@Anonymous again, @Anonymous!
________________________________________________________
@Cherekas wrote:Mikki,
I wish you well in your rebuild process and I too hope to be able to purchase a home soon (preferably 2018 as well). My limits I am repaying are far smaller then yours. I have 2 charged off accounts $1135 and $2500. You've surely inspired me to pay that down after reading your huge limits. It certainly does take discipline for this process. I'm in it for the long haul, as I hope you are as well! Keep us posted.
P.S Your four letter word joke was awesome!!
@Thank you, @Cherekas!
I look forward to our both growing our scores and attaining the homes of our dreams. 
I am sure that you will be able to tackle your charged off accounts with ease with the support of everyone on this site and I will be happy to cheer you along as your progress so keep us posted as you do so.
Glad you liked the joke. I think I am hilarious but often my sense of humor goes unappreciated. 
Right by your side for the long haul...
@Anonymous wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:@Anonymous.
Looking forward to following your journey. Congrats on the rebuilding process. For FICO scoring purposes, you need to have only 1 account report a balance at less than 10% and the others at zero. Use them however you need to during the month, just make sure when the statement cuts, that only 1 account is reporting.
@Anonymous @Anonymous! That is where I find that I am still getting confused.
I see that I should have only 1 balance reporting at <10% and the others at 0 but WHEN??? All my cards report at different dates so just because I pay them off before their due dates doesn't mean they are all at currently at those ideal values for reporting. Should I just be picking one that keeps the tiny balance (apparently that should be my Amazon Prime since it is reporting my balance multiple times a month) and then as long as the others always get paid off completely each month then I am good?
Not that this is bad advice, but I want to clear something up.
The ONLY time you need to do the "let one report 10%, the others report zero" thing is when you are trying to maximize your credit score. For example, next spring, after all your hard work this year, when you want to apply for a mortgage, that's when you do the maximize thing.
The most important thing you can do between now and then is use the cards responsibly, make EVERY payment on time and work on the balancing act between your cash budget and using your cards. Get organized. I keep a spreadsheet each month of our bills.
You can do this! I went from scores in the high 400s and low 500s to closing on my own home in 12 months. If I can, anyone can 
Good luck!
First I like to say I can relate to your situation divorced 2 years in August with 2 kids and my ex left me with a pile of bills, collections etc. the last 2 years I have been slowly digging myself out of the hole. I had always had decent credit to get a car etc. was stuck with a drive time car for 4 years just got rid of it last month. Hang in there I think you did a great job this far and this will all be behind you one day! I'm still rebuilding myself.
@Anonymous wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:@Anonymous.
Looking forward to following your journey. Congrats on the rebuilding process. For FICO scoring purposes, you need to have only 1 account report a balance at less than 10% and the others at zero. Use them however you need to during the month, just make sure when the statement cuts, that only 1 account is reporting.
@Anonymous @Anonymous! That is where I find that I am still getting confused.
I see that I should have only 1 balance reporting at <10% and the others at 0 but WHEN??? All my cards report at different dates so just because I pay them off before their due dates doesn't mean they are all at currently at those ideal values for reporting. Should I just be picking one that keeps the tiny balance (apparently that should be my Amazon Prime since it is reporting my balance multiple times a month) and then as long as the others always get paid off completely each month then I am good?
Not that this is bad advice, but I want to clear something up.
The ONLY time you need to do the "let one report 10%, the others report zero" thing is when you are trying to maximize your credit score. For example, next spring, after all your hard work this year, when you want to apply for a mortgage, that's when you do the maximize thing.
The most important thing you can do between now and then is use the cards responsibly, make EVERY payment on time and work on the balancing act between your cash budget and using your cards. Get organized. I keep a spreadsheet each month of our bills.
You can do this! I went from scores in the high 400s and low 500s to closing on my own home in 12 months. If I can, anyone can
As rebuilders, we are always trying to maximize our scores. You never know when one of your new lenders decides to SP your credit report. My concern is AA at this time so I don't want to lose any points because I've had to high of balances report. I let all of my accounts report as $0 and an installment loan show as paid during a refinance and lost 30+ points. That's a lot as a rebuilder. Later, when the scores are better, I think you are right about not being concerned as much about the balances reporting.
@Anonymous wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:@Anonymous.
Looking forward to following your journey. Congrats on the rebuilding process. For FICO scoring purposes, you need to have only 1 account report a balance at less than 10% and the others at zero. Use them however you need to during the month, just make sure when the statement cuts, that only 1 account is reporting.
@Anonymous @Anonymous! That is where I find that I am still getting confused.
I see that I should have only 1 balance reporting at <10% and the others at 0 but WHEN??? All my cards report at different dates so just because I pay them off before their due dates doesn't mean they are all at currently at those ideal values for reporting. Should I just be picking one that keeps the tiny balance (apparently that should be my Amazon Prime since it is reporting my balance multiple times a month) and then as long as the others always get paid off completely each month then I am good?
Not that this is bad advice, but I want to clear something up.
The ONLY time you need to do the "let one report 10%, the others report zero" thing is when you are trying to maximize your credit score. For example, next spring, after all your hard work this year, when you want to apply for a mortgage, that's when you do the maximize thing.
The most important thing you can do between now and then is use the cards responsibly, make EVERY payment on time and work on the balancing act between your cash budget and using your cards. Get organized. I keep a spreadsheet each month of our bills.
You can do this! I went from scores in the high 400s and low 500s to closing on my own home in 12 months. If I can, anyone can
Thanks for the advice and encouragement JJKing54! I have been paying evverything right away because I am focused on making sure that I don't miss a thing and trying to demonstrate to the creditors that were willing to take a chance on me that they made a good choice when they took that risk, Plus, there is just the fact that I find it so disheartening when my scores drop that I try to avoid any dings to them for a while until they stabilize. I was incredibly happy to see that the damage everyone warned about from opening several new accounts was minimal.
Spreadsheets? Haha! I am WAAAAYYYYY ahead of you there. I am a data analyst so I have color-coded charts and graphs of EVERYTHING. LOL
@sparklerd34 wrote:
First I like to say I can relate to your situation divorced 2 years in August with 2 kids and my ex left me with a pile of bills, collections etc. the last 2 years I have been slowly digging myself out of the hole. I had always had decent credit to get a car etc. was stuck with a drive time car for 4 years just got rid of it last month. Hang in there I think you did a great job this far and this will all be behind you one day! I'm still rebuilding myself.
Thank you, Sparklerd34! I am sorry to see you had to also deal with a mess after your divorce, especially since you had children who were affected too. Here's to us making it to the 800 Club sooner than later!
@medicgrrl wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:@Anonymous.
Looking forward to following your journey. Congrats on the rebuilding process. For FICO scoring purposes, you need to have only 1 account report a balance at less than 10% and the others at zero. Use them however you need to during the month, just make sure when the statement cuts, that only 1 account is reporting.
@Anonymous @Anonymous! That is where I find that I am still getting confused.
I see that I should have only 1 balance reporting at <10% and the others at 0 but WHEN??? All my cards report at different dates so just because I pay them off before their due dates doesn't mean they are all at currently at those ideal values for reporting. Should I just be picking one that keeps the tiny balance (apparently that should be my Amazon Prime since it is reporting my balance multiple times a month) and then as long as the others always get paid off completely each month then I am good?
Not that this is bad advice, but I want to clear something up.
The ONLY time you need to do the "let one report 10%, the others report zero" thing is when you are trying to maximize your credit score. For example, next spring, after all your hard work this year, when you want to apply for a mortgage, that's when you do the maximize thing.
The most important thing you can do between now and then is use the cards responsibly, make EVERY payment on time and work on the balancing act between your cash budget and using your cards. Get organized. I keep a spreadsheet each month of our bills.
You can do this! I went from scores in the high 400s and low 500s to closing on my own home in 12 months. If I can, anyone can
As rebuilders, we are always trying to maximize our scores. You never know when one of your new lenders decides to SP your credit report. My concern is AA at this time so I don't want to lose any points because I've had to high of balances report. I let all of my accounts report as $0 and an installment loan show as paid during a refinance and lost 30+ points. That's a lot as a rebuilder. Later, when the scores are better, I think you are right about not being concerned as much about the balances reporting.
Yikes! That is a good point that I hadn't even thought of Medicgrrl! I was just worried about my own psyche regarding seeing progress to keep motivated rather than giving up in a funk. Thanks for pointing it out!
@rmduhon wrote:
Are your student loans current? If so, and you can push the house back some, the lates will be off late next year and will improve your scores even more. Just wanted to point that out.
Thanks rmduhon! They are current and I do not NEED to buy one at any specific time although with my bankruptcy on my record I don't know that pushing it back for the student loans to drop off will maky any difference because I think I will still have to deal wtih the same terms unless I am willing to wait until I reach the 4 year mark or more. I could be wrong on that though and it may be worth checking with the mortgage broker that I met with a few months ago. I see her again tomorrow so I saw your message at exactly the right time.