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This site is a gem :)

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gioc27
New Member

This site is a gem :)

So i recently bought a new vehicle  with my wife we went to one of the bad credit places because i thought our credit was the bottom of the barrel but had to give it a shoot because our family van had just died on us and we had enough with it and wanted to upgrade to something better long story short we ended getting something  reliable I should have done my home work first but of course I didn't when the salesman came out with our score it was 642 truthfully I didn't know if that was good or not my wife informed it was OK she thinks hers was 580 something my credit report only had two things on it an old utility bill and a old cell phone bill thats all i dont have any credit cards or mortgage but defiantly want one thats why I'm here after reading the forums decided to pull my free reports and yes only the two things that will drop off next year but i dont want to wait until next year I want to start taking steps to raising my score right away  I'm waiting until Monday so I can get verified through an agent because i couldn't do it here online so i can get my true score my question is I need a game plan how should I go about doing this

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3 REPLIES 3
Shogun
Moderator Emeritus

Re: This site is a gem :)

You need to get some revolving credit.  It accounts for up to 35% of your score.  Do you belong to a local CU?  If so, you could try there.  If not, I'd consider a secured card and garden it for 6 months or so.  Remember, a thin credit file is about as bad as a bad credit file.  You need to build.

 

On a side note, are those old baddies paid?  

Starting Score: 504
July 2013 score:
EQ FICO 819, TU08 778, EX "806 lender pull 07/26/2013
Goal Score: All Scores 760+, Newest goal 800+
Take the myFICO Fitness Challenge

Current scores after adding $81K in CLs and 2 new cars since July 2013
EQ:809 TU 777 EX 790 Now it's just garden time!

June 2017 update: All scores over 820, just pure gardening now.
Message 2 of 4
gioc27
New Member

Re: This site is a gem :)

No its not been paid yet I am going to call them on Mon to see if they can bring it down some so can try to pay it before I am going to apply for anything correct? Tried to get a auto loan through my CU but told me I had to pay the baddies first so think they wont give me a card right now also I've read the term gardening on this site what does it mean ? I have  seen so many secured cards which are the best ? 

Message 3 of 4
PrettyPeacock
Contributor

Re: This site is a gem :)

The term gardening means to not apply for any new credit once you get a card or two and let those mature and help build up your average age of accounts (aka AAOA)  You need to garden them by paying them on time and trying to pay off the bill each month if you can or at least keep your utilization rate to a minimum.  Try not to go over 25-30% max.  You balances are taken into considertion when your pull your score, apply for credit, etc.

Also, before just paying off those bills I would suggest doing a PFD, which is a 'pay for delete' deal with the account holder so that way when you pay them you will get them to remove the account from your credit report thereby getting your score instantly bumped and removing that baddie.  Just turn on the charm and get those removed.

As for the credit cards, I have a couple secured and have good luck with US Bank (the Harley Davidson Card)  it is no annual fee and no set up charge.  Just put down the most you can ($300-$3000) because you can't just add to it whenever you want in the first six months. I learned that the hard way.  The other one I have is CapOne and they do have a annual fee of $29 but it is the only card I pay for and it was the first new card when I went to rebuild my credit after my bankruptcy.

Another way to get some revolving credit is by doing the 'shopping card trick'   The best way to learn what that is would be to search that term here and there are loads of posts about it.  I didn't realize it was available and used a hard inquiry to get my Victoria Secret card but I did use it and got a couple other cards and the best think is that you don't get a hard pull with those. 

Remember that you don't want to rack up a lot of hard pulls as they can lower your score a little and it stays on your report 2 years and counts against you for 1 year.

Just read as much as you can from these boards and you will learn so much it will make your head spin but in no time you will be on your credit repair journey and able to get great financing on future purchases.

Good luck!


4/13 CS from TU 599 11/3/13 Current FICO TU: 672, EQ 680
Negs: BK charged-off Jan '09, KS tax lien PAID, but still trying to figure out how to get it removed and 10 IIB accounts
Happiness: Merrick $750  |  Cap One $300  |  USBank $300  |  Victoria's Secret $500  |  The Buckle $250  |  JCrew $250  |  Express $250  |  Cap One $2000(AU)  |  Fingerhut $850 | Kohls (AU) $3000
Goals are 760 to buy a home & to stay in the Garden til 2/14
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