I avoided credit from the get go, and then when I had it I misused it, as almost all these stories go. I had two store cards I racked up 2K in debt on then didn't pay them back, I kept putting it off, until one day they called me and said pay up or it goes to collections. Now I may have been a credit noob, but I knew this was bad. I went to the bank to get a consolidation loan. Long story short, they screwed up the account numbers on the check. When I realized the mistake, I went back to the bank and said hey you guys screwed up the paperwork, except the bank said they noticed that the checks were already cashed by "big name retailer". Called the retailer who had no record of the transactions...anddddddddddddd too late now in collections. Ended up dishing out 2k to collections, and still have to pay the bank back. I was a young man, 19 years old. Hindsight is 20/20 and I probably would've been better off trying to find an attorney to help me out but once again, I just didn't want to deal with it, I assumed it was my fault, and it was because I didn't hold the banks hand the whole way with my money, but I digress. Fast forward about 5 years and I'm at a car dealership looking to trade in my car and get a new one. Thats when I got the hard pull and the biggest wake up to my financial situation, my CS was 483, the dealership pretty much told me to hit the road unless I had some serious down payment money and was willing to pay the max APR. Which I didn't and wasn't. Stepped outside and said, well this is what I get for ignoring this problem since I was 18.
That was just shy of about 2 years ago, looking forward to that inquiry falling off btw. I started researching everything I could about credit, how other people got out of ruts, how to manage it, everything from how many accounts I should have, to how to use utlization, and understand the thought process behind not using all your credit, etc. etc. I essentially force crash coursed myself into a healthy credit plan, all that was left was to execute it. About a year and a half ago I started with a Secured Card from Capital One and started browsing creditkarma and myFICO looking for info and tips. There were some ups and downs, mistakes made along the way, over utlizing in some cases, have a few too many inquires. I still have a very long way to go, but as of today my CS is at a 648, I have 5 CCs with a total CL of about 4.5k not much but I'm hoping in this next year it will go up significantly, and a Utilization of about 14 percent, tho by the end of the month that will be close to 3-4 percent.
I guess I wrote this as a broad general "Thank you!" to everyone who helped me along the way. Your posts get read by plenty of people like me, people just browsing looking for tips and advice, general guidance and motivation. And to those of you out there stuggling financially, dig your heels in, if I can do it, I know you can. I don't really make a lot of money, though I am very grateful for each penny I have, but even on a lower end income you can make it work. Healthy financial planning has put me in a position where I am now going to be taking a month off of work to travel the world a bit, see things I want to see while I can. All because I now have at least, by my account, a decent amount of financial freedom that I am handling responsibly to do the things I want to do. Keep your eye on the prize, you'll get there before you know it.
EDIT: General grammar upgrades
