Hello all, I've been lurking around this forum for a little while and have learned a lot about how to tackle the cleanup/rebuilding of my and my husband's credit reports. Thank so much to everyone for sharing your experiences and knowledge!
So I was just approved for the Fingerhut Fresh Start account and am so excited...my scores are in the low to upper 500s so getting something, anything, approved is awesome for me! I want it to convert to the revolving account as quickly as possible and have seen conflicting information on how quickly this can be done. I've seen that you can pay in full after receiving the first statement, and others who say you need to make at least one, two or three monthly payments to avoid being disqualified. When can I really pay the balance in full to convert to the revolving account? Of course I can always call Fingerhut but I thought I'd try here first.
Also, once I do have the revolving account, do I need to keep a small balance on the account or can I pay in full and keep a zero balance and hey the same benefit on my credit reports and scores? Do I have to use the card every month or can I let it sit unused for awhile?
I also was approved for the Capital One secured card today but I won't have the $200 security deposit until July. Once I've got some history on my credit reports with these two accounts, is it likely I might be approved for a real, unsecured credit card? I have 5 open collections on my report (4 of them medical that I'll be doing the HIPAA process on) that I'm going to begin tackling after July...right now we are throwing all our extra money each month at my car so we can pay it off early in July do we don't have the funds to PIF on any collections at the moment. Will having that many collections on my report prevent me from getting a real credit card regardless of any new, positive payment history?
Thanks for any help or advice...
You can't take the sky from me...
Starting scores 8/18/15
Experian 590 Transunion 609 Equifax 620