It has been a few months since I've been on here. Boy O Boy what a wonderfully crazy time my family and I have had in these months.
I have to tell you all please be very careful with your credit, especially right around the time of buying a home. I didn't want to listen to anyone, and at this point I wish I had. You see I cleaned our credit, till it was spic and span gleaming, because I wanted a house in the worst possible way. I would cry myself to sleep over the houses I couldn't have for my family, and the house I was making us live in because we had no options.
So after it was all cleaned up, tons of time and effort. I am talking weeks of sitting here making letters, phone calls to creditors, and learning every possible thing I could to get us to where we needed to be.
I got us there, and I still pat myself on the back for every second it took. I did a great job! 
Anyway, after we got the approval to go ahead and look at houses and we bought one, I thought ok I need this this and this....NO!!!!
Don't do it to yourself!
I hit our credit with at least 30 hard inquiries, 13 new lines of credit, and a new auto loan for a car that should maybe have been buried long ago.
There went our perfect scores.
I mean ok, as long as I keep everything down, and don't go nuts spending right, we should be ok...NO!!!!
When you buy a house and have a bunch of new credit cards, guess what you are going to spend spend spend.
I maxed everything out, and then we got hit by a hurricane, and we couldn't work for a week! It hit us really hard, and I missed payments. It almost got to the point where I was nearly saying I don't care, I am not paying them, my family needs to eat and I just almost lost my mind.
Thank God for income tax refunds. I was thinking I would have to wait until at least the end of February, but it came on Saturday
I paid all of those nasty little cards off ...well almost, I left a small balance on some.
But, our home the thing I pined for, for years wasn't being paid in full for nearly 2 months. I got that all paid up to date as well.
Now I sit here and think about the conversations I had not even a year ago with people about ohhh I am not that stupid, I won't get us in trouble with CC's. I also think about the wonderful vacation my family could be planning right now...but can't cause Mommy made a BooBoo. Ahhh maybe next year.
Those cards will sit in the drawer until I am more mature.
I just thought it might be useful for some of you to understand, the dream of a home when it comes true is amazing. Don't let your wants override you. <3 Love and best wishes to you all. Sorry it's late, I hope this made sense. See you in a few months
Good Job! I'm glad you were able to get it under control before it was too late. There are so many that don't get a second chance but you did, which means your home is meant to be.
For us, it is going to be interesting as we do need (not want) a lot of new stuff for the home. My son's bed and our sofas are toast...had them since 2005, almost 10 years. But not on credit to pay over time, no. We will have a good amount of reserves at closing and my yearly bonus will be here in a month. So we plan to use our cards to hold some things until right before the statement cuts and PIF. I have a huge spreadsheet task ahead of me for this as it falls out of the normal realm of my spending habits. I have never spent as much as I will be spending a little later this month in my life. But it was all part of the master plan so that we wouldn't have to sit in another beautiful empty house. There are some things I really want like more new artwork but I know that will take time.
It can be tempting especially when you know you don't have a mortgage payment for a month or two. But honestly, I have truly been there with credit cards and now only use them for everyday expenses to reap rewards. It can be a slippery slope if not careful. I have no store cards. I always say no to the discount at checkout.
Wishing you all the best in your new home and as others said, the fire won't last forever and soon enough you will be on a secluded beach with your family! :-)
For us, it is going to be interesting as we do need (not want) a lot of new stuff for the home. My son's bed and our sofas are toast...had them since 2005, almost 10 years. But not on credit to pay over time, no. We will have a good amount of reserves at closing and my yearly bonus will be here in a month. So we plan to use our cards to hold some things until right before the statement cuts and PIF. I have a huge spreadsheet task ahead of me for this as it falls out of the normal realm of my spending habits. I have never spent as much as I will be spending a little later this month in my life. But it was all part of the master plan so that we wouldn't have to sit in another beautiful empty house. There are some things I really want like more new artwork but I know that will take time.
It can be tempting especially when you know you don't have a mortgage payment for a month or two. But honestly, I have truly been there with credit cards and now only use them for everyday expenses to reap rewards. It can be a slippery slope if not careful. I have no store cards. I always say no to the discount at checkout.
Wishing you all the best in your new home and as others said, the fire won't last forever and soon enough you will be on a secluded beach with your family! :-)
Cards: Orchard Bank ($1100) | Cap1 Cash Rewards ($2500) | Chase Freedom ($1000) | Best Buy ($2500) | Discover It ($1000) | Barclay Rewards ($2500) | Current scores: EX FAKO: 684, CK TU: 649, FICO EQ: 680, FICO TU: 698, FICO EX: 658 Happy Homeowner Since 2/6/13!