make online payments and they obviously never went through. Will let you know what I hear...

[cajunbulldog]

I am new here and this topic seems to be the closest one relating to my experience.I have never had any credit problems since 1991 and have worked on adding consumer revolving cards back to my profile over the last ten months.During that time I saw an average of 50 point increase in each bureau and gathered $150,000 in new credit. I went a little overboard in applying but it will be great for utilization.