I am posting this to share with you results of my 2014 journey. I had lots to repair and with hard work and patience I got a lot accomplished. I now have the scores and all the credit I will ever need. I used what I learned here and other boards to get this done by myself. Remember, it's never too late to work on your finances!
My story in a nutshell:
In January of this year I started my credit repair/rebuilding journey and have had great progress. The year started with credit scores in the low 600 range to today where I have solid 700's across the board. My files were loaded with derogs ranging from liens, judgments, and med collections that really had been ignored by me for a few years. A promotion at work prompted me to do a reality check that started me on my journey. What a mess I was and I feared my company would be doing a background check on this role I was about to be offered. (BTW - they didn't and I did get the role, but thank God it made me get real about taking care of my personal finances! Even if I am 50 yrs old!)
In the last 12 months all of the derogs have either rolled off my files or have been resolved in some other other fashion. I think patience was the key and patience is really needed when dealing with Med Collections and judgements. Used a lot of DV letters, obsolete accounts letters etc to get this completed! I monitor my reports ona daily basis in order to make sure nothing shows back up.
For 2015 I have the basic goal of getting my scores into High 700s or even to 800 and if I take care of business, I think I have a legit shot! For credit card action see below where I started from and what I plan to do in 2015 with credit. Feedback most welcome.
My Credit Cards Pre-2014 (I lived a cash life)
- CapOne $500
- Cortrust $250
- CreditOne $750
- Merrick $1,000
- Orchard #1 $300
- Orchard #2 $300
- JC Penney $600
- Wells Fargo $1,000
- Total $4,700
Today
- Diner's Club Premier $20,000 (Not Reporting)
- Diner's Club Elite $20,000 (Not Reporting)
- AMEX Skymiles $15,000
- Barclay USAirway $7,500
- Barclays Rewards MC $6,500
- CapOne 5178 $2,250
- CapOne QS 5178 $1,000
- Chase Amazon $6,000
- Chase Freedom $6,000
- Citi AAAdvantage $7,000
- Discover It $1,200
- HomeDepot Consumer $9,000
- JC Penney $4,000
- NFCU Cash Rewards $18,000
- NFCU Flagship $15,000
- PayPal Extras $1,500
- United M Plus Explorer $5,000
- USAA Visa $2,000
- WalMart MC $3,000
- Wells Fargo Visa $2,200
- Total $152,150
- (I came a long way and added 148K in TL and doesn't inlcude $15K CLOC af NFCU)
2015 Action Plan for Credit Cards
• Close both CapOne Cards if I can’t consolidate CL to QS. These guys don’t like me and I really don’t like them.
• Close Barclay’s US Air Card and move CL to Rewards MC unless someone sees a better plan or knows a reason to keep it open. Already have the bonus miles added to my Dividend account.
• Amex Skymiles – 3X CLI in Feb
• Close Discover It – not sure I will get love from them having had a low SL.
• Open CSP and hopefully get an offer from Chase first – will be late in 2015 as I had 3 Chase cards in 2014. If I am approved I will likely close my Freedom and move my CL over to the CSP. Gosh and I am getting the AARP Chase offer all the time and maybe want that too!
• I have 2 AMEX cards that are backdated to 1983 helping my overall AAoA (5 Years) at this time. I want to add 2 more in the near future. My target card is the SPG and I get monthly offers from them as I stay in their properties on a monthly basis. Not sure what other AMEX I might try for to round out the MSD play.
• Try to convert my Chase United MPlus Explorer to the Club version. I know it’s a higher AF but I really need the club access. I fly 99% on United as that’s where my status is these days. Not sure if it’s a simple call to Chase or what, but I will try.
• Close JC Penney – I have SD’d this card since it carries a 26.99% APR – really? It is one or my older lines that has open date of 2008. Closing it won’t harm my AAoA and will keep the DW from potentially using it on a whim.
• PayPal Extras MC – close this one. I really messed up here as it was a pop-up offer on my account dashboard. Wish I hadn’t applied and I really don’t like Synchrony.
• Keep after CLIs with NFCU.
• Enjoy the heck out of my hidden TL with Diner’s Club.
• After all of this completed I think it will have been a great 2015 on the revolving credit front!
Thanks to those who have helped, encouraged, and challenged me to change my ways and embrace a new credit life! BNT
DC Prem 20K | DC Elite 20K | PenFed Visa 25K | NFCU Sig Visa 25K | NFCU Flagship 25K | AMEX Delta 25K & SPG 15K
RBFCU MC 20K | Barclay's RMC 11.5K & Ring 22K | Chase United 30K | Chase Hyatt 8K | Citi AA 15K | Citi DC 15K
Discover it® 27K | JCPenney MC 22K | Home Depot $9K
EX/796 EQ/794 TU/802 GOAL: Break 800
