Feels like its taking FOREVER...... :(

[Anonymous]

I've been trying for a year now to improve my score, I mean its going up but at a slow pace. I'm wanting to move out of my Mom's house (who also had bad credit when she made a purchase on her house) and get into a house of my own with good interest rate. There is no way that is possible with my score now. It is me who put myself in deep debt and now I must climb my way up a steep mountain. I was at a low point in my life about 3 yrs ago when my score was a lovely 720 and just let everything go down the financial drain (including my 720 score), except for my car that I love dearly. From a Fico simulator, its saying if I keep up with my current good credit cards and make payments over a 2 yr period I should have a decent enough score to get out on my own. I'd like to hear others with their success stories, please share and inspire me!

[MBOhio2]

I completely understand... it's a slow and frustrating process. I started about a year ago, but admittedly, didn;t know what I was doing (hadn't found myfico.com yet) so I essentially saw no progress and wasted a year because I wasn't doing the right things. I've made major progress on the negatives in the last 6 months and am now working on paying off my credit card debt and in turn, will lower my utilization % and should provide the boost I need to buy a home next Spring.

What are the factors that are bringing your score down? Obviously some baddies are a quicker fix than others.

[Anonymous]

Well I have 3 accounts that were written off as Bad Debt and 2 accounts that are 120 days past due. I'm wondering if I pay off my most recent past due accounts, will that help? I was in a financial crisis a year ago, but with my stable job I'm able to catch up.

[mauve]

If they're being counted in your utilization, paying the balances down will help your score. 

Ideally, you would pay them and get the derogatory (chargeoff / lates) information removed while keeping the accounts listed.  Even better if you can re-open them, too.

[Anonymous]

Thanks, I'm currently trying to pay down my Best Buy CC acct (almost 10 yrs old) which I owe about 900 to them. Along with my current good payment history with Best Buy I'm making larger payments of $100-150 with in combination of the minimum payment due. I'm hoping if I drop that account lower in % it will increase my CS.