New here. Looking for guidance

Anonymous · ‎11-28-2016

I was irresponsible a few years ago, had a repo that should age off in March of 2017. Other than that, I have 2 old loans on Exp that show paid on time and paid off in 07 and 08. That's all I have. TU has nothing for me at all. I paid cash for my car, my house is a private sale so no reporting there.

I'm ready to work on building credit now in hopes that I can buy a new car in a year or two when my current one is no longer worth fixing. Before I found this site, I found the SCT and was approved for VS, NYC and Buckle. After being here, I believe I shouldn't get any more store cards. My plan is to do a secured cc and no other credit for awhile. I have only used one of the cards I already have, I charged 5% of my approval amount and will pay if off when the statement populates. I want to use the secured card for 20% of the limit and pay it off every month.

Anyone see something I could do better?

Thank you, these forums are very helpful and it is awesome that so many people spend time helping in here. Your signatures are inspiring.

rmduhon · ‎11-28-2016

Try the Capitol One prequal page first. If you get 'we found a card for you' then you should be able to get approved for it.

Anonymous · ‎11-28-2016

I would also recommend Cap 1. IMO they are the best credit rebuilding company if you are starting out. Don't fall for the traps of the subprime companies like First Premier, Credit One, Surge, etc.. If you don't qualify for an unsecured CC with Cap 1 then sign up for a secured. Once you establish trust with them they will allow you to get an unsecured card like the Qucksilver or Platinum. They will most likely auto enroll you in their steps program with one of those cards and they give you increases every six months if you pay on time and have no issues.

Another company that is good to get a secured card with is Discover. I don't have one myself, but I have read that after a certain amount of time Discover will graduate you to an unsecured card. A lot of people have been very happy with both Cap 1 and Discover.

Keep us posted on how you are doing!

Anonymous · ‎11-28-2016

@rmduhon wrote:
Try the Capitol One prequal page first. If you get 'we found a card for you' then you should be able to get approved for it.

Don't bother with the preapproval page, just do an app. Many people, myself included have been approved multiple times even though the preapproval page gave us nothing.

Anonymous · ‎11-28-2016

I did the prequel a couple of days ago and it recommended the secured card but I was declined. I was looking at the SDFCU secured card or possibly a secured card through my own Cu. my own CU has a minimum of $500 where the SDFCU is a minimum of $250 but I could go up from there by depositing more.

Anonymous · ‎11-28-2016

@Anonymous wrote:
I did the prequel a couple of days ago and it recommended the secured card but I was declined. I was looking at the SDFCU secured card or possibly a secured card through my own Cu. my own CU has a minimum of $500 where the SDFCU is a minimum of $250 but I could go up from there by depositing more.

What was the reason given for the decline? Have you recieved the email notice yet?

Anonymous · ‎11-28-2016

Look at NFCU as well they are great for rebuilders. Anyone can join now!

Anonymous · ‎11-28-2016

@Anonymous wrote:
I did the prequel a couple of days ago and it recommended the secured card but I was declined. I was looking at the SDFCU secured card or possibly a secured card through my own Cu. my own CU has a minimum of $500 where the SDFCU is a minimum of $250 but I could go up from there by depositing more.

No point in "going up from there" just do the minmum. Higher limits do not matter.

Anonymous · ‎11-28-2016

My income is insufficient. This makes sense, I don't have verifiable income.

Thank you you for asking about this, the email went to my spam forlder so I hadn't seen it.

Anonymous · ‎11-28-2016

I was wondering about that, I didn't know for sure what would be best.

Im still learning how this works and I guess I'm not replying correctly for it to quote the previous reply. This is in response to the advice about sticking to the minimum.