Thanks, everyone.
We definitely could have done it better, but at least we made it.
After we filed Ch 13 we avoided any and all credit for the entire 5 years of payments. As a result we don't have many old accounts (just our mortgage). But avoiding credit also kept us from making mistakes while we were recovering. Months after the discharge we dipped our toes back in the water and each got a secured card which transitioned to unsecured cards in 7 and 12 months. We got an auto loan with a pretty high rate (to get a rebate from the dealer), but refinanced it within 45 days to a decent rate. In Oct 2017 we both added an additional unsecured card. Then in Feb 2018 (2 months before the Ch 13 was due to fall off) I got serious and started asking for EE to clear up all our credit reports. As the bad stuff fell off, our scores started shooting up.
In retrospect, we should have started building our credit back up sooner, but I hadn't found this site at the time. So while we didn't follow the best practices perfectly, we still made it with barely any bumps in the road. Slow and steady will definitely get you there.
Hopefully our success gives hope to others, especially those struggling through a Ch 13 payment plan.
