tfkallday asked if I had any tips (except patience)
Reading these boards definitely helped, maybe becuase by reflex I became more aware of my own role in being proactive. For too many years I didin't seem to care, never checked my fico, paid with cash. And when I did have a top tier card (my fico was in the high 600's then) amex gave me a card, and my poverty consiousness mentality seeped into my spending, w/o consequence. Well...there was a consequence, Amex cancelled my card when I paid it down.
I had about 6 baddies, which included lates (30, 60, 90 day lates) one charge off, and two accounts (under $200 in collections)
18 months ago...I was high 500's across the board. I was lucky I got a fingerhut card lol. I did have one card that stuck by me since 2001. I wasn't going to let it go either, even if it costs $40 a year, even w/o benefits.
I approached it systematically. I got all three credit reports. Looked for any inconsistancies. Challenged some of them. I had a list of when each baddie would fall off by itself. I even paid a couple, got my report, then challenged it by saying, I'd already paid (in most cases, the creditor dropped it!)
My first step though, was paying down the balances to under 10% utilization. Points jumped to the mid/high 600's when I did that. About a year ago I got bill me later, which allowed me to make purchases, when even with a balance it didin't count against utilization as it's not reported.
I got a few store credit cards, careful to pay everything down to zero balance. Then about 9 months ago I got a discover it card. Even with zero interest, I paid it down every month. In turn my $5000 initial limit has been bumped to $7000, and in fact all my credit cards have been bumped up!
I've resisted the urge to apply for more new credit. I've noticed that can be addictive in and of itself! So Iimit myself to 2 or 3 apps at the most per year, cards I'm likely to get. but as of now I'm done with retail cc'ds. When looking towards those top tier cards in the future, I knew I only wanted one more card, a travel card, Chase Saphire, and even then I'm waiting till I've had my Discover card one full year. So gardening IS important.
Currently I'm positioning myself for a mortgage, and a car lease with the lowest intrest rate possible. So I don't want to get ahead of myself! Also, I've signed up for quarterly or monthly reports on all three, Eq, Ex, and Transunion, an investment that's paid off! Currently I have 5 retail credit cards, 2 credit cards, and billmelater. I closed the capitol one card with the low balance and the yearly fee.
Southwest Premier & Plus 25.8k I Alaska Air 21k I Discover It 16k I United Explorer 15k I Chase Business Ink Cash 12k I Wells Fargo 2.5k I Bill Me Later 7k I Amazon 3.5k
Congrats to you, OP. That is very impressive.
Congrats...and yes it can be done.
Current Score: EFX 645, XPN 680, TU 725
Wow Kbrown102....yes...you should expect to see a nice jump! Congratulations on paying down such a sizeable chunk!!! Work on paying down the rest to <9% and you'll be golden! There seems to be a lot of factors that play into ones fico score, utilization factors in heavily. I paid down my student loans, not sure that helped regarding fico score. I do think consistancy pays off, slow and steady. Or as you did, aggresively tackle your debt! Let us know if you see a jump in your score and by how much!
Awesome reward for the hard work!!! Congrats on the achievements & knocking at the 800 club's door!! 
Not far behind ya - opening the 2 newbies dropped me a bit but that's fine as it will go back up shortly; util is now 3%, only 1 card w/balance, got 0% for a year on the big purchase, & another cash-back to get rid of the residual pay-for-reporting card, A/K/A FP. This actually gives me hope seeing what happens to people like you as well as everyone on here that succeeds. If you would have asked me this a year ago I would have laughed & kept on dreaming that I could get back to where I once was. Great job again!
BTW: One of the posters said you'll be score-obsessed or something to that effect: I've found this to be true - I admit such - I'm a FICO addict LOLOL.
Take care
congrats
