Words of encouragement for those rebuilding

[Anonymous]

Hey guys, I wanted to stop in and offer some words of encouragement/advice for those rebuilding. I am still rebuilding myself but I wanted to let you guys know to keep your head up and keep up the good fight..

2 years ago is when I got my awakening as I applied for an autoloan of $12k and my interest rate was a whopping 22% APR the lender pulled my credit and my score was in the low 500's

After that wakeup call I decided to save up a little cash pay off some charge off's and try and get a credit card. Fast foward a year to 08/2015 I applied for a BOA secured card (I bank there) I was flat out denied. Capital One was my only option, they approved me for a fully secured card in which I placed $1,000 deposit on to start my journey.

I had that capital one card for approximately 2 months and was offered a Surge unsecured card. ( I took it) I used those two cards and paid them off frequently letting small balances report on one of them.. Fast forward again to 03/2016 I became a member of myfico and my scores were EQ-610, TU - 620, EX - 620, I was approved for a BOA (Secured) and Discover (Secured) and Capital One Platinum (Unsecured) I closed my capital one secured card and surge card. 

Fast foward one more time to today (08/2016)

My scores are EQ - 621, TU - 644, EX - 653

My available credit as of today:

Capital One QS - $1,500 (due credit steps increase 09/10/2016)

BOA Rewards - $1,500 (secured, hope to unsecure at 12 month mark 04/17)

Discover IT - $1,000 (secured, hope to unsecure at 12 month mark 04/17)

Merrick - $700 (DYL - due to double 12/2016)

Overstock - $1,800

Wayfair - $1,800

Amazon Prime - $800

Big Lots - $750

Walmart - $700

Fingerhut - $400

Lowes - $300

VIctoria Secret - $150

Behalf - $4,500 ( Hidden LOC)

So I just wanted to let everyone know to keep your head up and work hard, and deligiently. I didn't realize how important credit is. I know I am still a LONG way from great credit myself. But wanted to let you know that 1 year ago all i could get was a secured card, and now exactly 1 year later I have $15,900 available credit of which $2,500 is secured and the other $13,400 is unsecured. 

A few things i have learned along the way, don't accept store cards that you arent going to use. Only get cards that you will actually use. Once you start getting approvals its easy to want to apply for everything, especially with using the SCT.  But get what you will actually use and watch it grow..

Also I forgot to mention, I traded the vehicle in that has 22%APR on a brand new Nissan Frontier in 06/2016 with an 11% APR. I plan to refinance it once I hit 06/2017 when my scores should be around 660 - 680 and hope to get an APR of around 2.9% - 4.4% through a local credit union. 

[gdale6]

Great story, grats to all your success

[Unique620]

Very inspiring! Thanks for sharing  

[luckelle]

Great job! keep pushing towards the 700 gods! haha

[Anonymous]

You've done well for yourself!   I too have a secured Discover and LOVE it.     

If you're interested, Overstock will generally give you a  CLI ever 31 days (must be 31 days since the last increase, not 30!).      Mine has grown well that way, I actually use it once in a while   

I don't think you need any more cards, but if you are interested, look into the directions in the personal finance section for joining NFCU.    If you app for a card with them they may suprise you with a nice limit.  They have a cash back card that is basically the same as the cap1 QS.

Good luck to you, and hopefully our Discovers will treat us well next year!

[Anonymous]

Thank you all for the compliments, lol a cat I definitely do hit the increase button every 31 days on wayfair and overstock. They both started at $1,000. According to the myfico calculator I should be in the 670-680 range in the next 12-13 months. Even though it's just a calculator it's exciting.

I really hope for my lowes, Amazon prime, and walmart will grow a lot too. They are all newer lines and I shop at all 3 of those places frequently.

I will have to look into NFCU, however, I assumed it was for military or military family only. My grandpa is retired ARMY but I was unable to join (tried to go to marInes when I was 18, I have a hear murmur)

[rmduhon]

Call or chat with Lowe's/Amazon/Walmart and ask for a CLI. Ask for a high limit (like 10,000) and they'll counter with what they'll let you have. And it's always been a SP for hubby and I. His Walmart went from 150 to 800 to 1500 to 3500 and now it's at 6000 within a few months of opening. Same with the others

[Anonymous]

I appreciate the heads up I will look into it for sure, but I heard synchrony likes to see 650-660 before they give CLI once I hit 650 I will give it a try.

[Anonymous]

Why so many cards does that help you ?

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

Why so many cards does that help you ?

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This is somewhat a matter of debate.  Your total available credit limit can improve your score a few points.  The downside is inquireis and new accounts can hurt your score as well.  I believe the best plan initially is to get accounts that will continue to be useful in the future and that allows for healthy CLI's along the way.  From my experience, those accounts would be Discover IT and CapOne Platinum (converted to no-AF QS) and QS One.  There are some store cards that will give generous SL or CLI's, but their usefulness in the future is debateable depending on the person's use case. Adding a new account for a few hundred dollars of available credit probably is not worth it in the long run especially if it hurts your AAoA.  A slow, measured approach is preferable to getting a card just because you can.  I at this point somewhat regret getting my Delta Gold Amex as it is my newest account even though the sign-up bonus has gotten me about $800 worth if free plane tickets.  Slow and steady wins the race...